On August 28, 2026, UBTech Robotics, a Hong Kong-listed company, announced its 2026 interim results with its full-size humanoid robot business emerging as its primary revenue source. During the first half of the year, the company experienced a substantial 104.2% year-on-year increase in total revenue, reaching RMB 1.27 billion (USD 188.5 million). Particularly, revenue from full-size embodied humanoid robot products and services saw an impressive surge of 1,445% to RMB 590.3 million (USD 87.6 million) from RMB 38.2 million (USD 5.7 million) compared to the previous year, making up 46.5% of the group’s revenue. The sales volume in this category reached 921 units, marking a significant 1,946.7% increase.
This shift in revenue mix not only boosted revenue but also improved profitability at the gross level. The gross profit rose by 160.9% to RMB 566.9 million (USD 84.2 million), with the gross margin increasing by 9.7 percentage points to 44.7%. UBTech attributed this margin enhancement mainly to the higher contribution from full-size humanoid robot products and services, which typically offer higher gross margins. Despite these positive developments, the company continued to operate at a loss. Its net loss decreased by 23% year-on-year to RMB 338.8 million (USD 50.3 million), while its adjusted EBITDA loss reduced to RMB 174.1 million (USD 25.8 million) from RMB 321.8 million (USD 47.8 million) the previous year.
Throughout the first half, UBTech remained focused on heavy investments in product development. Research and development expenses climbed by 38.9% to RMB 303.1 million (USD 45 million), equivalent to 23.9% of revenue. The company emphasized that the increase was primarily due to ongoing investments in full-size humanoid robots, aiming to transition them from demonstrations to industrial applications. These applications include material handling, sorting, loading and unloading, palletizing, and depalletizing.
UBTech highlighted its industrial deployments, particularly in sectors such as automotive manufacturing, logistics, and aviation. Notably, Airbus acquired one of UBTech’s Walker S2 humanoid robots earlier in the year as part of a partnership exploring the use of robots in aircraft manufacturing. The company expanded its range of products, introducing the Cruzr Y1 for manufacturing and warehousing, the Walker C1 for commercial services, education, and research, and the U1 series for companionship applications. This strategic product expansion indicates UBTech’s intention to target industrial, commercial, and eventually household applications instead of relying solely on one market segment.
Moreover, UBTech prioritized advancements in its artificial intelligence stack during the period. The company released Thinker 1.0, its foundational model for embodied intelligence, and introduced Thinker-WM, a world model that assists robots in modeling physical environments and predicting action outcomes. Additionally, UBTech combined visual perception, language-based instructions, and action generation in its Thinker-VLA model to address industrial tasks that require adaptability to changing objects and surroundings.
Looking forward, UBTech plans to continue expanding its industrial models, developing commercial and household robot series, enhancing its world model, and further improving its VLA and multi-robot coordination technologies in the second half of 2026. The company set an ambitious target to produce 10,000 full-size humanoid robots annually for the year. UBTech’s collaboration with companies like MetaX for chip development and Siemens for digital tools underscores its commitment to innovation and scaling production capabilities.
In summary, UBTech Robotics showcased significant growth in its humanoid robot business during the first half of 2026, marked by substantial revenue increase and strategic product developments across industrial, commercial, and household applications. By investing in cutting-edge technologies and expanding its product offerings, UBTech demonstrates its dedication to shaping the future of robotics technology.
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