Since the start of this year, shipments of humanoid robots in China have steadily climbed, with the industry shifting from "technology validation" to "batch delivery." According to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology data, the number of complete humanoid robot products in China has already exceeded 400 models in the first half of the year, accounting for more than half of the global total. Market research firm Smart Analytics Global reports that global humanoid robot shipments reached approximately 19,100 units in the first half of 2026, nearly tripling year-on-year, with Chinese manufacturers representing over 97% of worldwide shipments.

Capital is now driving the industry from "laboratory showcases" to "mass-scale production," with 2026-2027 identified as a critical inflection point for the humanoid robot sector. Tesla's Optimus V3 is slated for a mid-2026 debut, with production starting in July-August. The Fremont factory's Model S/X production lines have been converted into dedicated Optimus assembly lines, targeting a weekly output of 1,000 units by September, with a long-term design capacity of 10 million units annually.

Unitree Technology has set a record pace in obtaining registration on the STAR Market, becoming the "first A-share humanoid robot stock." During Unitree's recent online investor conference for its IPO on the STAR Market, Wang Xingxing, the company's Chairman, General Manager, and CTO, stated that shipments of humanoid robots in 2025 surpassed 5,500 units (pure humanoid, excluding wheeled dual-arm robots), ranking first globally. This demonstrates the company's leading market advantage in the general-purpose robot field, driven by core self-developed technology and early commercialization.

Meanwhile, companies such as Leju Robot, CloudMinds, and Xinghaitu have all completed shareholding reforms and are preparing for listings. According to incomplete statistics, more than 40 robotics companies are currently queuing for IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Industry consensus views Unitree's post-listing market valuation as a benchmark for the embodied intelligence sector, with the period from the second half of 2026 to early 2027 being defined by investors as the "capital verification phase" for this field.

The narrative of AI investment is shifting from infrastructure to application layers. A recent Goldman Sachs report indicates that as AI computing infrastructure continues to expand, humanoid robots are poised to become a major growth driver for the next phase of AI. Labor shortages and automation demands provide structural support for the industry's long-term development. Goldman Sachs remains bullish on the industrial potential of humanoid robots, viewing them as a next-generation, widely-adopted terminal following smartphones and automobiles. The firm forecasts global humanoid robot shipments will reach 76,000 units by 2027 and rise to 502,000 units by 2032.

Goldman Sachs' Asia trading team believes the Asian robotics industry is in the early stages of development. Compared to their US counterparts, Asian robotics and automation stocks still trade at a valuation discount, yet offer higher earnings growth expectations, with capital beginning to rotate into the robotics supply chain. The bank also emphasized that the industry is currently in a transitional phase from technology validation to commercialization, and large-scale deployment will still take time.

A research report from CSC Financial (China Securities) suggests that leading manufacturers are actively advancing the application of humanoid robots in industrial, commercial, and other scenarios. As robot generalization capabilities improve, it is expected that their application scenarios will further expand, with 2026 likely becoming a major year for vertical applications of humanoid robots.

Related concept stocks include:

UBTECH ROBOTICS (09880): As one of China's early pioneers in robotics, UBTECH has been deeply involved in the field for many years (since March 2012), holding a first-mover advantage in robot body R&D, motion control, and commercial scenario exploration.

HORIZONROBOT-W (09660): Horizon Robotics announced at the end of July that it expects its profit for the first half of 2026 to be between RMB 3.5 billion and RMB 4.0 billion, compared to a loss of RMB 5.233 billion in the same period last year, marking a turnaround to profitability. The expected increase in revenue from continuing operations for the six months ending June 30, 2026, is primarily driven by the joint growth of its two major revenue segments. The increase in product solutions revenue is mainly due to the continued strengthening of the company's market position and steady growth in market share, as well as the commencement of mass production and deployment of its full-scenario urban NOA solution (HSD).

HESAI-W-NEW (02525): Hesai has signed an exclusive supply agreement with Dreame Technology for 10 million units of JT series LiDAR, setting a new record for a single order in the global consumer robotics sector. In multiple sub-sectors such as embodied intelligence, lawn mowing robots, unmanned delivery vehicles, commercial cleaning robots, and Robotaxi, the company ranks among the top in shipments. It is also the only LiDAR company selected for Morgan Stanley's "Humanoid Robot Technology 25" list.

GEEKPLUS-W (02590): Geek+ released its unified embodied intelligence framework, Gravity, at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, along with the supporting Gravity 4D embodied model. It also publicly outlined its "One Core, Two Engines" general-purpose embodied intelligence industry layout, focusing on solving the physical interaction challenges of robots operating in real-world scenarios. The new Gravity framework adopts a "dual-brain collaboration" architecture, with the ARTransformer cognitive brain and the DiffusionTransformer action brain working together to handle tasks. The cognitive brain is responsible for parsing human instructions and breaking down long-term tasks, while the action brain pre-simulates object motion and force changes to generate stable, continuous action sequences, forming a "plan first, execute later" operational logic.

DOBOT (02432): On August 5, DOBOT Technology officially launched the world's first embodied full-terrain humanoid robot, the DOBOT LUMO. This marks DOBOT's first humanoid robot product targeting home application scenarios. According to the company, the product is designed for home companionship, educational research, commercial performances, and other scenarios. It aims to enhance the robot's adaptability in real-life living spaces through capabilities such as motion control, visual perception, voice interaction, and emotion recognition.