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Robotics

Robot IPOs Face Closer Scrutiny as 36 Listed Firms Reveal Sharp Commercialization Divide

A QbitAI ROBO review of 36 listed robot-related companies in A-share and Hong Kong markets shows humanoid revenue is emerging at a few firms, while most remain far from stable profits and cash flow as regulators reportedly slow some humanoid IPOs.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-30 15:49

The IPO wave has continued. Unitree listed on the STAR Market, while Mech-Mind and Youdi Robot listed in Hong Kong. At the end of September, Benmo Technology and Huanchuang Technology also went public. No special regulatory rules have been made public, but open information points to stricter criteria: revenue must be real, sustainable and replicable; loss trends and profit prospects must withstand questions; and products must move from technical demonstrations to stable customers and scale delivery.

The QbitAI ROBO list is not exhaustive. It covers 18 companies mainly delivering complete machines and application solutions and 18 supplying systems and components. It includes humanoid players such as Unitree and UBTech; industrial robot makers Estun, Siasun and EFORT; collaborative robot companies Dobot, Rokae and Huayan; warehouse logistics and service robot firms such as Geek+; and home robot companies including Ecovacs and Roborock. It also includes component and control suppliers such as Leaderdrive, Kinco, Inovance and Tuopu Group.

Humanoid revenue has started to be disclosed separately. UBTech reported 2025 revenue of about 2.001 billion yuan, with full-size embodied humanoid robot products and solutions contributing about 821 million yuan, or 41.0 percent. In the first half of 2026, that category contributed about 590 million yuan, or 46.5 percent. Unitree reported 2025 revenue of about 1.699 billion yuan, with humanoid robots contributing about 868 million yuan and quadruped robots about 698 million yuan. Humanoid robots accounted for about 51.1 percent of its total revenue. Dobot reported 2025 revenue of about 492 million yuan, with embodied intelligent robots contributing about 20.04 million yuan, or 4.1 percent; in the first half of 2026, that revenue rose to about 45.23 million yuan, or 14.3 percent, while six-axis collaborative robots still contributed about 62.2 percent.

The definitions differ. Unitree discloses humanoid robot revenue, UBTech discloses full-size embodied humanoid robot products and solutions, and Dobot separately lists embodied intelligent robot revenue. The proportions show how important the business is inside each company, but they are not directly comparable as measures of technical capability. Even so, the fact that humanoid revenue is now being separated out marks a shift. Investors are no longer looking only at product launches or cooperation agreements; they are checking how much was sold, how much it contributes to total revenue, and whether those revenues persist in the next reporting period.

Supply-chain companies require a more granular reading. Tuopu Group reported 2025 revenue of about 29.581 billion yuan, with robot actuator revenue of about 13.59 million yuan, or about 0.046 percent of total revenue. A company of nearly 30 billion yuan in revenue can still have robot-related business as a very small new source. Entering a supply chain, winning a design award, receiving orders, reaching volume supply and recognizing revenue are different commercial stages. Using one phrase such as commercialization landing can obscure those differences.

Profit and cash flow have also diverged. In 2025, Unitree reported net profit attributable to shareholders of about 278 million yuan and operating cash net inflow of about 670 million yuan. UBTech reported a net loss of about 703 million yuan and operating cash net outflow of about 784 million yuan. Dobot remained unprofitable, with a net loss of about 84 million yuan and operating cash net outflow of about 43 million yuan. Geek+ reported revenue of about 3.171 billion yuan, adjusted net profit of about 43.82 million yuan and operating cash net inflow of about 85.66 million yuan, while its financial statement still showed a net loss of about 10.41 million yuan. In the first half of 2026, Geek+ revenue was about 1.284 billion yuan and adjusted net loss was about 60.6 million yuan, narrower than a year earlier. A single profitable period does not prove stable profitability.

Long-established industrial robot companies show no simple link between scale and profit. Siasun reported 2025 revenue of about 4.122 billion yuan, a net loss of about 398 million yuan and operating cash net inflow of about 161 million yuan. EFORT reported revenue of about 932 million yuan, a net loss of about 497 million yuan and operating cash net outflow of about 198 million yuan. Siasun also demonstrates that a loss and positive operating cash flow can appear in the same year, because project settlement, receivables, payables and inventory changes affect cash receipts and payments. Profit and cash flow do not always move in the same direction.

Some component and home robot companies have both profit and operating cash inflow. Leaderdrive reported 2025 revenue of about 571 million yuan, net profit of about 124 million yuan and operating cash net inflow of about 152 million yuan. Kinco reported corresponding figures of about 724 million yuan, 72 million yuan and 62 million yuan. Ecovacs reported 2025 revenue of about 19.040 billion yuan, net profit of about 1.758 billion yuan and operating cash net inflow of about 3.387 billion yuan. Roborock reported revenue of about 18.695 billion yuan, net profit of about 1.363 billion yuan and operating cash net inflow of about 774 million yuan. Ecovacs net profit rose 118.1 percent year on year in 2025, while Roborock net profit fell 31.0 percent even as revenue rose 56.5 percent. Home cleaning robots show that product reliability is only the starting point; cost control, channel efficiency and after-sales networks determine profit.

The tightening scrutiny also explains why Unitree's prospectus data matter. In 2025, Unitree's humanoid robot shipments were 5,511 units and sales were 5,215 units, a difference related to acceptance and revenue recognition progress. A robot leaving the factory does not mean the delivery has been fully recognized in financial statements. After revenue recognition, companies still face repeat orders, on-site stability, deployment and maintenance costs, all of which affect future revenue and gross margin.