The humanoid robot sector has drawn significant market attention. On August 19, Unitree Technology made its debut on the STAR Market, becoming the first pure-play humanoid robot stock on A-shares. Zhang Xiaoguo, fund manager of China Universal's Xingxuan Industry Trend Hybrid Fund, stated that Unitree's listing provides a valuation benchmark for the humanoid robot complete-machine segment, presenting an opportunity for the sector to transition from speculative trading toward industrial pricing.
Zhang noted that 2026 is likely to become a key inflection point for the industry. He holds a positive outlook on hardware manufacturing and assembly segments within the humanoid robot supply chain, including joint assemblies, ball screws, reducers, motors, and sensors. Additionally, he is highly optimistic about the growth prospects of Physical AI and its supporting industrial chain.
Summarizing his investment approach for the humanoid robot sector, Zhang emphasized three principles: a long-term perspective, close tracking of industry developments, and opportunistic buying on dips. He believes the industry is currently in the early stage of large-scale volume ramp-up, characterized by high growth rates but generally weak corporate profitability. Investors should therefore adopt a long-term mindset and allocate to high-quality, competitive players across the supply chain over the medium to long term. Meanwhile, rapid and frequent shifts in supply-demand dynamics and industry structure require vigilant monitoring and proactive adaptation. Given that sector valuations remain sensitive to expectation fluctuations and market style rotation at this stage, a phased approach to accumulating positions at lower levels is advisable.
What is the most significant change Unitree's listing brings to the sector, and can the market now shift from theme speculation to industrial pricing?
Zhang Xiaoguo: Drawing on historical experience, the wave of leading companies going public is a typical marker of an emerging growth industry entering its industrialization acceleration phase. As the first A-share humanoid robot pure-play, Unitree's listing reflects that China's humanoid robot industry has gradually moved into the fast lane of development. Beyond Unitree, several other domestic humanoid robot companies are also progressing through IPO processes on either the A-share or Hong Kong markets. The key impacts of Unitree's listing include establishing a valuation anchor for domestic humanoid robot complete-machine manufacturers, providing pricing references for both secondary and primary market investment and financing activities in this space, and facilitating easier capital raising across the industry.
The humanoid robot sector is progressively transitioning from speculative trading toward industrial pricing. However, most companies remain far from the stage of rapid earnings delivery. In the near term, expectation swings and event-driven catalysts will continue to exert considerable influence on sector performance. The market is likely to see gradual differentiation amid volatility, with sub-segments that have solid fundamentals and accelerating shipment volumes potentially completing the shift from speculation to industrial pricing first.
How do you assess the current fundamentals and valuations of the robotics sector, and what are your expectations for its future performance? What are the main constraints on sector momentum?
Zhang Xiaoguo: On fundamentals, industry-wide humanoid robot sales reached approximately 20,000 units last year. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently projected that full-year production could exceed 100,000 units this year. China's humanoid robot industry is in the early phase of accelerated volume growth, with high growth rates but still relatively small absolute numbers. Companies across the supply chain are seeing rapid revenue increases from related businesses, yet profitability remains weak, with most not having entered the earnings realization phase. Meaningful margin improvement will require greater economies of scale.
On valuations, since most companies in the humanoid robot supply chain have yet to reach the earnings release stage, static valuations remain broadly elevated despite the sector's share price declines this year. In our view, this is a common characteristic of emerging industries in their early development phase. Once the industry enters the stage of accelerated earnings delivery, high static valuations will be rapidly digested. Rather than focusing on short-term static multiples, greater attention should be paid to the industry's enormous long-term potential and the pace of industrialization progress.
Looking ahead, over the medium to long term, the humanoid robot industry offers vast headroom and has already entered the early phase of scaled production. We hold a strongly positive view on the sector's medium-to-long-term outlook, believing the supply chain can generate substantial returns for longer-term investors. In the short term, although share prices have been volatile this year, the sector is trading at relatively low levels compared with other tech-growth sub-sectors, making the current period a favorable entry point for positioning in the humanoid robot supply chain.
Several factors could constrain near-term sector performance, including skepticism about the pace of application scenario scaling, concerns that current humanoid robot intelligence levels cannot support broad generalization capabilities, and worries over repeated delays in the industrialization of overseas leader Tesla's humanoid robot program. We believe the fundamental issue underlying these concerns is that the product strength of humanoid robots remains insufficient, which ultimately boils down to technological and industrialization challenges. Given sufficient time and investment, these issues are highly likely to be resolved. We are confident that large-scale deployment of humanoid robots is a high-probability outcome.
What stage is the robotics industry currently in, and will 2026 emerge as a critical inflection point?
Zhang Xiaoguo: The humanoid robot industry is currently in the early phase of scaled production. Domestic shipments are transitioning from the tens of thousands to over one hundred thousand units, while overseas players are also approaching mass production. 2026 is very likely to become a pivotal year for the industry's development.
Which sub-segments within the humanoid robot sector do you find most attractive for investment?
Zhang Xiaoguo: We are positive on investment opportunities across various segments of the humanoid robot supply chain, as all are poised for rapid growth alongside shipment expansion. Specifically, we favor hardware manufacturing and assembly areas such as joint assemblies, ball screws, reducers, motors, and sensors, which are also segments where China's manufacturing sector holds strong competitive advantages. In addition, we are highly optimistic about the prospects for Physical AI and its supporting industry chain. Current humanoid robot intelligence levels remain relatively low, and Physical AI represents a key bottleneck in the industry's development. Companies that achieve breakthroughs in Physical AI stand to capture significant investment opportunities.
What positive or critical signals emerged from the 2026 World Robot Conference held last week in Beijing's Yizhuang district?
Zhang Xiaoguo: This year's World Robot Conference, themed "Human-Robot Coexistence, Industry-Demand Mutual Prosperity," featured a record number of participating companies, exhibits, and debut products. The conference conveyed four positive signals: the supply chain has become increasingly complete and mature, with participating companies covering all segments of the humanoid robot industry; the industry has shifted from "showing off skills" to "actually doing work," with greater emphasis on real-world operations; downstream application scenarios are expected to flourish across multiple fronts; and the industry's attention to Physical AI has significantly intensified.
What is your primary investment strategy for the robotics sector, and what key risks should investors monitor?
Zhang Xiaoguo: Our investment strategy for the humanoid robot sector is: long-term thinking, close industry tracking, and opportunistic buying on dips. We firmly believe in the medium-to-long-term growth trajectory of the humanoid robot supply chain, adhere to long-term principles, and allocate to high-quality, competitive targets along the chain. At the same time, given that the industry has just entered the early stage of volume ramp-up, changes in supply-demand dynamics and competitive structure are frequent and rapid, requiring tight monitoring and agile responses. As sector valuations remain susceptible to expectation fluctuations and market style rotation, it is prudent to build positions gradually during pullbacks.
Key risk points to watch include three aspects: potential mismatches between industrialization progress and market expectations; the possibility of technological route disruptions or paradigm shifts; and the risk that downstream application scenario expansion proceeds at a slower pace than anticipated.