Unitree Robotics reported its first set of results since listing on the STAR Market, and the headline growth covers a harder quarter underneath. Revenue for the first nine months reached RMB 1.817 billion, up 55.71 per cent. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 387 million, up 270.54 per cent.
That jump is a low-base effect rather than an operating leap. Unitree booked RMB 349 million of share-based payment in 2025, all of it charged to administrative expenses in that period. Strip out non-recurring items and net profit was RMB 349 million, down 18.78 per cent year on year.
The third quarter is where the pressure shows
Revenue in the third quarter was RMB 665 million, up 69.93 per cent. Net profit was RMB 113 million, down 17.37 per cent. Non-GAAP net profit was RMB 105 million, down 17.42 per cent. Measured against the second quarter, net profit fell 49.69 per cent and non-GAAP profit fell 48.43 per cent.
Gross margin slipped to 54.02 per cent from 59.75 per cent, a drop of 5.73 percentage points. Two cost lines explain most of it. Research spending reached RMB 263 million, up 191.48 per cent and about 1.8 times the whole of 2025. Sales expenses rose 202.45 per cent to RMB 230 million, lifting the expense ratio from 6.51 per cent to 12.65 per cent, part of it on brand promotion through platforms including the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
Inventory is growing five times faster than revenue
Unit volumes explain the inventory build. Quadruped sales rose from 3,121 units in 2023 to 23,037 in 2025. Humanoid sales rose from 5 units to 5,215. Procurement, stocking and channel building all had to scale with that.
Inventory reached RMB 1.019 billion at the end of the third quarter, up 266.63 per cent, nearly five times the revenue growth rate. Inventory turnover slowed to 1.2 from 2.63 at the end of 2025.
Operating cash flow fell 54.69 per cent to RMB 194 million from RMB 428 million. In the third quarter alone it turned negative at RMB 37.8 million, against positive RMB 197 million in the second. Cash paid for goods and services rose 116.99 per cent to RMB 1.352 billion.
The share price tells its own version. Unitree touched RMB 1,100 intraday on its 19 August debut, fell to RMB 404.03 on 15 October, and closed at RMB 662.17 on 2 November, about 40 per cent below the peak.
Filling in the missing half of the stack
Unitree built its reputation on the body and on motion control, the cerebellum of the machine. It can do backflips and formation dances. Its record on embodied foundation models, the brain, is thinner, and that gap is the reason research spending is rising this fast.
On 22 October the company launched the Yuchuang Plan to recruit ecosystem founders, targeting more than 200 incubated companies over five years. It is also pre-researching a physical AI self-evolution model, V1.0.
Competition is closing in. Third-party SAG data shows AgiBot overtook Unitree in humanoid shipments during the first half of 2026.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original OFweek report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://robot.ofweek.com/2026-11/ART-898890-12003-30710197.html.