Chinese robotic stocks extended a recent rally spurred by expectations of shorter timelines for mass deployment, with upcoming earnings from industry leader Yushu Technology Co. poised to provide another boost. Yushu Technology, also known as Unitree Robotics, jumped as much as 15%, bringing gains so far in October to about 60%. Shandong Daye Co., which makes tendon ropes used in robotic dexterous hands, rose as much as 3%, taking its monthly advance to more than 70%. OPT Machine Vision Tech Co. and Shenzhen Zhaowei Machinery & Electronic Co. also climbed. The sector bucked this month’s slump in Chinese AI stocks driven by concerns about frothy valuations and intense domestic competition. A key catalyst was comments by Unitree Chief Executive Officer Xingxing Wang that breakthroughs in humanoid robots may come in as little as two years, sooner than his earlier estimate of a decade. The outlook prompted JPMorgan Chase & Co. to double-upgrade Unitree to overweight.
“The rally partly reflects investor speculation ahead of its earnings release,” Shen Meng, director at Beijing-based investment bank Chanson & Co., said of Unitree. “While I’m cautious about its near-term commercialization prospects, earnings may still be strong on revenue from demonstrations and entertainment.” Unitree’s third-quarter revenue growth is likely to climb, with trade data suggesting firmer overseas demand, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. China’s intelligent bionic robot exports amounted to about 454 million yuan ($68 million) over the July-August period, equivalent to 64% of the total for the first half of the year, BI said. Unitree is due to announce results later Wednesday.
China has seized an early lead in robotics over the US. While Silicon Valley still controls the most advanced AI models and an abundance of top-tier engineering talent, Chinese companies accounted for 97% of global humanoid shipments in the first half of this year. Incredible advances in artificial intelligence models in recent months underpin Wang’s enthusiasm, who last week said Unitree will expand production capacity to meet demand for potentially tens of millions of machines. Policy developments have added to optimism. The government said China will accelerate the use of AI, robotics and other emerging technologies across the commerce chain to increase supply for the domestic market.
To be sure, the humanoid robot industry is still in the early stages of commercialization. Unitree warned of uncertainty in revenue growth after its shares surged, saying risks surrounding the technology, downstream demand and supply-chain capabilities remain. “The landscape has shifted following the 2026 World Physical AI Conference in Hangzhou,” JPMorgan analysts including Karen Li wrote in a note dated Sunday. Rapid advances in frontier models are moving the industry bottleneck “from ‘brain’ to the ‘last mile’ interaction with the real world and making the installed base and platform positioning more valuable,” they said.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing