Yushu Technology was selected for on-site inspection. With low R&D matching hard technology narratives, can the "counterintuitive" prospectus pass?

Source: Nanchai Society

Yushu Technology’s IPO faces an initial setback.

On April 1st, the China Securities Industry Association announced the list of companies for on-site inspection in the second batch of 2026, with Yushu Technology and Zhongke Yuhang, both recently accepted on March 20th and 31st, being selected.

According to information from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, both companies are IPOs on the STAR Market, sponsored respectively by CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong Securities.

IPO on-site inspections serve as a firewall to prevent companies with “diseases” from passing, and as a “tightening” measure to reinforce the responsibilities of market entities. They also help improve the quality of listed companies from the source.

For many years, IPO on-site inspections have been viewed by the market as a “death sentence”: from 2021 to 2024, the termination rates of inspected companies were 71.74%, 76.47%, 82.35%, and 50%, respectively. Since 2025, although only Xinmi Technology has withdrawn, inspections still significantly impact the pace of listings—out of 16 companies randomly checked that year, only 7 passed, with the rest still in queue; by contrast, high-quality companies like Mol, from application to registration, took less than 200 days.

Yushu Technology, known as the “world’s first” humanoid robot shipment volume, will it withstand this on-site inspection and gain regulatory endorsement, or will it be pressed on the pause button?

01

Yushu’s Prospectus “Contradicts Common Sense”

Low R&D does not match the narrative of hard technology

Let’s look at the two companies selected for the CSRC’s on-site inspection: one is a general-purpose robot company aiming to become the “No. 1 humanoid robot” on the A-share market, and the other is a private launch vehicle company racing to be the “No. 1 commercial aerospace stock.” Both are solid tech companies and leaders in their respective fields. The fact that both were simultaneously selected for on-site inspection has led netizens to comment: the CSRC’s “random” selection seems to have some substance.

But this isn’t surprising. Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, only 11 companies in total had their IPOs newly accepted on the A-share market, with 6 on the STAR Market. The other boards had no more than 3 accepted companies each. The Shanghai Stock Exchange had none.

For companies applying for a first-time listing, the CSRC regularly conducts two types of on-site inspections: random checks and problem-oriented checks. For newly accepted companies, about 20% are randomly selected for inspection to verify the quality of their filings. Based on this ratio, exactly two companies were selected this time. Since the STAR Market has the highest number of new acceptances, its probability of being selected is naturally the highest.

Among the six newly accepted companies on the STAR Market, there are key core technology fields: medical devices (2 companies: Aike Medical, Saikesisi), semiconductors (2 companies: Suiyuan Technology, Xinhua Technology), commercial aerospace (1 company: Zhongke Yuhang), and robotics (1 company: Yushu Technology).

Of these, only Zhongke Yuhang and Suiyuan Technology are unprofitable, with negative net profits. While Yushu Technology’s prospectus shows impressive growth in revenue and net profit, other data in the prospectus appears “counterintuitive” and has been questioned externally.

For such hard-tech companies, high investment and high losses are normal. Yet Yushu presents a “low investment, high growth, high profit” picture.

The prospectus discloses that Yushu’s humanoid robots have already achieved the world’s first shipment volume, with 2025 revenue reaching 1.7 billion yuan, and net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses at 600 million yuan, with a net profit margin of 35%. Yushu explains that this is achieved through full-stack self-research and manufacturing, lowering prices, which in turn stimulates sales, leading to such high net profits.

However, Yushu’s low R&D investment conflicts with its hard-tech narrative.

In the first three quarters of 2025, Yushu’s advertising expenses were only 22.57 million yuan, and the explosive marketing during the Spring Festival Gala in 2025 did not actually cost much.

Even more surprising is that Yushu’s R&D personnel and expenses are relatively low.

Financial reports show that Yushu currently has 480 employees, with 175 in R&D, accounting for 36.46%, which is not high.

The prospectus indicates that by the end of the third quarter of 2025, the company’s R&D expenses totaled 90.21 million yuan, accounting for 7.73% of revenue. Compared to peers like UBTECH and Yuejiang, Yushu’s R&D expense ratio is far below the industry average. From 2022 to 2024, Yushu’s total R&D investment was only 150 million yuan. Including the first three quarters of 2025, the total R&D investment over nearly four years is less than 300 million yuan.

In comparison, UBTECH alone spent 478 million yuan on R&D in 2024. Yuejiang’s R&D investment was 71.79 million yuan, but its expenses are still higher than Yushu’s.

Yushu’s prospectus attempts to show that its robot products can be mass-produced and sold like commodities.

But the actual sales uses of its products still raise doubts—whether the explosive growth in robot sales is just a flash in the pan.

Since last year, doubts about the commercialization prospects of humanoid robots have persisted. TSMC Chairman Mark Liu even directly criticized robots like Yushu’s: “Jumping around, bouncing, is useless, just good-looking.”

Yushu disclosed that over 70% of its humanoid robots shipped last year are used in “scientific research and education,” supporting its sales figures. Yushu explains that the research and education sector mainly includes universities, research institutions, tech companies, and individual developers for scientific research, technological development, or secondary development.

In terms of industry applications, both quadruped and humanoid robots perform poorly in revenue. Especially humanoid robots, whose main industry application is enterprise-guided tours, accounting for 50%–70%, with the rest in intelligent manufacturing, inspection, logistics, etc., which only account for 29.29% of industry applications.

02

CITIC Securities is both sponsor and shareholder

Sent 24 people to guide Yushu’s IPO

Yushu Technology’s IPO is backed by a host of star investors.

Tianyancha shows that Yushu Technology has undergone 10 rounds of financing, with giants like Tencent, China Mobile, Alibaba-affiliated capital, Geely, Xiaomi, Meituan, Variable Capital, Sequoia Capital, Shenzhen Venture Capital, China Mobile Capital, Source Code Capital, and Matrix Partners all holding stakes.

In September 2024, CITIC Securities also participated in Yushu’s B+++ round of financing. In February 2024, Jingshi Growth Fund invested in Yushu, and its managing partner is CITIC Securities’ wholly owned subsidiary, Jingshi Investment.

This means CITIC Securities is not only the sponsor but also a shareholder of Yushu.

When Yushu’s IPO guidance documents were disclosed last year, the signature block at the end, with 24 guiding personnel from CITIC Securities, caused surprise and discussion online, with some jokingly calling it a “joint begging team.”

Such large guidance teams are common on the STAR Market: Guotai Haitong once assigned 33 people to guide Visionary Technology; CICC and CITIC Construction Investment each sent 18 and 16 people to guide Changxin Technology. Many STAR Market companies qualify under the fifth listing standard, with long business chains, many risk points, and heavy review workloads, so a luxurious team also reflects CITIC Securities’ high regard for this IPO.

On March 15, 2024, the CSRC issued revised “Guidelines for On-site Inspection of Issuers,” aiming to strengthen this powerful regulatory tool and guide intermediaries to improve their professional quality. The on-site inspections have attracted attention; under strict regulation, intermediaries are also raising their standards and paying more attention to IPO verification. Otherwise, problems could lead to penalties.

For both Yushu Technology and CITIC Securities, this inspection is both a test and a “touchstone” to verify the authenticity of financial reports and the quality of professional practice.

Do you think Yushu Technology can successfully pass the on-site inspection?