Unitree Robotics, the Hangzhou-based humanoid robot maker, has seen its stock plummet roughly 45% from the intraday high reached on its first day of trading on Shanghai's STAR Market, erasing more than 200 billion yuan ($30 billion) in market capitalization. The shares closed Monday at 603.08 yuan, down from 845 yuan at the end of its debut session, though still about four times the IPO price of 150.80 yuan.
The dramatic reversal marks a sharp contrast to the euphoric reception on August 19, when the stock opened 629% above its issue price and closed 460% higher, briefly valuing the company at around 445 billion yuan ($66 billion). By Monday's close, that valuation had fallen to roughly 244 billion yuan.
Valuation vs. commercial reality
Unitree entered the public market with stronger fundamentals than most humanoid robot makers. Revenue surged more than fourfold to 1.7 billion yuan in 2025, and the company was profitable. The IPO raised about 6.1 billion yuan. However, the growth picture has become less clear: adjusted first-quarter profit fell about 53% to roughly 40 million yuan as costs rose.
Founder Wang Xingxing acknowledged at the World Robot Conference that humanoid robots are not yet ready for broad factory deployment. They remain less efficient than humans at simple tasks and struggle to generalize across different jobs. That gap between technological promise and commercial use is central to the selloff.
HSBC analysts had warned before the listing that the recent surge in humanoid shipments could be difficult to sustain without meaningful improvements in AI-model capability. The company shipped more than 5,500 humanoids in 2025, making it one of the world's largest suppliers, but the market is now questioning whether that volume can translate into sustainable profits.
IPO mechanics amplified the swing
The IPO itself contributed to the volatility. Nearly 9.8 million retail accounts competed for roughly 9.7 million shares in the online tranche, creating extreme scarcity. The STAR Market's limited initial float, combined with restricted short-selling, left few avenues for skeptical investors to push back against an overheated debut.
This dynamic has revived scrutiny of China's IPO pricing system, where regulators play a larger role in vetting and pricing listings than in many developed markets. The result can be a sharp transfer of risk: investors who win IPO allocations benefit from conservative issue prices, while retail buyers entering after the opening surge face much larger downside.
Testing China's robotics boom
The selloff does not necessarily signal a failure of China's robotics strategy. Beijing continues to treat embodied AI as a strategic industry, and Unitree remains one of the world's largest humanoid robot suppliers. Nankai University finance professor Tian Lihui told Xinhua that the sector is moving from technology validation towards commercial-value verification, where profitability becomes the key test.
Nomura analysts remain more constructive, arguing that Unitree's rapid product development gives it a first-mover advantage. That view is echoed by some investors who see the current pullback as a correction rather than a fundamental breakdown.
The first week as a public company has underscored a key lesson: technology leadership alone is no longer enough. Public investors are now pricing in execution, margins, and real-world orders, rather than spectacle and policy enthusiasm alone. As the broader robotics sector continues to evolve, similar valuation adjustments may follow for other companies riding the wave of China's physical AI push. For context, Goldman's analysis of China's physical AI exporters highlights the competitive landscape, while the debate over Unitree's debut remains a focal point for investors.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
