Recent weeks have brought a relentless wave of negative news for the humanoid robotics sector. Unitree Technology has seen its share price slide without end, Mech-Mind has engaged in a public feud with Galaxy General, and Huanchuang Technology surged 2.6 times one day only to crash nearly 50% the next.
Just moments ago, JPMorgan initiated coverage on Unitree Technology with a sharply bearish stance, setting a price target of just 300 yuan. The situation is truly dire. On its first day of listing, Unitree Technology saw its market capitalization surpass 440 billion yuan and its share price exceed 1,100 yuan, with a single winning lot potentially yielding up to 475,000 yuan in profit. Now, just over a month after listing, the stock has fallen in a manner reminiscent of PetroChina's infamous post-IPO decline — dropping almost every single day with no end in sight.
In hindsight, many now better understand why Wang Xingxing could not muster a smile at the time. On listing day, the photos and videos Wang Xingxing posted across various community platforms showed not a trace of joy. Whether at the bell-ringing ceremony or the celebration banquet, his face remained tense, as if he had been dragged into going public against his will. At the time, retail investors widely acknowledged a point that has now proven prophetic: capital had poured in far too much money, and now that the company is public, hundreds of billions are waiting to be cashed out. There is no room for failure — the company must hold up for at least five years so that shareholders can exit with substantial gains.
Earlier, Nomura published a research report assigning a target price of 370 yuan based on a 25x price-to-sales ratio for 2027, representing a premium relative to peers. Moreover, that is a 2027 valuation of 150 billion yuan. Although Unitree Technology has already halved from its peak, its market capitalization remains near 200 billion yuan, and its price-to-sales ratio of 280x is still severely overvalued.
During this National Day holiday, JPMorgan initiated coverage on Unitree Technology with an underweight rating and a price target of 300 yuan. With the stock currently at 450 yuan, this implies a further 33% downside. JPMorgan's core views are as follows: 1) Humanoid robots do have prospects, but Unitree Technology's price-to-sales ratio of 46x based on FY2027 estimates will be extremely difficult to achieve; 2) The company assigns itself a 30x price-to-sales ratio, close to its IPO price, a valuation that references recent funding rounds of leading American humanoid robot companies; 3) Competition is intense — new players are flooding in both domestically and internationally, with a large number of robotics companies queuing up in Hong Kong and China IPO pipelines, and the industry is tilting toward scale and affordability; 4) US regulatory barriers further undermine Unitree Technology's ability to enter international markets.
On community platforms, Unitree Technology has become a pariah that everyone wants to attack, with some retail investors even declaring that "only at 3 yuan can you bottom-fish." Regarding JPMorgan's 300 yuan target, many retail investors believe the bank has misjudged the situation by an extra zero.
As the negative example set by Unitree Technology's listing produces ripple effects, the market has even seen rumors that regulators are tightening the approval of dense humanoid robot IPOs. Other sources say it is not a halt, but rather a requirement to prove sustainable revenue, narrowing losses, or core proprietary technology. So far, no official response has been issued.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Mech-Mind publicly accused a peer of fabricating revenue, causing a major uproar. On September 10, Mech-Mind founder Shao Tianlan (born in 1989) posted on WeChat Moments with pointed remarks, directly accusing certain leading embodied intelligence companies of manufacturing fake revenue in order to go public quickly, raise funds, and grow their wealth. Shao Tianlan stated that many "assembly-style" embodied intelligence companies — including some in Beijing and Shanghai with great fame, high valuations, and appearances on the Spring Festival Gala — "extensively use related-party transactions with so-called 'data collection centers,' local governments, investors, and suppliers to fabricate false and unsustainable revenue." He said such practices are illegal, unethical, and unwise. He noted that this approach not only attempts to rush into an IPO and harm investors but also digs a pit for themselves — lessons from the previous "Four Little Dragons" apparently have not been learned.
Mech-Mind listed on September 1, 2026, and broke below its IPO price on the first day. Its offering price was HK$101.7, and within four days of listing the stock had fallen 25.86%. Although it rebounded somewhat in the following days, it has since resumed its slow decline, now down 22% since listing. As of now, the company has yet to achieve profitability, with losses of 400 million, 283 million, 360 million, and 57 million yuan in respective periods. Losses widened 27% in 2025, while Q1 2026 losses narrowed 19.55%. Adjusted losses have also been narrowing, with adjusted losses of 109 million yuan in 2025 and 33 million yuan in Q1 2026.
The most outrageous case is Huanchuang Technology, a new Hong Kong-listed stock that began trading on September 30. It surged 266% on its first day and then crashed 48% the next day, leaving untold numbers of retail investors buried in its wake. On Wednesday, retail investors were slapping their thighs in regret and clamoring for prices of 300 or 500 yuan. By Friday, they were in despair, calling for the police.
Huanchuang Technology has been dubbed by the market as "the first high-precision AI spatial positioning stock." The company focuses on high-precision spatial perception products, providing triangular ranging LiDAR, dTOF LiDAR, and other products for smart terminals such as robot vacuum cleaners. A core reason behind the stock's dramatic surge was frenzied speculation over its expected inclusion in the Stock Connect program. September 30 was the final assessment day for the Hang Seng Composite Index's quarterly fast-track inclusion. After a late-session rally on its first trading day, Huanchuang Technology's total market capitalization settled at HK$20.783 billion, meeting the approximately HK$19 billion market cap threshold for this quarterly fast-track inclusion. This allowed it to skip the usual six-month waiting period for new listings and be directly included in Stock Connect during the December 2026 quarterly adjustment.
The stock's crash can be explained the same way. Once Stock Connect inclusion was secured and the speculative catalyst faded, the playbook shifted to harvesting retail investors, with market makers immediately dumping shares to cash out. In addition, there were three suspicious aspects to Huanchuang Technology's offering. First, subscription demand was extremely hot — even in the top-tier "Group B" category with maximum application, at most only half of applicants won a single lot, making allotment extremely difficult and fueling secondary market speculation. Second, Huanchuang Technology brought in two cornerstone shareholders whose subscription accounted for only 16.13%, meaning that of the 10.43 million shares in the international placement, 8.56 million shares had no lock-up period. In other words, of the 11.59 million shares issued, 73.8% could be sold immediately upon listing. International placement investors tripled their money on day one, and heavy selling pressure emerged on day two, yet these investors still hold gains of nearly 100%. Third, the company released explosive interim financial results on its first day of listing, raising suspicions that it was coordinating with secondary market speculation while also pumping up the price to dump shares and harvest retail investors. On its first trading day, aided by the blockbuster financials, the company's price-to-sales ratio was driven to 1,000x, and it remains above 500x today — far exceeding Unitree Technology's valuation.