Unitree, China’s best-known humanoid robot maker, has lost nearly half its market value just days after a spectacular Shanghai debut, becoming a cautionary tale about overheated technology listings. Shares of the Hangzhou-based company closed at 603.08 yuan on Monday, down roughly 45% from the intraday peak of 1,100 yuan reached shortly after its August 19 listing on the STAR Market.
The stock opened 629% above its IPO price of 150.80 yuan and finished its first session up 460%, briefly valuing Unitree at about 445 billion yuan, or $66 billion. By Monday’s close, the market capitalization had fallen to approximately 244 billion yuan, erasing more than 200 billion yuan in value in under a week.
The selloff sharpened as investors looked more closely at the company’s financials. Unitree reported revenue of 1.7 billion yuan in 2025, with a gross margin of 60.13% for its core businesses. But adjusted net profit fell 53% to about 40 million yuan in the first quarter of 2026 as costs rose. Founder Wang Xingxing acknowledged that humanoid robots are not yet ready for broad factory deployment, saying they remain less efficient than humans at simple tasks and struggle to adapt across different jobs.
The IPO structure itself has drawn criticism. Nearly 9.8 million retail accounts competed for roughly 9.7 million available shares, while limited short-selling and regulatory pricing guidance left few tools to challenge an overheated debut. Venture capitalist Abraham Zhang said the system allows major shareholders to sell at inflated prices while retail investors absorb losses. “Those who won the IPO shares walked away with smiles,” he said.
Unitree is not a paper company. Counterpoint Research said it shipped more than 7,000 humanoid robots in the first half of 2026, giving it 31% of the global market. Yet the stock’s rapid reversal mirrors another Chinese debut: chipmaker CXMT surged 466% on its Shanghai listing a month earlier before facing similar pressure. Fund manager Dong Baozhen told Reuters that investors were carried away by the technology revolution narrative, adding that “all bubbles are doomed to burst.”
