Ubtech Robotics Braces for Unitree IPO as AI Recognition and Operational Milestones Mount

Ubtech Robotics navigates rival Unitree's upcoming IPO, showcasing strong revenue growth, Forbes AI recognition, and new consumer robot Walker C1, while narrowing net losses.

The coming days will test whether Ubtech Robotics can separate itself from the broader humanoid sector. While the company has racked up an impressive string of operational wins — a Forbes AI honour, deepening ties in South Korea, and a new consumer robot — the imminent stock-market debut of rival Unitree Robotics threatens to reset investor sentiment across the industry.

Unitree is set to list on Shanghai’s STAR Market in early June, but its latest numbers give pause. The rival’s adjusted net profit tumbled 52.55% in the first quarter, and it has already trimmed its valuation expectations. The IPO will effectively become a sector benchmark, potentially pulling down multiples for peers including Ubtech. Asian robotics stocks currently trade at a median price-to-earnings ratio of 22, a 21% discount to their US counterparts.

Ubtech, however, is betting that its premium industrial focus will command a valuation gap of its own. The case got a boost from Forbes China, which placed the company on its “Top 50 Chinese AI-Tech Companies” list alongside ZTE, Tencent Music Entertainment and X Square Robot. The recognition shifts the narrative away from pure hardware toward embodied AI — machines that operate autonomously in messy factory and logistics environments.

The financial trajectory supports that shift. Ubtech’s annual revenue jumped 53.3% to 2.001 billion yuan, with full-sized humanoid robots and related services surging from 35.6 million yuan to 820.6 million yuan. Gross profit doubled to 753.8 million yuan, and the net loss shrank from 1.16 billion yuan to 789.8 million yuan — still deep in the red but clearly narrowing. Management targets a gross margin of 40% to 43% for 2026, up from 37.7% last year.

Ubtech deepened its South Korean push on 28 May, when Polaris AI announced it had completed operational training for the Walker S2 alongside Ubtech engineers from headquarters. Polaris received the development environment and coding files for motion control, including wrist articulation. The South Korean firm holds distribution rights for Ubtech’s commercial robot platform in the country and plans to roll out pilot projects at its own manufacturing subsidiaries — Polaris Sewon, Polaris Uno and Polaris AI Pharma.

On the consumer front, Ubtech unveiled the Walker C1 at the Chain Expo 2026, a full-sized humanoid capable of waltzing and ballet routines alongside human dancers. The robot, designed for hotels, exhibitions and visitor centres, is the first hardware product under the UWORLD consumer brand that founder Zhou Jian introduced in May. Ubtech became an official partner of the expo.

Meanwhile, a two-year pilot project at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, run by Japan Airlines in partnership with GMO AI & Robotics, is using both Ubtech’s Walker E and Unitree’s G1 for ground handling tasks — marking the first deployment of humanoids in Japanese airport operations. Ubtech also signed a deal in May with Honda’s Chinese trading arm to place humanoids in industrial manufacturing, logistics and warehousing.

Shareholders at the 7 May annual general meeting in Shenzhen approved a buyback mandate authorising the repurchase of up to 10% of the company’s H-shares for cancellation — a signal that the board considers the current valuation too low. Nine ordinary resolutions and three special resolutions passed, with the latter requiring a two-thirds majority.

The macro picture remains mixed. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index slipped to 50.0 in May from 50.3 in April, exactly at the expansion threshold. The production sub-index held at 51.2, but new orders contracted to 49.9 — a warning sign for any automation supplier. The private Caixin manufacturing PMI is due on 1 June, with analysts expecting 51.5, down from 52.2. The services PMI follows on 3 June, forecast at 54.3 against 52.6 previously.

Technically, Ubtech’s stock closed Friday at €11.41, down 6.9% on the day and trading below all major moving averages. The 50-day average sits at €11.73 and the 100-day at €12.91. The relative strength index is at 44.3 — neutral but lacking upward momentum. Despite the weak chart, all 12 analysts rate the stock a buy, with a consensus target of €18.50, implying more than 60% upside from current levels.

Near-term catalysts include the delivery ramp, a logistics pilot with German drugstore chain Rossmann that could produce Ubtech’s first firm orders outside China, and the PMI readings on 3 June. Sector funding remains strong: more than 30 billion yuan has flowed into over 200 financing rounds since the start of 2026, or roughly 330 million yuan per day, according to Gasgoo.

Ubtech ended the year with around 4.9 billion yuan in cash, a buffer that covers the ambitious target of 10,000 humanoids delivered in 2026 — even as the share price continues to struggle against a backdrop of macro caution and an impending sector benchmark.