HANGZHOU, CHINA – JUNE 17: An Unitree G1 humanoid robot presents martial arts and dance performance for tourists at West Lake scenic area on June 17, 2026 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China. (Photo by Long Wei/VCG via Getty Images)
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Unitree Robotics shares rose 542% in early trading Wednesday as the Chinese humanoid robot maker made its stock market debut in Shanghai.
The Hangzhou-based robot maker, whose backflipping and dancing machines have drawn global attention, raised about 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in its IPO, according to its prospectus. Shares rose to 968.1 yuan apiece, after hitting as high as 1,100 yuan earlier.
The IPO also drew backing from Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which invested about 140.8 million yuan, according to a company filing. Unitree’s existing investors also include Chinese tech giant Tencent.
Unitree’s product lineup spans bipedal humanoid robots that can walk and manipulate objects with dexterous hands, as well as four-legged robots used for tasks such as hazard detection.
Ahead of its listing, Unitree on Monday unveiled a new humanoid robot called “Superman,” which it says can jump two meters from a standing position and run at speeds of up to 12.66 meters per second.
Unitree is the latest high-profile Chinese tech name to hit Shanghai’s STAR Market, following memory chipmaker CXMT’s listing last month, when its shares soared 466% on their first day of trading.
Morgan Stanley in June raised its forecast for China’s humanoid robot shipments to 50,000 units this year, nearly double its previous projection of 28,000. The bank estimated China’s humanoid robot market will grow from $2 billion this year to $15 billion by 2030.
The bank further expects pilot projects in China to begin moving into broader deployments in the second half of this year, with full-size humanoids forecast to account for about 30% of shipments, rising to 70% by 2028.
