Unitree’s market value has nearly halved since its August listing. The quadruped rival now knocking on the IPO door is still losing money, and still lives on the robot dog.
From profit to loss
Deep Robotics, a Hangzhou peer that also started with quadrupeds, had its STAR Market IPO accepted in May, aiming to raise RMB 2.503 billion at a valuation near RMB 13.9 billion. Its updated prospectus shows first-half 2026 revenue of RMB 259 million, about 80 per cent of full-year 2025, but net profit swung to a loss of RMB 8.8 million from a RMB 28.7 million profit in 2025. Gross margin fell from 52.83 per cent to 45.32 per cent as low-margin models shipped in volume. The Jueying X dog’s average price dropped from RMB 287,500 to RMB 228,200 while unit cost rose.
The humanoid gap
Humanoid sales tell the harder story. Deep Robotics sold only six DR-series humanoids in the first half, after three in 2024 and one in 2025, under RMB 5 million across two and a half years. By contrast Unitree’s humanoid revenue passed 51 per cent of total in 2025. Counterpoint ranks first-half quadruped shipment share as Unitree 37 per cent, Zhijia 16.3 per cent, Zhishen 12.6 per cent and Deep Robotics 10.4 per cent. Deep Robotics leans on power inspection, where Frost & Sullivan puts it at 85 per cent global share.
The moat and the risk
State Grid’s 2026 plan calls for about 8,500 embodied devices and RMB 6.8 billion in spend, including 5,000 inspection dogs at RMB 1.5 billion, and Deep Robotics is a key supplier. But revenue leans on power scenarios for nearly 80 per cent, and a large customer is building the same products in house, the classic buyer-turns-rival script. The dog pays today’s bills. The humanoid decides tomorrow’s multiple, and Deep Robotics plans to climb from hundreds of humanoids this year to thousands in 2027.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Sohu report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://www.sohu.com/a/1087801940_99970452.