China's leading humanoid robot manufacturer Unitree Robotics closed up 460% on its first day of trading on the Shanghai stock market on the 19th.

Making its debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market (a market dedicated to tech stocks), Unitree finished the session at 845 yuan (approx. 174,822 won), up 460.34% from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 150.80 yuan.

The stock soared as much as 629.44% right after the market opened at 9:30 AM local time, spiking to 1,100 yuan (approx. 227,000 won), before giving up some of its gains later in the session.

China's STAR Market does not impose daily price fluctuation limits for the first five trading days following a listing.

China's The Paper reported that based on the closing price, Unitree's market capitalization reached approximately 341.8 billion yuan (approx. 70.7 trillion won), while the profit per subscription lot (500 shares) compared to the IPO price hit 474,600 yuan (approx. 98.19 million won), breaking the all-time record for both the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

The Associated Press assessed Unitree's surging debut as "an example showing investors' optimism toward China's technological development."

Through its IPO, Unitree newly issued 44,460,000-plus shares, accounting for 10% of its total shares on a post-IPO basis.

The company announced last March that the raised funds will be funneled into artificial intelligence (AI) model research for robots, new product development, and the expansion of production facilities.

More than 8.08 million shares, representing 20% of the newly issued volume, were allocated to nine strategic investors.

AI startup DeepSeek, led by Liang Wenfeng, and hedge fund High-Flyer were among those allocated a total of 1,191,600 shares through strategic allotments and new share subscriptions.

Unitree's stock surge instantly propelled founder Wang Xingxing to the top spot among billionaires born in the 1990s, known as "Jiulinghou."

According to The Paper, following the completion of the new share issuance, Wang's stake stands at 31.29% combined through direct (21.44%) and indirect (9.85%) holdings.

Calculated based on the closing price, his stake is valued at 106.9 billion yuan (approx. 22.1197 trillion won), far surpassing Liu Jingkang, the founder of Insta360 (approx. 20.2 billion yuan), who previously led the "Jiulinghou" rich list.

Unitree's existing shareholders, including Chinese big tech firms and venture capital (VC) funds, also secured massive valuation gains.

According to data released by Unitree, three entities including Meituan affiliate Hanhai Information, GalaxyZ, and Chengdu Longzhu hold a combined 8.68% stake in Unitree on a post-listing basis, giving them a stake value of 29.7 billion yuan (approx. 6.1476 trillion won) based on the day's closing price.

An affiliate of Shunwei Capital, founded by Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, also held a 3.98% stake in Unitree, recording a stake value of 13.6 billion yuan (approx. 2.815 billion won) at the close.

In addition, Tencent Technology (0.54%), Alibaba Group subsidiary Hangzhou Haowei (0.40%), and Ant Group subsidiary Shanghai Yunyang (0.20%) were also listed among the major shareholders.

Founded in 2016, Unitree previously drew attention during China's biggest holiday, the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) television special earlier this year, by showcasing a robot martial arts performance that was noticeably more advanced than the previous year.

After filing for an IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on March 20, Unitree passed the listing committee's review on June 1, setting a record as the fastest process on the STAR Market (73 days).

It subsequently sailed through approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission early last month.

With this IPO, Unitree became the first humanoid manufacturer to list on the Chinese mainland stock market.

Another major humanoid competitor, Ubtech Robotics, is listed on the Hong Kong stock market.

Unitree's revenue last year surged 335% from 2024 to 1.71 billion yuan (approx. 356.5 billion won).

Net profit came in at 287.6 million yuan (approx. 60 billion won), up 204% from 2024.

Revenue for the first quarter of this year rose 68.49% year-on-year to 423 million yuan (approx. 88.2 billion won), though the growth rate slowed due to a base effect compared to the explosive 332.64% surge recorded in the first quarter of last year.

Unitree's projected revenue forecast for the first half of the year ranges between 1.052 billion and 1.128 billion yuan (approx. 219.4 billion to 235.2 billion won).

(Photo: Yonhap News)