Unitree Robotics, formally known as Yushu Technology, debuted on Shanghai's STAR Market on August 19, 2026. In early trading, shares climbed by as much as 629% against the reference price, giving the humanoid maker one of the loudest listings yet in China's robotics sector.
Key takeaways
- STAR Market debut on August 19, 2026, with shares up as much as 629% in trading
- Opening price: 1,100 yuan (about USD 163) per share
- 2025 net profit: 278 million yuan, with humanoid margins around 60%
- 86% of the bill of materials produced in-house
- In 2025 the company shipped over 5,500 humanoids and 33,000 quadrupeds, 18,000 bipedal humanoids cumulatively
From robot dogs to humanoid leader
The company was founded roughly a decade ago by Wang Xingxing. It started with quadruped robots, known for their demos and low price, before taking the lead in bipedal humanoids. The key is vertical integration?vertical integration: A model where a company makes most of its own components in-house instead of buying them from outside suppliers.: Unitree makes about 86% of its bill of materials itself, which keeps costs down and holds humanoid margins near 60%. Net profit for 2025 came in at 278 million yuan.
Scale and competition
Per figures cited by Humanoids Daily, Chinese suppliers now account for roughly 97% of global humanoid sales. Unitree is named among China's tech "Fantastic Four" alongside DJI, DeepSeek and ByteDance. The gap with Western rivals is clear: while Figure and Agility Robotics are still building their supply chains, Unitree already owns its own. Strategic investors include DeepSeek, China National Petroleum Corp and China Southern Power Grid.
Where the robots actually go
The share surge does not yet mean mass deployment. About 70% of the machines shipped go to universities and AI labs, not factories or homes. The company itself estimates the path to practical use in manufacturing and households is at least 3 to 5 years. The offering had earlier been filed at around USD 580 million, though Unitree did not spell out the final capital raised or its post-debut valuation.
Why it matters
The listing prices in not so much today's revenue as Unitree's grip on the humanoid supply chain. Vertical integration and low costs give the Chinese maker an edge that Western firms cannot quickly replicate. For the market it is a signal that the future of embodied AI may be decided not by software alone, but by the ability to make hardware cheaply and at scale.
What's next?
- US import restrictions on Chinese robotics platforms remain a key risk to Unitree's expansion outside China
- The shift from research deployments to factories and homes is dated by the company itself at 3 to 5 years
Sources
- Humanoids Daily — Unitree Soars Over 600% in Shanghai IPO
- Humanoids Daily — Unitree's Blockbuster IPO Highlights the Scramble for Embodied AI Supremacy
