* Private share platforms point to shares almost tripling on

debut

* On crypto exchanges, derivative trades suggest a jump of

almost four times

* IPO was almost 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail

investors

* Unitree is profitable, perceived to have state support

By Samuel Shen and Eduardo Baptista

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - China's Unitree

, the country's most high-profile humanoid robot

maker, is widely expected to have an explosive stock market

debut in Shanghai next week. The only question is - how frenzied

is it going to be?

Outside China, on private share platforms such as EquityZen,

UpMarket and Hiive, Unitree shares are tipped to almost triple,

while on crypto exchanges Hyperliquid and Gate, derivative

trades point to a jump of almost four times.

Some others expect much more.

Such is the excitement around Unitree, whose humanoid robots

have drawn global attention for their running, dancing and

performing of martial arts, that its IPO was more than 8,000

times oversubscribed by retail investors, a record for

Shanghai's STAR Market for tech startups.

Chinese media have also reported that lucky IPO subscribers

have been approached by scalpers offering to buy its shares at

410 yuan, a 170% premium to its offering price of 150.8 yuan.

Unitree's listing date is expected to be announced later on

Friday.

PROFITABLE AND SEEN TO HAVE STATE SUPPORT

Unitree, which competes with Hyundai Motor Group-owned

Boston Dynamics and Tesla, is not the first Chinese

humanoid robot maker to list. Hong Kong has at least two: UBTech

and Dobot, while a slew of others, including

Leju Robotics and Agitbot, are preparing to go public.

But it is the world's biggest humanoid-robot maker by sales

and the first general-purpose robotics company to debut in

mainland China. Just as importantly, it's already profitable.

"Unitree represents a major turning point for Chinese

robotics," Jack Pearson, an investment principal at

RoboStrategy, wrote in a report.

It "arrives on the public market with something many

humanoid companies lack: scale combined with profit."

Investors are also drawn to Unitree's perceived state

support as China seeks to gain the upper hand in tech over the

United States and pushes development of the sector.

Its founder Wang Xingxing had a coveted front-row seat at a

summit with tech business leaders hosted by Chinese President Xi

Jinping early last year, and the startup also has backing from

some of China's most influential tech firms including Tencent ( TCTZF )

, Alibaba ( BABA ) and DeepSeek.

A blockbuster debut from Unitree would come just a few weeks

after shares in chipmaker CXMT soared more than five

times in their Shanghai debut, brightening the outlook for tech

listings in the world's second-largest economy.

MODEST IPO STOKES INTEREST

Unitree raised a relatively modest 6.1 billion yuan ($905

million) by selling just 10% of its enlarged capital in the IPO,

which has fanned expectations that investors who missed out will

be eager to jump in when shares begin trading.

Trading platform Hiive prices Unitree shares at roughly $62,

implying a 176% upside from the IPO price, said Jeff Ko, chief

analyst at CoinEx.

"Every market outside the regulated IPO process is attaching

a substantial scarcity premium to the shares," he said, also

noting that China IPOs had generated an average 233% first-day

return in the first half of 2026.

Other platforms point to a bigger debut.

On Hyperliquid, a round-the-clock venue for leveraged bets

on everything from stocks to oil, a contract linked to Unitree

shares traded on a platform operated by Trade.xyz was priced at

around $90 early on Friday.

Wen Hao, a veteran trader in China's eastern city of

Hangzhou, where Unitree is based, was even more bullish,

predicting the stock could jump as much as eight-fold on its

maiden day.

But others said investors also ran the risk of ignoring

fundamentals for a sector that has still to prove itself.

Unitree faces growing competition, has only a limited number

of mature applications for the factory floor, and Chinese

humanoid robot firms may be blocked from selling in the U.S.

market.

"It's questionable whether the robotics sector's long-term

promise justifies" the current price tag, said Jeff Mei, COO of

crypto exchange BTSE.

"Given that SpaceX dropped below its IPO price post-listing,

even top-tier hype names are susceptible to a reality check."

($1 = 6.7428 Chinese yuan)