HONG KONG — The robotics firm behind China’s famously backflipping humanoids leapt to a remarkable stock market debut on Wednesday, with Unitree’s shares closing up 460% as investors rally behind homegrown beneficiaries of the A.I.boom.Chinese humanoid and other robots have advanced at a breathtaking pace as Beijing competes for global tech dominance with Washington, which banned imports of new foreign-made robots last month over national security concerns.
Unitree, the first humanoid robotics maker to go public on a mainland Chinese exchange, has won global attention with its humanoid and quadruped robots that can run, dance, and do backflips and kung fu.On Monday, the Hangzhou-based company unveiled its new “Superman” robot, which it says can jump more than 6.5 feet high and has a top speed of more than 28 miles per hour — faster than men’s 100-meter world record holder Usain Bolt.Unitree’s stock, which was initially priced at 150.8 yuan ($22) a share, closed Wednesday at 845 yuan ($125.40) on Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR Market, valuing the company at about $50 billion.
Earlier, it went as high as 1,100 yuan ($163.23), or 629%.Add to GoogleU.S.bans many new foreign made robots01:27The debut leaves Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing, who owns about a fifth of the company he founded in 2016, with wealth on paper of more than $12 billion, according to Reuters.Though Unitree is profitable, unlike most of its competitors, its products are mainly being sold to universities and research institutions rather than being used commercially.
And it is being cut off from the U.S.market under the ban, though existing models can continue to be sold.
Visitors interact with Go2 robotic dog at the Unitree Robotics store in Shanghai in May.VCG via Getty ImagesUnitree CEO Wang Xingxing, left, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, right, at a Unitree Robotics showroom in Zhejiang in Feb.Michael Kappeler / dpa/picture alliance via Getty ImagesIn June, the U.S.Defense Depa...