According to a report by Reuters, after the Chinese robot manufacturer Unitree was listed on the Shanghai Star Market, its stock price has cumulatively dropped about 45% from the peak on its first day of trading. The market value once soared to $66 billion before retreating by about $30 billion, raising concerns about bubble risks, retail investor losses, and the IPO mechanism. On its first day of listing, it closed up 460%, far exceeding the average first-day increase of 226% for new stocks in China over the past three years, and then fell for three consecutive days, with the stock price stabilizing somewhat on Tuesday.

Unitree is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of quadruped and humanoid robots, capable of performing actions such as running, dancing, and martial arts, but broader commercialization remains limited, competing with companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics. The prospectus shows that the adjusted net profit for the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 53% year-on-year to 40 million yuan, and there are also signs of profit slowing in the first half of the year. The company was listed through a fast-track process on the Star Market, which may set a precedent for other domestic peers.

Analysts point out that investors are driven by the “technology revolution narrative,” and the first-day performance reflects market sentiment. The discrepancy between IPO pricing and opening price indicates that at least one party is misaligned; there are also views that the rise is more due to motives for raising prices for unloading, with short selling being restricted and retail investors exacerbating volatility. Some institutions believe that robot companies have high R&D investments and that orders have not yet been realized on a large scale, making it inappropriate to focus solely on short-term profits, similar to the early electric vehicle industry.