# Unitree's Shanghai debut mints a $66bn robot maker, briefly

> Unitree Robotics shares opened up 629% in Shanghai, closing 460% higher.

*Shares in the humanoid robot maker surged 629% at the open even as the wider Shanghai market fell.*

By Bez · InsidersFeed
Canonical: https://insidersfeed.com/news/unitree-s-shanghai-debut-mints-a-66bn-robot-maker-briefly

Unitree Robotics' listing on Shanghai's STAR Market landed against a falling index and still tore through it. The humanoid robot maker opened at 1,100 yuan on 19 August 2026, 629% above its 150.80 yuan IPO price, briefly valuing the company at roughly $66 billion. By the close it had settled at 845 yuan, up 460%, for a market value of about 342 billion yuan — even as the STAR Composite fell 7.2% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 2.4% on the day.

The company, officially Hangzhou Yushu Technology, is the first general-purpose humanoid robot maker to list on mainland China's stock market. It raised about 6.1 billion yuan by selling 40.45 million shares, 10% of the company, comfortably beating its 4.2 billion yuan target. According to [the South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3364499/unitree-robotics-surges-629-us66-billion-valuation-shanghai-share-debut), 9.8 million retail accounts chased just 9.7 million shares on offer, and Caixin called it the biggest first-day jump for a new listing this year. About 23.2 billion yuan of stock changed hands, [CNBC reported](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/china-backflipping-robot-maker-unitree-jumps-shanghai-ipo.html).

The payout is concentrated at the top. Founder Wang Xingxing, 36, holds about 121.4 million shares, worth roughly 103 billion yuan at the closing price. Meituan's 8.7% stake rose to nearly 30 billion yuan, about 70 times its original investment. Tencent also backs the company, and DeepSeek put in roughly 140.8 million yuan.

Unitree enters public markets as the number two player in a market it helped build: the company shipped 5,900 humanoid robots in the first half of 2026, a 31% global share, behind Agibot. Chinese manufacturers together accounted for more than 97% of global humanoid shipments in that period.

## The Insider view

A first-day pop this size, on a day the broader tech board fell 7.2%, says less about Unitree's fundamentals than about how starved investors are for a pure-play bet on humanoid robotics with real shipment volumes behind it. The retail oversubscription — 9.8 million accounts for 9.7 million shares — shows demand for exposure to China's robotics buildout has outrun supply of listed vehicles to access it.

The real winners are early backers: Meituan's 70-times return and Wang Xingxing's 103 billion yuan stake show how much value has shifted from private to public markets in one session. The risk sits with anyone buying at the close. A 460% first-day gain on a stock now worth 342 billion yuan prices in years of shipment growth that Unitree, still second to Agibot by volume, has yet to deliver.

## Key takeaways

- Unitree opened 629% above its IPO price, closing 460% up despite a falling STAR Market
- IPO raised 6.1bn yuan, nearly 50% above target, with retail demand outstripping shares 1,000-fold
- Founder Wang Xingxing's stake hit 103bn yuan; Meituan's stake returned about 70x its investment

## Sources

- [Unitree Robotics surges 629% to US$66 billion valuation in Shanghai share debut](https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3364499/unitree-robotics-surges-629-us66-billion-valuation-shanghai-share-debut) — South China Morning Post, 2026-08-19
- [China's backflipping robot maker Unitree closes 460% higher in Shanghai debut](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/china-backflipping-robot-maker-unitree-jumps-shanghai-ipo.html) — CNBC, 2026-08-19