Unitree Robotics shares closed 460% higher on their Wednesday debut on Shanghai's STAR Market, after gaining as much as 629% intraday before paring back. The Chinese humanoid robot maker raised about 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in its initial public offering, backed by investors including DeepSeek and Tencent.
Unitree Robotics shares closed 460% higher in their debut on Shanghai's STAR Market Wednesday. The stock had gained as much as 629% intraday before paring gains to close at 845 yuan.
The Hangzhou-based robot maker priced the offering at 150.80 yuan ($22.36) a share, valuing the company at about $9 billion ahead of the debut. Unitree raised about 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in the IPO, according to its prospectus.
Market cap briefly tops $59 billion
Unitree's market capitalization briefly topped 400 billion yuan ($59 billion), putting it among China's most valuable companies. The surge pushed Unitree's trailing price-to-earnings ratio to almost 1,200.
The retail tranche was more than 5,500 times oversubscribed, said Kenny Ng, a strategist at Everbright Securities International. According to the Financial Times: "tremendous investor enthusiasm for the company".
DeepSeek and Tencent among backers
The IPO drew backing from Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which invested about 140.8 million yuan, and from existing investor Tencent, according to company filings. Unitree shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots last year. The company also posted a net profit of 278 million yuan in 2025.
Debut lands amid US robot restrictions
The listing comes as Washington moves against Chinese robotics: in July, the Trump administration said it would ban new Chinese-made humanoid and quadruped robots over national security concerns. Beijing rejected the claim, accusing Washington of politicizing trade issues.
Morgan Stanley in June raised its forecast for China's humanoid robot shipments to 50,000 units this year, nearly double its earlier estimate of 28,000. The bank expects China's humanoid robot market to grow from $2 billion this year to $15 billion by 2030.
Unitree's listing marks a rare pure-play humanoid robot stock in China's A-share market, according to BofA Global Research analyst Ming Lee.
Sources: CNBC, BBC News, Financial Times
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