Unitree loses 30 billion dollars as shares plunge 45 percent after debut peak

Unitree’s stock has dropped about 45 percent from its debut peak on the Shanghai STAR Market, wiping out roughly 30 billion dollars in valuation just days after a spectacular 460 percent first‑day surge. Analysts say the sharp reversal reflects structural issues in China’s IPO system, where strict pricing controls and limited short‑selling allow inflated listings to go unchallenged. This makes it easy for hype around “hard tech” companies to push valuations far beyond what their current business supports. In Unitree’s case, the company’s revenue and profit trends are far more modest, and real commercial adoption of its humanoid robots remains limited despite viral demonstrations. Retail investors were hit hardest: demand for the IPO exceeded supply by 8,000 times, leaving almost everyone forced to buy at inflated secondary‑market prices. Some fund managers describe the debut as a bubble driven by excitement rather than fundamentals, while others argue robotics should be judged on long‑term potential. The episode mirrors similar volatility in other strategic Chinese tech listings and raises the question of whether Unitree’s showcase robots can translate into sustained, real‑world demand.

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