Humanoid robots from Chinese manufacturer Unitree Robotics can, on the surface, do many things: synchronized dancing, martial arts competitions, jumping and acrobatic movements, obstacle courses. Their latest model, called Superman, was launched this Monday and is capable of jumping two meters from a static position. The question for skeptics is automatic: When will they stop doing stunts to do something really useful? A detail that does not seem to worry Chinese investors, especially individuals. Unitree Robotics debuted this Wednesday on the Shanghai technology index with a rise of 460% (although it shot up 629%), raising its capitalization to 43.5 billion euros. The euphoria was such that the section intended for retail investors registered a demand equivalent to more than 5,500 times the shares offered, according to the company, which raised some 775 million with this operation.
With its debut, the robot manufacturer has fed the appetite of retail investors, which seems insatiable. Last month, CXMT's IPO was also stellar. The DRAM (dynamic random access memory) memory company, an essential component for smartphones, data centers and artificial intelligence servers, has staged one of the most spectacular stock market debuts in recent years. The company soared by 535%, although it closed the session with a revaluation of 465.8%, becoming the most valuable listed company in China.
A few months earlier, and on the other side of the Atlantic, SpaceX debuted with a rise of 19% and a stratospheric valuation of 2.1 billion, which crowned it as the sixth company on the planet by stock market value. On the day of its debut, it attracted demand from institutional and retail investors of more than $350 billion, more than four times what was offered, according to Bloomberg. Investors did not want to miss out on what many consider a historic milestone due to its size and revaluation potential. But SpaceX's current valuation reflects more faith in its future than the reality of its accounts, since the company is not yet profitable.
Unitree's rise responds to a similar mechanism, which some analysts define simply as FOMO (fear of missing out). Investors perceive the company as one of the few avenues to gain exposure to an emerging industry with enormous theoretical potential. It's a rare bird, at least in mainland Chinese markets, and investors didn't want to miss out on getting exposure to this new industry. In this context, the figures tend to be secondary, although this company is, of course, profitable: last year its revenues reached almost 1.7 billion yuan (about 252 million euros) and a net profit of about 600 million yuan (about 76.65 million euros), according to Bloomberg data.
But the euphoria also reflects rising expectations. “The tipping point of mass production appears to be near,” JPMorgan experts write in a note collected by Bloomberg. Barclays estimates the potential value of the humanoid robot segment at up to $200 billion in 2035, compared to more than $3 billion today; and JPMorgan estimates that China will account for more than half of global demand. The country, in fact, intends to incorporate it not only in factories or homes, but also in strategic sectors such as defense, which would ensure companies a fixed income. And just as it did in the past with other industries such as electric cars or chips, it will also support this industry.
Despite this, Nomura analysts began covering the company with a target price of 370 yuan, 56% below its current share price. “There is no fundamental basis that justifies this price spike,” Vey-Sern Ling, managing director of UBP, told Bloomberg. "It is driven by the enthusiasm of retail investors. Valuations are sky-high and the outlook is uncertain, given the still nascent state of development and adoption of humanoid robots," he warns.
This IPO also attracted attention from strategic investors backing the company. About 20% of the offering was allocated to investors such as artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek (which is also considering debuting in 2027), as well as investment arms of large state-owned companies such as China National Petroleum Corp., China Southern Power Grid Co. and China Telecom Corp.
China's commitment to this new technology is strategic: it sees humanoid robots as the next phase of the race for artificial intelligence. In the Government's most recent five-year plan, humanoid robots are described as a form of embodied artificial intelligence. In a way, the bet is to transfer the advances made in AI models to the physical world. That is, if the race in recent years focused on developing artificial brains, the next phase involves providing them with a body capable of interacting with the real world. And the objective is for China to lead the market compared to the United States.
Unitree's IPO could also serve as a boost to other Chinese robotics companies that are preparing to enter the market, such as AgiBot and Engine Ai, which are seeking to land in Hong Kong, and Leju Robotics, manufacturer of the Kuavo humanoid robot, which will do so in the ChiNext market in Shenzhen. UBTech Robotics was one of the pioneers in the sector: it debuted in Hong Kong in December 2023 and has risen 4% since then. Thus, the success of Unitree Robotics can be interpreted as a thermometer of investors' appetite for this market. But whether this current optimism is justified or not will depend on how quickly humanoid robots move from acrobatics to fulfilling real, everyday tasks.
