Unitree, China robot maker, surges in stock market debut amid AI boom

Unitree’s shares closed up 460% on Wednesday, a significant marker as Beijing competes with Washington for global tech dominance.

HONG KONG — The robotics firm behind China’s famously backflipping humanoids leaped to a remarkable stock market debut Wednesday, with Unitree’s shares closing up 460% as investors rally behind homegrown beneficiaries of the AI boom.

Chinese humanoid and other robots have advanced at a breathtaking pace as Beijing competes for global tech dominance with Washington, which banned imports of new foreign-made robots last month over national security concerns. Unitree, the first humanoid robotics maker to go public on a mainland Chinese exchange, has won global attention with its humanoid and quadruped robots that can run, dance and do backflips and kung fu.

On Monday, the Hangzhou-based company unveiled its “Superman” robot, which it says can jump more than 6.5 feet high and has a top speed of more than 28 mph — faster than men’s 100-meter world record holder Usain Bolt.

Unitree’s stock, which was initially priced at 150.8 yuan ($22) a share, closed Wednesday at 845 yuan ($125.40) on Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR Market, valuing the company at about $50 billion. Earlier, it went as high as 1,100 yuan ($163.23), or 629%.

Add to GoogleUnitree unveils ‘Superman’ humanoid robot00:22The debut leaves Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing, who owns about a fifth of the company he founded in 2016, with wealth on paper of more than $12 billion, according to Reuters.