Chinese Robotics Industry Q3 Performance Shows Divergence in Profitability

　　On the evening of October 28, Unitree Technology (688836.SH) released its first quarterly report after listing: revenue for the third quarter reached 665000000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 69.93%; net profit attributable to the parent company was 113000000 yuan, down 17.37% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to the parent company in the second quarter was 224000000 yuan; based on this calculation, the third quarter saw a quarter-over-quarter decline of approximately 49.7%.

　　Sanhua Intelligent Controls（002050.SZ）、Tuopu Group (601689.SH) disclosed that net profit attributable to the parent company for the third quarter also declined by 9.64% and 4.78% year-on-year, respectively. Looking only at these three companies, the conclusion easily slides toward Robot the industry is not profitable.

　　but take The ledger of complete machines Adding financial statements from companies involved in multiple stages such as motion control changes the conclusion: some see profits nearly doubling, others almost zero growth, and some experience revenue increase without profit growth. Within this industry chain, companies selling complete units, assemblies, parts, or electronic controls show different quality in their third-quarter profit statements.

　　The ledger for complete units

　　Unitree Technology stands out as the most contrasting group in these results: overall in the first three quarters, the company achieved revenue of 1817000000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.71%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 387000000 yuan, up 270.54% year-on-year.

　　However, in the third quarter, the company saw revenue increase without profit growth: single-quarter revenue was 665000000 yuan, up 69.93% year-on-year; net profit was 113000000 yuan, nearly half less than the 224000000 yuan in the second quarter.

　　The ledger of complete machines

　　The first factor is gross margin. Unitree Technology's third-quarter sales gross margin was 50.58%, down 8.36 percentage points from the same period last year and approximately 4 percentage points lower than the second quarter; gross margin for the first three quarters was 54.02%, compared with 59.83% in the same period last year. The product structure has extended from quadruped to humanoid robots, and from complete units to components.

　　The second hand is R&D. R&D investment in the third quarter was 127,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 249.58%, with the proportion of operating revenue raised to 19.10%, an increase of 9.28 percentage points from the same period last year; R&D investment for the first three quarters was 263,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 191.48%. In the third quarter report, the company stated that the main investments were directed toward model development and computing power related to embodied large models, as well as expansion of the R&D team.

　　The third hand is sales. Sales expenses for the first three quarters were 230,000,000 yuan, compared with only 76,000,000 yuan in the same period last year. The company explained in its listing documents that in the first half of the year, brand promotion was carried out through platforms such as CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, combined with an increase in sales personnel, driving a significant rise in sales expenses.

　　Jiemian News also noted that Unitree Technology's net profit attributable to shareholders for the first three quarters was 387,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 270.54%; the bright growth rate on the books is mainly due to a low base effect: in the same period last year, a large amount of share-based payment was recognized once, with corresponding administrative expenses reaching 381,000,000 yuan; this year's first three quarters saw administrative expenses fall back to 74,000,000 yuan. Net profit attributable after deducting non-recurring items, reflecting main business profitability, was 349,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 18.78%.

　　Cash flow also showed significant changes. Unitree Technology's net cash flow from operating activities for the first three quarters was 194,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 54.69%. The company explained this as increased spending on purchasing goods, paying employee compensation, and sales and R&D expenses.

　　Distinction between assemblies and parts

　　The two links adjacent to Unitree show another expression in the financial statements.

　　Sanhua Intelligent Controls Operating revenue for the first three quarters was 25,274,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.18%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 3,067,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.40%. Looking only at the third quarter, operating revenue was 8,374,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.82%, and net profit attributable to shareholders was 1,023,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.64%.

　　Tuopu Group Operating revenue for the first three quarters was 22,615,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.06%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 1,662,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 15.48%. In the third quarter, operating revenue was 8,416,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.28%, and net profit attributable to shareholders was 640,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.78%, but an increase of 35.85% compared with the second quarter.

　　The decline in profits of these two assembly companies is Robot lowly related to business. According to Sanhua Intelligent Controls a person close to the matter told Jiemian News that the company Robot business will achieve mass supply based on 'customer demand'.

　　Another company's Tuopu Group actuators and dexterous hand motors have entered small-batch delivery, but their share of related revenue remains very low. Top public announcement mentions that Robot the first phase of the component industry base construction is basically completed; in the first half of the year, liquid-cooled servers, energy storage, Robot the combined orders for three emerging thermal management businesses totaled 1,750,000,000 yuan.

　　Moving further down to the parts and electronic control segments, differentiation becomes more pronounced.

　　Main business includes joint modules and other components. Robot core components' Leise Intelligent (002979.SZ) had operating revenue of 1,909,000,000 yuan in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 46.77%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 299,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 86.80%. The company's products are mainly applied in Semiconductors and optical Communication Equipment etc.

　　main business includes industrial, humanoid robots The ledger of complete machines the Shuanghuan Driveline (002472.SZ) had operating revenue of 7,118,000,000 yuan in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 10.08%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 920,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.40%. As an RV The ledger of complete machines with the gear dragon head, its core business remains in Automobile industrial automation.

　　mainly includes industrial robots and other Zhongdali De (002896.SZ) operating revenue for the first three quarters was 932,000,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.88%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 51,907,700 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.27%.

　　Placing the financial reports of seven companies together makes the divergence in sectors immediately clear: assembly manufacturers (Sanhua Intelligent Controls, Tuopu Group) rely on their mature core businesses to support their new robotics business, while parts suppliers (Leise Intelligent still awaiting scaled-up orders to materialize, while whole-machine manufacturers (Unitree) continue to increase R&D investment in embodied intelligence models.

　　Cash flow data also corroborates this divergence: Sanhua Intelligent Controls Operating cash flow for the first three quarters was 3749000000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.58%; Top Group's operating cash flow for the first half of the year was 2596000000 yuan. In contrast, Unitree's operating cash flow declined by 54.69% year-on-year. Leise Intelligent、Lvde Harmonic (688017.SH) had negative operating cash flow for the first half of the year. Companies with a stable core business are more likely to succeed in the robot sector's long investment cycle.

　　senior Artificial Intelligence expert Guo Tao told Interface News that companies like Unitree, which produce humanoid robots as complete units, exhibit typical characteristics of a growth stage: revenue remains highly elastic while profits are suppressed by deliberate investments, creating a sharp contrast with component-focused targets such as Top Group. Sanhua Intelligent Controls At the industry level, humanoid robot complete units are still in the early phase of commercial validation; companies prioritize competing for scenario pilots, customer benchmarks, and data accumulation, making profit not the primary goal at this stage. Upstream component manufacturers, relying on bulk supply, enjoy stronger earnings stability, whereas complete unit manufacturers generally show a pattern of increasing revenue without corresponding profit growth. This performance structure indicates that the sector remains in a period of technology and commercialization investment; short-term profit volatility will persist, and market pricing continues to focus on future delivery potential.

　　Given that most companies currently have a small profit base from their robot business and are affected by R&D expenses and share-based payment adjustments, the basis for valuing robot companies is constantly evolving.

　　Based on Unitree Technology's closing price of 695.90 yuan per share on October 28 and a total market capitalization of 281,500,000,000 yuan, with simple annualization of revenue of 1,817,000,000 yuan for the first three quarters, the corresponding price-to-sales ratio is approximately 116 times.

　　Jiemian News noted that there are multiple voices suggesting that valuations for humanoid full-body enterprises rely more on forward quantity-price models rather than current profit indicators. When will the market's valuation logic for robot companies switch from 'forward scenario pricing' back to a PE framework centered on profitability and cash flow? Is this switching node more likely to occur before or after scaled shipments in the industry?

　　In response, Guo Tao told Jiemian News that currently humanoid robots the sector is priced using forward quantity-price models. Essentially, the industry has not yet formed a stable and replicable profit loop. The core observation indicators for valuation switching are concentrated in several directions: the proportion of stable bulk repurchase orders, stabilization and recovery of single-unit hardware gross margins, software subscriptions and operation and maintenance services forming continuous cash flows, and unit fixed manufacturing costs being amortized to below the break-even line as shipments scale.

　　"In terms of industry momentum, this transition point is more likely to occur after scaled production begins," Guo Tao told Jiemian News. "Before scaled production, orders focus on pilot programs and small-batch validation; customer willingness to pay and scenario universality have not been thoroughly tested, making volume-price assumptions prone to repeated revisions. Only when large-scale deployment validates that unit cost, failure rate, and operational efficiency meet customers' economic return standards, and operating cash flow remains consistently positive and predictable, will the market gradually abandon forward-looking scenario pricing and shift toward a PE valuation framework anchored by profitability and cash flow."

(Source: Jiemian News)