Unitree Robotics surges 629% to US$66 billion valuation in Shanghai share debut

Shares of Unitree Robotics skyrocketed 629 percent after its initial public offering in Shanghai on Wednesday, opening at 1,100 yuan and valuing the Shanghai-listed company at roughly 445 billion yuan. The initial price of 150.80 yuan triggered a dramatic rise before the stock dipped below 900 yuan in early trading. The debut aligns with the World Robot Conference in Beijing, one of China’s largest annual robotics events.

Unitree, based in Hangzhou, raised approximately 6.1 billion yuan from the sale of 40.45 million shares, representing 10 percent of its increased share capital. The company’s market valuation before trading was around 61 billion yuan. The IPO attracted significant attention, with nearly 9.8 million retail investment accounts competing for 9.7 million shares, resulting in a final allocation rate of just 0.018 percent.

Strategic investors included artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, tech giant Tencent Holdings, and state-backed entities such as China National Petroleum, China Southern Power Grid, China Telecom, Citic Securities, and the National Council for Social Security Fund. The IPO is expected to set a benchmark valuation for China’s rapidly growing embodied-AI sector, where private investors have already valued several leading startups above 20 billion yuan.

Robotics has become a national priority as Beijing intensifies its technology rivalry with the United States. Competitors include Deep Robotics, Leju Robotics, AgiBot, X Square Robot, and LimX Dynamics. Unitree reported 1.7 billion yuan in revenue in 2025, a fourfold increase from the previous year, driven by a 68.5 percent year-on-year revenue rise to 423 million yuan in the first quarter of 2026.

The company produced around 18,000 bipedal humanoids as of July, with its latest model, "Superman," capable of jumping 2 meters and running at 12.66 meters per second.