The Superman robot maker that rose 630% in minutes: Inside Unitree’s blockbuster listing

The Hangzhou-based Chinese humanoid robot maker had offered its shares at 150.80 yuan each. According to the BBC, they ended the first day at 845 yuan. CNBC reported that the shares had risen as much as 630% during trading before giving up some of those gains.

The scale of the jump raises a very pertinent question that why were investors willing to pay so much for a company that makes robots? The answer comes in what Unitree is worth today and more in what investors think the humanoid robotics industry could become.

Investors are betting on the next stage of AI

Humanoid robots are increasingly being seen as the point where artificial intelligence moves beyond computers and into the physical world. As reported by Bloomberg, unlike the AI systems most people interact with through screens, so-called embodied AI is designed to allow machines to understand their surroundings and physically act on that information. Humanoid robots could eventually be used in factories, hospitals, warehouses and, further down the line, homes.

Bloomberg said Unitree’s IPO is tapping into “growing investor appetite for physical AI companies as attention shifts beyond foundation models and into real-world AI applications.” This tell us why the listing attracted such strong demand. Investors are not simply buying into Unitree’s existing robot business, but they are also betting that humanoid robots could become a major technology industry in the coming years. The market is still small but expectations are rising fast

Morgan Stanley raised its forecast for China’s humanoid robot shipments this year to 50,000 units from an earlier estimate of 28,000, CNBC reported. The bank expects China’s humanoid robot market to grow from $2 billion this year to $15 billion by 2030. JPMorgan is even more bullish on the global market. Bloomberg reported that the bank expects worldwide humanoid robot shipments to rise from 18,000 units in 2025 to 60,000 this year and 1.75 million by 2030. It expects China to account for more than half of global demand.

“The mass-production inflection point appears close,” JPMorgan analysts including Tim Huang wrote in a note, according to Bloomberg. They said the investment case for China’s humanoid-robot industry rests on accelerating commercialisation, supply-chain localisation opportunities and growing policy support.

So, investors are beginning to believe that humanoid robots could soon move beyond being impressive technology demonstrations and become products that companies actually buy and use at scale.

Unitree is already one of the industry’s biggest players

Unitree is not a company starting from scratch. Founded in 2016, it has become one of China’s best-known robotics companies. According to its prospectus, cited by Bloomberg and the BBC, Unitree shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots last year. This makes it the world’s largest humanoid robot maker by shipments. It also has a large business selling four-legged robots, with cumulative sales exceeding 33,000 units.

The company’s robots range from humanoid machines capable of walking and manipulating objects with dexterous hands to robot dogs used for applications such as hazard detection. The company has also attracted global attention through highly publicised demonstrations. Its robots appeared at China’s Spring Festival Gala, however its machines have been showcased performing martial arts moves, dancing and other physical tasks.

Just before its stock market debut, Unitree unveiled a new humanoid robot called “Superman”. CNBC reported that the company says the robot can jump two metres from a standing position and run at speeds of up to 12.66 metres per second. Unitree is also generating revenue and profit. Its revenue increased to 1.7 billion yuan in 2025 from 393 million yuan a year earlier, but net profit reached 278 million yuan. Its gross margin exceeded 60%.

China is putting serious money behind robotics

Another reason investors are enthusiastic is the support China is giving to robotics and AI. Beijing has identified robotics and other advanced technologies as strategic priorities as it competes with the US for technological leadership. The BBC reported that the number of Chinese robotics companies more than tripled between 2020 and 2024, according to state-run China Daily. China also has a large manufacturing ecosystem that can help robotics companies develop and produce machines at lower costs.

Unitree has benefited from that environment. BBC noted that the company sells robot dogs at prices far below some comparable US products. Its humanoid robots are also being sold commercially, with its child-sized G1 model priced at about $13,500. The country’s ageing population is another potential driver. Robots could eventually help address labour shortages by taking on tasks currently performed by people. “Robots are where AI leaves the screen and enters the economy” in factories, hospitals and, potentially, the home, Fei Qin, an associate professor at the University of Bath, told the BBC. Unitree also has backing from major Chinese technology and state-linked investors

Unitree raised about 6.1 billion yuan, or roughly $900 million, in the offering. Bloomberg reported that about 20% of the offering was allocated to strategic investors, including AI company DeepSeek, a Tencent-linked investment vehicle and investment arms of major Chinese state-owned companies.

DeepSeek received a 2.31% stake allocation with a three-year lock-up period, according to Bloomberg. Unitree plans to use about 4.2 billion yuan of the IPO proceeds for embodied AI model development, humanoid robot research, new products and manufacturing expansion. The involvement of DeepSeek and Tencent-linked investors adds to the perception that Unitree is part of a much larger Chinese push into AI-powered robotics.

Demand for the IPO was a lot

The enthusiasm was visible even before Unitree began trading. Bloomberg reported that Unitree’s retail order book exceeded the 7.07 trillion yuan in bids generated by memory-chip company CXMT in its blockbuster IPO the previous month.

Bloomberg explained that Chinese regulators remain cautious about the valuations at which companies sell new shares to the public. Companies are required to have comparisons with peers in China and overseas, and authorities have historically discouraged excessively expensive IPOs to protect individual investors from potential losses.

Bloomberg said the closing price gave Unitree a market value of about 342 billion yuan. However, the valuation was already extremely high compared with some of its established competitors.

According to Unitree’s prospectus, cited by Bloomberg, the IPO valued the company at 35.89 times sales. That compares with roughly 20 times sales for Hong Kong-listed robotics companies such as UBTech Robotics and Shenzhen Dobot.

“There’s clearly no fundamental basis for the share price surge,” Vey-Sern Ling, a managing director at Union Bancaire Privée, told Bloomberg. “It is driven by retail hype. Valuations are sky-high and the outlook is uncertain given the early stage of development and adoption of humanoids.”

There are still major questions about whether the robots can become a mass-market product. Harold Soh, a researcher at the National University of Singapore, told the BBC that robots are still years away from working effectively in homes. He expects the initial market to be more focused on places such as factories and hospitals.

The technology itself is also changing. Bloomberg reported that investors are increasingly focusing on “world models” and software systems that act as the “brain” of humanoid robots, rather than looking only at improvements in the physical hardware.

Unitree’s debut is therefore as much a bet on an industry as it is on one company. The huge rise in Unitree’s shares is ultimately a combination of several forces coming together, expectations of rapid growth in humanoid robotics, strong Chinese government support, enormous investor demand for new technology companies, Unitree’s position as an established player and the growing belief that AI is moving from software into the physical world.

Its IPO has also given investors their first major opportunity to publicly bet on a mainland Chinese humanoid robot maker. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ian Ma described the debut as a sign of the strength of investor interest in the sector. “Unitree’s debut surge signals strong appetite for China’s embodied AI sector,” he said. “IPO proceeds should accelerate AI development and commercialisation. The strong listing may also provide a favourable valuation read-across for Ubtech and other upcoming IPOs of other Chinese robotics rivals.”

Other Chinese robotics companies, including Leju Robotics, Deep Robotics and AgiBot, are also expected to pursue listings. Shen Meng, director at Beijing-based investment bank Chanson & Co, told Bloomberg, “As the best-known company in the humanoid robotics sector, Unitree still faces questions over the maturity of its business and commercial operations.”

Disclaimer: This article provides factual analysis only and is not, and should not be construed as, an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Investors must conduct their own independent due diligence and seek advice from a registered financial advisor in the respective jurisdiction.