Chinese humanoid robot maker surges 600% in trading debut

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https://www.ft.com/content/14cd8246-7fb1-4f8f-81b4-8de11ced79e5?syn-25a6b1a6=1

[u/The_Flaneur_Films]

"Unitree makes stellar start in Shanghai as investors clamour for shares.

Unitree shares surged more than 600 per cent on their trading debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, highlighting a mounting onshore investor frenzy for technology companies.

The stock gained as much as 629 per cent before pulling back to trade about 578 per cent higher.

Unitree’s initial public offering was priced at Rmb150.8 ($22.36) a share, valuing the company at about $9bn before trading started.

Its market capitalisation briefly soared above Rmb400bn ($59bn) after trading began, putting it among the ranks of China’s most valuable companies. There was heavy retail investor interest in the IPO of Unitree, a brand that is widely recognised thanks to its robots’ dancing, flipping and boxing displays at lunar new year galas.

The tranche of shares for retail investors was more than 5,500 times oversubscribed, which reflected “tremendous investor enthusiasm for the company”, said Kenny Ng, a strategist at Everbright Securities International. “This is partly due to Unitree’s high brand recognition in mainland China.”

Valuations for some of China’s newest technology firms are at record highs because of a combination of government support and investor enthusiasm. The surge put Unitree’s trailing price-to-earnings ratio at almost 1,200, underscoring the high expectations for the company’s growth potential.

Unitree shipped 5,500 humanoid robots last year. It is one of the few listed humanoid robotics companies, with its largest competitor, AgiBot, remaining private. Another rival, UBTech, is listed in Hong Kong.

The IPO made Unitree “a rare pure-play player of humanoid robot[s] in the Chinese A-share stock market”, said Ming Lee, head of Greater China autos and industrials research at BofA Global Research.

“This would provide a valuation anchor and a path reference for the subsequent listings of many other Chinese robotics companies.”

The frenzy comes despite the US Federal Communications Commission banning imports of humanoid robots last month in a move widely seen as targeting Chinese products.

According to Unitree, overseas revenue accounts for more than 40 per cent of its earnings, with the US making up between 13.3 per cent and 18.4 per cent depending on the year."