Unitree robots became an internet meme long before the company became a financial phenomenon: a humanoid performing backflips, or a robot dog opening doors with its paw—this content circulated with millions of views. Now the hype has turned into money: Unitree Robotics was valued at $9 billion ahead of its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the company will become the first humanoid robot manufacturer whose shares will trade on mainland China.
The figures look convincing. For 2025, revenue quadrupled to 1.7 billion yuan. But a surprise lurks in the structure: humanoid robots for the first time surpassed quadruped robots in revenue, generating 867.8 million yuan. In other words, the company that entered the market with robot dogs for industrial patrol and entertainment is now betting on humanoid form—the kind that just five years ago was considered a marketing gimmick, not a business model.
Profit falls as revenue grows
A practical nuance easy to lose amid the loud valuation: in the first quarter of 2026, Unitree's revenue grew 68.5%, while adjusted profit fell 52.6%. The company is spending on research, development, and marketing more than it earns from sales growth. This is a classic situation for a scaling tech company—and at the same time, a signal to investors: an IPO is needed not to celebrate success, but to cover the hole created by the race for technological leadership.
13.3%—the figure that defines the future
The most practical moment in the entire story is the share of the American market in Unitree's revenue. It's only 13.3%, but this very segment came under fire after Washington imposed restrictions on imports of Chinese humanoid and quadruped robots. For comparison: SpaceX after its IPO on June 12 with a valuation of $1.77 trillion lost $400 billion in market capitalization in one day—an example of how quickly the market reprices even the hottest tech stories.
Unitree is playing a different game. The company is deliberately building a manufacturing base at home, attracting strategic investor DeepSeek—also a Chinese AI player—and preparing for the possibility that the doors to the American market may close completely. The question is not whether it will manage to raise $900 million at the placement on August 10—there is demand for tech IPOs in China. The question is whether the domestic and Asian market will be enough to compensate for the loss of even those 13% of revenue if US-China technological confrontation escalates into a complete ban.
