A Unitree G1 humanoid robot performs a dance at an international robotics exhibition held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2025. [Getty Images]
A Unitree G1 humanoid robot performs a dance at an international robotics exhibition held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2025. [Getty Images]

Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree (Yushu Technology) saw its share price surge more than 400 percent on its first day of trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Shares of Unitree jumped 629.44 percent to 1,100 yuan ($163) per share immediately after the Star Market — Shanghai's technology-focused board, also known as the Ke Chuang Ban — opened at 9:30 a.m. local time, pushing the company's market capitalization to 444.9 billion yuan. The Star Market imposes no price-movement limits during a newly listed stock's first five trading days.

The stock later pared its gains, falling to 890 yuan per share — up 490.19 percent — by 10:20 a.m., but still nearly 600 percent above the IPO price of 150.8 yuan per share.

Through the IPO, Unitree issued approximately 40.45 million new shares, representing 10 percent of total shares outstanding after the offering. The company has said it will use the proceeds to fund AI model research for its robots, develop new products and expand its production facilities.

About 8.09 million shares — 20 percent of the newly issued stock — were allocated to nine strategic investors. AI startup DeepSeek, led by Liang Wenfeng, and hedge fund High-Flyer received a combined allocation of approximately 1.19 million shares through strategic placement and new share subscriptions. Unitree founder Wang Xingxing holds a total stake of 33.35 percent, directly owning 23.82 percent and indirectly holding 9.53 percent.

Founded in 2016, Unitree has grown into one of China's leading humanoid robot companies. The firm has regularly featured its robots in special performances during the Spring Festival (Chunjie) television gala — China's biggest holiday — and this year drew widespread praise for how closely its robots' martial arts and dance movements resembled those of a human.

Unitree filed for an IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on March 20 and cleared the listing review committee on June 1, passing the review in just over two months — breaking the Star Market's previous fastest-listing record of 73 days. It then sailed through approval from China's securities regulator, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, in early July.

The listing drew additional attention as the first humanoid robot manufacturer to debut on China's mainland stock market. Rival Chinese humanoid robot company Ubtech is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Unitree posted sales of 1.71 billion yuan last year, a 335 percent increase from the prior year, while net profit rose 204 percent year-on-year to 287.6 million yuan. First-quarter sales this year came in at 423 million yuan, up 68.49 percent from the same period a year earlier.

For the first half of this year, Unitree has projected sales in the range of 1.05 billion to 1.13 billion yuan.


kate01@heraldcorp.com