YICAI | Chinese Robot Makers Soar as Unitree Closes In on USD619 Million IPO

(Yicai) May 26 -- Stocks of Chinese humanoid robotics developers surged after the Shanghai Stock Exchange said it will review Unitree Robotics' initial public offering application on June 1, bringing the fast-growing startup a step closer to a CNY4.2 billion (USD619.4 million) listing.

Swancor Advanced Materials [SHA: 688585] surged 18 percent to close at CNY221 (USD32) today, while CSB [SHE: 300718] soared 15 percent before ending 9.4 percent higher at CNY86.49 (USD12). Several others, including Shenzhen Wote Advanced Materials [SHE: 002886] and Sunyes Manufacturing Zhejiang Holding [SHE: 002388], jumped by their 10 percent daily trading limits.

Hangzhou-based Unitree, which specializes in high-performance general-purpose humanoids, robo-dogs, robot components, and embodied artificial intelligence models, had its IPO application accepted by the Shanghai bourse on March 20.

The proceeds of the raise are earmarked for developing intelligent robots, new smart robots, robot hardware, and building an intelligent robot factory, according to its prospectus.

The company swung to CNY590 million (USD87 million) a net profit last year from a loss of CNY18 million (USD2.6 million) in 2023, while operating revenue soared more than 10-fold to CNY1.7 billion (USD250 million), per the prospectus. And the gross margin of its core business swelled to 60 percent from 40 percent over the same period.

But profit tumbled in the first quarter of this year as breakneck growth began to cool. Net income fell 53 percent from a year ago to CNY40.2 million (USD5.9 million) in the three months ended March 31, even as revenue climbed 69 percent to CNY420 million ($61.8 million), a sharp slowdown from the 333 percent surge recorded a year earlier.

Unitree said that it hiked spending on research and development as well as new product development in areas such as robot hardware, structural design, embodied AI large models and motion-control algorithms in the quarter. It also expanded its research and development team, which pushed up research expenses by CNY38.3 million (USD5.6 million) from a year ago.

On top of that, Unitree spent heavily on marketing and brand promotion during the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala at the start of the year, which also increased sales expenses and dragged on first-quarter profit.

https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/chinese-robotmakers-soar-as-unitree-closes-in-on-usd619-million-ipo