Unitree Robotics surges 629% to US$66 billion valuation in Shanghai share debut
Stock jumps as first listing by humanoid robot maker draws 9.8 million retail investment accounts competing for just 9.7 million shares
The opening pop from its IPO price of 150.80 yuan gave way to a pullback later in the session, with the stock closing at 845 yuan. That still represented a 460 per cent gain on day one, leaving the company with a market valuation of about 342 billion yuan. About 23.2 billion yuan worth of Unitree shares changed hands during the debut.
The blockbuster debut has created colossal paper wealth for early stakeholders. Wang Xingxing, the company’s 36-year-old founder, holds about 121.4 million shares, putting his net worth at about 103 billion yuan at market close.
Meituan, Unitree’s largest outside shareholder, saw its 8.7 per cent post-IPO stake rise to nearly 30 billion yuan by market close, yielding a return of about 70 times its original investment.
Unitree’s gains stood out against a declining overall market, although its debut failed to spark a broader tide across the robotics sector. The Star Market Composite Index fell 7.2 per cent, while the benchmark Shanghai Composite dropped 2.4 per cent.
Unitree’s debut coincides with the opening of the World Robot Conference in Beijing, one of China’s biggest annual robotics gatherings. The conference runs from Wednesday to Sunday and features product launches, industry forums and robot contests.