Unitree shares soar 600% in Shanghai IPO debut
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- Unitree Robotics debuted on Shanghai's tech-focused Star Market with shares opening at 1,100 yuan — more than 600% above the 150.8 yuan offer price — making it the first humanoid robot maker to list in mainland China.
- Unitree shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025 and posted a net profit of 278 million yuan, making it one of the few profitable companies in the sector as rivals including Tesla, BYD and Amazon race to catch up.
- Unitree's pricing edge is stark: its robot dogs start at $2,700 versus Boston Dynamics' Spot at roughly $70,000, and its G1 humanoid model sells for $13,500 while Tesla has yet to deliver its rival Optimus.
- Unitree, founded in 2016 in Hangzhou, sits inside a Chinese robotics cluster the government has called a 'strategic priority,' with the number of Chinese robotics firms growing more than threefold between 2020 and 2024.
- The Trump administration said in July it would ban new Chinese-made humanoid and quadruped robots over national security concerns; Beijing rejected the claim, accusing Washington of 'politicising' trade issues.
- Unitree's robots are competing this week in the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing and drew global attention in February with a martial arts display on China's Spring Festival Gala broadcast.
- Smaller Chinese rival UBTech listed in Hong Kong nearly three years ago, and Leju Robotics and AgiBot are expected to follow Unitree with stock market listings in the coming months.
Why it matters: Unitree's 600%+ opening gives China's domestic robotics sector a flagship listing that anchors investor enthusiasm against Washington's import restrictions. With Unitree's robot dogs priced at $2,700 versus Boston Dynamics' $70,000 Spot and the G1 humanoid at $13,500, US rivals face a cost gap that Christine Wan of the Peterson Institute warned could leave global manufacturers reluctant to decouple from Chinese suppliers.
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