tech
Unitree, famous for its dancing robots, surges by 460% on its trading debut, lifting valuation to $66 billion, far ahead of U.S. competitors
Shares in Unitree, one of China’s largest manufacturers of humanoid robots, closed their first day of trading by more than 460%, showing strong investor appetite for China’s robotics sector. Unitree raised around $900 million in its IPO on Shanghai’s STAR Market, the city’s board for technology startups, at a valuation of $9 billion. After today’s surge, Unitree is now worth around $66 billion, ahead of larger Chinese tech firms like Baidu and JD.com. It’s also worth more than the most valuable U.S. robotics company, Figure AI, which got a $39 billion valuation in a September 2025 funding round.
TL;DR
- Unitree's shares surged over 460% on their first day of trading on Shanghai's STAR Market, increasing the company's valuation to approximately $66 billion.
- The company raised around $900 million in its IPO at a $9 billion valuation, now surpassing larger Chinese tech firms and U.S. robotics companies like Figure AI.
- Unitree reported 1.7 billion yuan ($252 million) in revenue and 600 million yuan ($89 million) in profit in 2025, with nearly half of its revenue from overseas sales.
- Despite the strong market reception, analysts express mixed views due to ongoing software challenges and a U.S. ban on foreign-made robots, which affects Unitree's significant U.S. market access.
- The IPO surge is part of a broader trend of booming Chinese AI and hardware IPOs, with other companies like ChangXin Memory Technologies also seeing significant first-day gains.