Is the IPO threshold for the robotics industry being tightened? First-hand verification from frontline investment banking professionals

Recently, the rumor that regulators have issued informal window guidance to some investment banks and investment institutions to raise the IPO review threshold for humanoid robots has drawn widespread market attention.

Reporters interviewed multiple investment bank practitioners and learned that some investment bank staff have received reminders from their companies concerning hard tech IPOs including the robotics industry; if the company's industry position is not prominent enough, its listing process may be affected. A leading securities firm told reporters that investment bank staff did not receive the notice in the form of window guidance, and the relevant content is more aimed at consolidating the front-end gatekeeping responsibility of sponsor institutions.

From the perspective of the review orientation of robotics IPO enterprises, integrating the views of investment bank practitioners and the market, the review may focus on the following three dimensions:

The first is the authenticity of revenue. Robotics enterprises need to have continuous, authentic and replicable recurring operating revenue, instead of whitewashing performance by relying on government subsidies, related-party transactions, one-off gains or the "data collection center" model.

The second is the stability of profitability. The profitability direction of robotics enterprises needs to show a trend of continuously narrowing losses, and the input-output ratio and business model will be the key factors for market verification.

The third is the commercial implementation capability. Enterprises need to have large-scale product shipment capacity, stable customer groups and real implementation scenarios, to avoid conceptual enterprises that only stay in the laboratory stage.

It is worth noting that all three dimensions point to the same core, that is, whether the enterprise has formed a sustainable commercial closed loop. An investment bank practitioner from a leading securities firm believes that the commercialization process of the robotics industry is actually still in the early stage, which is highly consistent with the regulatory focus on the sustainability of revenue and the expected improvement of performance.

The "roller coaster" performance of Unitree Robotics may become the trigger

Why did the rumor of stricter review emerge at this time? The market first turned its attention to Unitree Robotics, the first listed enterprise in the humanoid robot industry, whose roller coaster performance after listing and the gradual exposure of industry valuation bubble risks are regarded as one of the triggering factors.

Unitree Robotics adopted the pre-review mechanism of the Sci-Tech Innovation Board for its IPO. After being accepted on March 20 this year, it submitted its registration in less than 3 months on June 2, and was finally listed on August 19. The closing price on the first day of listing was 845 yuan per share, up 460.34% from the issue price, but then fell for many consecutive days. As of September 20, the closing price was 514.98 yuan per share, down 39.06% from the closing price on the first day of listing.

Behind the stock price correction is the market's re-examination of Unitree Robotics' technical strength and commercialization capability. On the whole, institutions believe that the decline in the company's stock price is the inevitable result of the bursting of the early valuation bubble and the ebb of short-term sentiment. As market sentiment cools down, the stock price returns rationally to the fundamentals, which also provides investors with a window for re-evaluation.

A leading securities firm previously proposed that Unitree Robotics has only completed the R&D of the cerebellum at present, and has no substantive breakthrough in the "brain" part, so the market may have overvalued it. When the breakthrough of the "brain" will be achieved and whether the growth rate can be sustained will be the core unsolved issues for Unitree Robotics after its listing.

Reporters also got the same view from investment bank practitioners during interviews. The person further pointed out that the current domestic embodied large models, that is, the development of the "brain", are not mature enough. The technical maturity of humanoid robots in fields such as the generalization ability of embodied large models and the precision and durability of dexterous hands is limited, and their capabilities of fine operation, intelligent decision-making and adaptation to non-standard scenarios are not yet perfect. The reason why the breakthrough of the "brain" has become one of the key directions of current review is that it is not only related to the effectiveness of the enterprise's R&D investment, but also related to the capability of commercial application implementation in the future.

Unitree Robotics also clearly stated in its registration draft that it has gradually increased its R&D investment in embodied large models, namely the "brain", since 2024. Although it has achieved phased R&D results, the proportion of R&D investment in the reporting period is relatively small. In addition, the self-developed general embodied large model has not yet been applied to robot products on a large scale during the reporting period, but R&D testing, deployment and verification have been carried out in pilot scenarios such as its own factory. It can be seen that the development of embodied intelligence of Unitree Robotics has not really entered the commercial implementation scenario.

What do investment bank practitioners think of this rumor?

Reporters learned from interviews with a number of investment bank practitioners that the decline in Unitree Robotics' stock price after listing and the overdraft of future performance expectations are only one of the main triggering factors, and it is not objective to attribute the rumor solely to this.

Many investment bank practitioners believe that IPOs of technology enterprises have always been encouraged by regulators in recent years, and leading enterprises in the industry and those with real technological innovation are the objects of encouragement. Compared with the decline in Unitree Robotics' performance after listing, some investment bank practitioners believe that it is more affected by the secondary market trend since July and the issuance of several huge IPOs.

The secondary market performance is the first variable. Looking at the market trend in July, the Shanghai Composite Index fell by 6.40% for the whole month, the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 16.21%, and the ChiNext Index fell by 23.00%. The adjustment was mainly concentrated in the technology sector, and funds turned to the dividend sector to avoid risks. For the primary market, the secondary market is the anchor of pricing. Under the volatile market, the risk of high-valued new stocks rising sharply after listing and then falling back also increases.

The successive listing of large-scale IPOs has become the second variable. Since July, the A-share market has entered a concentrated window of large-capital IPOs: Changxin Technology landed on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board on July 27, raising about 57.9 billion yuan, exceeding SMIC's 53.23 billion yuan, making it the largest IPO in the history of the Sci-Tech Innovation Board. It rose 465.82% on the first day of listing, with a total market value of 3.28 trillion yuan, ranking first in the A-share market. Unitree Robotics was listed on August 19, raising about 6.1 billion yuan; Enflame Technology, an AI chip enterprise, was listed on September 11, raising 6.119 billion yuan.

Combining the two variables, the successive listing of large-scale IPOs will occupy market funds, and it is necessary to raise the quality threshold in the volatile market to avoid fluctuations caused by supply shocks.

Some investment bank practitioners emphasized that this reminder is not only targeted at the robotics industry, but covers hard tech IPO fields including robotics. Enterprises with unremarkable industry positions may face impacts on their listing processes. This trend ultimately points to the further consolidation of the responsibility of sponsor institutions as the "gatekeepers" of the capital market.

Multiple robotics enterprises are queuing up for listing on two markets

Against the rumor of stricter review orientation, the listing enthusiasm of humanoid robot enterprises has not diminished. At present, three humanoid robot enterprises are queuing up for listing on the A-share market, while more enterprises are targeting the 18C channel of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

In terms of the A-share market, there are currently Leju Intelligent, Dobot, and Deepway, among which only Dobot has passed the listing hearing, and the other two are in the inquiry stage.

Leju Intelligent focuses on full-stack technology R&D, complete machine production and sales, and application solution provision for the "brain-cerebellum-body" of humanoid robots, and its humanoid robot shipment volume ranked third in the world in 2025. Dobot's main business covers the R&D, production and sales of collaborative robots and embodied intelligent robots, and its global market share reached 13.2% according to 2025 sales statistics. Deepway focuses on the R&D, manufacturing and industrialization of embodied intelligent robots such as quadruped robots and wheel-legged robots, and its revenue from embodied intelligent robots ranked fourth in the world in 2025.

Compared with the A-share market, the exclusive listing channel 18C established by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for "specialized technology companies" has become another important position for humanoid robots to apply for listing. At present, a number of robot-related enterprises including Jari Robotics, Standard Robots, Agibot, Cansino Robotics, Youai Robotics, Morningstar Technology, and Benmo Power have all submitted listing applications to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Whether on the A-share market or the Hong Kong stock market, robotics enterprises are intensively sprinting for IPOs. Judging from the overall regulatory review orientation behind the rumor, the market aims to screen out enterprises that truly have commercialization capabilities and technical strength, avoid excessive speculation and bubbling in the industry, and emphasize that enterprises need to have a sustainable commercial closed loop and core technological competitiveness.

This article is from the WeChat official account "CLS", author: ZHAO Xinrui, authorized for release by 36Kr.