Assault in Shanghai: Humanoid manufacturer Unitree Robotics soared 550% on its first day of trading

Shares of Unitree Robotics jumped today (Wednesday) by approximately 550% in their debut on the Shanghai STAR Market. The manufacturer of humanoid robots raised 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in its initial public offering, at a valuation of about $9 billion. The share price was set at 151 yuan in the IPO and surged at the opening of trading to 1,100 yuan (a jump of more than 600%) — and later retreated slightly to 970 yuan. The company's market value jumped to nearly $65 billion.

Among the prominent investors in Unitree are the Chinese AI giant DeepSeek and the Chinese technology giant Tencent. Unitree's products include robots with two legs and hands with fingers, capable of performing a variety of tasks, as well as four-legged robots used for tasks such as hazard detection. Ahead of the IPO, Unitree unveiled a new robot named "Superman," which it says is capable of jumping to a height of 2 meters from a standstill and running at a speed of 12.66 meters per second. (Reuters)

Unitree is just the latest in a series of Chinese technology companies that have gone public this year on the Shanghai STAR Market, after the memory chip manufacturer CXMT went public there last month, with its shares soaring 466% on their first day of trading.

Market Outlook

Morgan Stanley has raised its forecast for the number of humanoid robots to be sold in China this year to 50,000, compared to a previous forecast of 28,000. The bank estimates that the humanoid robot market in China will grow from about $2 billion this year to about $15 billion by 2030. The number of robots sold annually is expected to reach 446,000 by then. (South China Morning Post)

Morgan Stanley also predicts that experimental projects by Chinese manufacturers will move to the production stage in the second half of the year, with 30% of total production being human-sized robots — a rate expected to rise to 70% by 2028.