Unitree, China's most high-profile humanoid robot maker, is set for a potentially explosive stock market debut in Shanghai — the only question is how frenzied it will be. The company, whose robots run, dance and perform martial arts for millions of online viewers, priced its IPO at 150.8 yuan per share, raising 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) by selling just 10% of its enlarged capital.
Retail investors subscribed more than 8,000 times over — a record for Shanghai's STAR Market. Chinese media report scalpers approaching lucky subscribers with offers of 410 yuan per share, a 170% premium. On private share platforms like EquityZen, UpMarket and Hiive, shares are tipped to almost triple, while on crypto exchanges Hyperliquid and Gate, derivative trades point to a jump of almost four times. One veteran trader in Hangzhou, where Unitree is based, predicted as much as an eight-fold first-day pop.
Unitree is the world's biggest humanoid robot maker by sales and the first general-purpose robotics company to debut on mainland China's public markets — and, crucially for investors, it is already profitable. "Unitree represents a major turning point for Chinese robotics... It arrives on the public market with something many humanoid companies lack: scale combined with profit," said Jack Pearson of RoboStrategy.
Backers include Tencent, Alibaba and DeepSeek, and founder Wang Xingxing had a front-row seat at a summit with tech business leaders hosted by President Xi Jinping. But skeptics warn of froth: competition is intensifying, factory-floor applications remain limited, and Chinese humanoid makers may be blocked from the U.S. market. "Given that SpaceX dropped below its IPO price post-listing, even top-tier hype names are susceptible to a reality check," said Jeff Mei of crypto exchange BTSE.
