Shares still up nearly 500% at midday after 629% peak
Unitree, one of China’s largest humanoid robot makers, raised around 6.1 billion yuan ($904 million) in its Wednesday listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-style STAR market, according to The Associated Press. Shares were priced at 150.80 yuan ($22.36) apiece.
The company’s shares soared as much as 629% in their public trading debut Wednesday, and were still up nearly 500% as of midday, the AP reported. The debut marked the latest highlight of investor optimism over China’s technological advances.
Unitree was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Wang Xingxing in Hangzhou, the eastern Chinese technology hub.
Advanced robotics, often referred to as “embodied” artificial intelligence, is a key sector in the heated technology rivalry between China and the U.S., according to the AP. China leads the U.S. in terms of production capacity of humanoid robots and the ability to scale up manufacturing, the wire service reported.