By Al Root
Fans of humanoid robots might want to catch a recent NBC News report on Unitree's Lunar New Year celebration. It features chorus lines of robots performing feats of dexterity and coordination -- kung fu, back flips, and, yes, swordplay -- at speeds rivaling humans. It's further proof of what we wrote in a recent cover story (" The Robot Revolution is Real," Feb. 6): that artificial-intelligence-trained robots capable of executing labor-saving tasks are coming faster than investors expected.
China is a serious player in humanoid robots -- that is, machines that resemble and act like humans. Morgan Stanley counted 97 humanoid robot unveilings in the past two years, 63 coming from China.
Unitree is planning to go public by mid-2026. In 2025, estimates valued the company at some $7 billion. That's likely to be much higher now. Founded about a decade ago, Unitree resembles Boston Dynamics, which was spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992 and is now majority-owned by Korea's Hyundai Motor. Boston Dynamics has seen its valuation surge to $25 billion from about $1 billion a few years ago.
What's lacking in this picture? The ability to manufacture humanoid robots at scale for prices that make sense. Current humanoid robots, including Optimus from Tesla, cost $100,000 to $200,000 to make. That needs to drop below $20,000 to scale like electric vehicles or smartphones. Swordplay can only do so much.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
Last Week
Markets: Some Asian markets closed for the Lunar New Year. U.S. stocks traded up to start the week fueled by tech shares after the Presidents Day holiday, then sank. Gold fell as the dollar rose. The Financial Times reported Christine Lagarde would retire early as European Central Bank chief. Oil and gold rose as Iran tensions mounted. U.S. growth slowed at year end, inflation ticked up, and the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's global tariffs, sending stocks up. On the week, the Dow industrials rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 1.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite 1.5%.
Companies: The Federal Reserve prepared rule changes incentivizing banks to originate mortgages. Micron Technology is investing $200 billion to grow its U.S. manufacturing amid a memory chip shortage. Berkshire Hathaway sold off 77% of its Amazon.com stake, pared its Bank of America and Apple positions, and bought into the New York Times Co. in Warren Buffett's final months as CEO. Bayer's Monsanto unit reached a deal to settle U.S. Roundup cancer suits for $7.25 billion. Blue Owl Capital halted withdrawals from a retail private debt fund and began selling assets.
Deals: Warner Bros. Discovery's board reopened talks with Paramount Skydance...The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott Investment Management had taken a more than 10% stake in Norwegian Cruise Line...Shipper Hapag-Lloyd is buying Israeli's Zim Integrated Shipping Services for $4.2 billion.
Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com
Next Week
Tuesday 2/24
Fourth-quarter earnings season winds down, with about 85% of S&P 500 index companies having reported results. Three-quarters have beaten earnings-per-share estimates, while more than 70% have surpassed revenue expectations. This week sees another 55 companies report, including the most valuable company in the world. Constellation Energy and Home Depot release their earnings on Tuesday, followed by Lowe's, Nvidia -- the aforementioned most valuable company -- and Salesforce on Wednesday. Thursday brings results from Dell Technologies, Intuit, Vistra, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Berkshire Hathaway releases its earnings and annual report on Saturday, the first time under CEO Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett at the beginning of the year.
The Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index for February. Economists forecast a 87.5 reading, up from January's 84.5, which was the lowest reading since 2014.
Friday 2/27
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the producer price index for January. Consensus estimate is for the PPI to increase 0.3% month over month, two-tenths of a percentage point less than in December. The core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is also expected to rise 0.3%, compared with 0.7% previously.
The Numbers
$10 B
Inflows to European stocks for back-to-back weeks in February, nearing a monthly record.
$25 B
U.S. imports from Taiwan in December, exceeding purchases of Chinese goods, which fell nearly 44%.
12.3%
Delinquency rate of January commercial mortgage-backed securities, surpassing 2008's 10.7%.
39%
The percentage of household equities and funds controlled by those 70 years or older, up from 22% in 2007.
Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 20, 2026 20:15 ET (01:15 GMT)
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