UBTech Robotics surges as investment in humanoid robots grows faster

A photo of people watch UBTech robot dancing at the Zaozhuang Science and Technology Museum Feb. 16. Xinhua

Shares of Hong Kong-listed UBTech Robotics, China's biggest manufacturer of educational and humanoid robots, surged over 60% in morning trading Thursday as global investment in humanoid robots grows faster than anticipated.

UBTech Robotics jumped as much as 61.74% Thursday morning to hit an all-time high of HK$328 (US$41.92) since the Shenzhen-based firm listed its shares Dec. 29 after raising HK$1 billion in proceeds in Hong Kong's final initial public offering (IPO) of 2023.

The strong showing of UBTech Robotics on Thursday comes after an eye-popping surge of as much as 88.13% in the firm's shares Wednesday, as investors chased the stock billed as "China's first humanoid robot stock."

UBTech Roboticscaused quite a stir during its trading debut ceremony, where Zhou Jian, founder and CEO of UBTech, and the firm's Walker S humanoid service robot, struck the listing gong to mark the occasion. It's the first time in its 132-year historythat a humanoid robot rang the opening bell on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The firm, backed by Tencent Holdings, is China's biggest manufacturer of educational robots with a 23% market share, based on its 2022's annual revenue, according to its IPO prospectus. Educational and logistics robots contributed at least 77% to its annual sales over the past four years.

UBTech Robotics announced Feb. 22 that its Walker S humanoid service robot“works” on the assembly line at one of Chinese EV maker NIO's factories in Hefei, in East China's Anhui Province. Click here to watch the video>>

UBTech Robotics said it's the first time the Walker S has been used on an EV assembly line.

The Walker S carried out quality inspections of headlight covers, door locks, and seat belts. It also attached NIO EV logos.

The Walker humanoid robot is 57 inches (145 centimetrs) tall and weighs 170 pounds (77 kilograms). Walker uses lithium iron phosphate batteries that take two hours to charge and has a two-hour battery life. 

China's service robot market is forecast to grow at an annual compound rate of 24% to 183.2 billion yuan (US$25.6 billion) by 2028, outpacing the 18% growth rate globally, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan published in the IPO prospectus.

In a report released Feb. 27, Goldman Sachs expects the global market for humanoid robots to reach US$38 billion by 2035. That's up more than sixfold from a previous projection of US$6 billion, Goldman Sachs analyst Jacqueline Du, head of China Industrial Technology research, writes in the report.

The prospects for humanoid robots that help with everything from folding laundry to handling hazardous waste have improved, as progress in artificial intelligence accelerates and investment in the sector grows faster than anticipated, Goldman Sachs said.