Unitree soars in Shanghai debut

Summary

CNBC's Eunice Yoon reports on Unitree Robotics' Shanghai trading debut, where shares closed up over 460% after briefly surging as much as 630% intraday. The profitable humanoid robot maker has strong retail demand, high-profile backers, and Beijing's strategic-sector support, but its stock faded from highs on valuation and profit concerns. Yoon highlights both the excitement and risk in China's humanoid robot and tech IPO space.

• Unitree shares closed over 460% higher in their Shanghai debut.
• Intraday gains reached 630% before the stock faded.
• Unitree is profitable and sold 5,500 humanoid robots last year versus Tesla Optimus's zero.
• The retail IPO portion was 5,500 times oversubscribed, though the allocation was small.
• The company has big-tech and government-backed investors and operates in a strategic Beijing-backed sector.
• Investors grew cautious over a trailing P/E of 1200 and a 19% first-half net profit decline from heavy R&D.
• Unitree unveiled a jumping robot called Superman and plans to invest in embodied AI models.