On June 24, Seer Robotics officially listed in Hong Kong. Its shares opened flat at HKD 101.6 (USD 13), then climbed steadily to an intraday high of HKD 140.5 (USD 17.9), up 38.3%, before pulling back to close closer to the offering price.

Based on that valuation and the company’s RMB 442 million (USD 64.8 million) in revenue last year, its trailing price-to-sales ratio rose to about 25 times, making it one of the most highly valued new robotics stocks in Hong Kong. Geek+, a major autonomous mobile robot company, trades at about nine times sales, while Estun, one of China’s leading industrial robot companies, trades at about four to five times sales. Seer Robotics’ offering price had already reflected expectations that its high growth and high gross margins can continue.

Seer Robotics went through a sharp swing in just 24 hours. In gray market trading on the afternoon of June 23, the stock opened slightly higher at HKD 105 (USD 13.4) and rose as high as HKD 130, (USD 16.6) up 27.9% from its offering price. It then slid sharply, falling as low as HKD 80, (USD 10.2) down 21.3%. Its trading range for the day reached 49.21%. It ultimately closed near the lower end at HKD 94.2 (USD 12), down 7.28% from the offering price. For most of the session, it traded below the offering price, with an average transaction price of HKD 92.84 (USD 11.8) and a gray market capitalization of about HKD 10.4 billion (USD 1.3 billion).

More striking than the break below the offering price was the volatility. Among investors who bought early, many were quickly underwater. Those trying to trade the stock intraday were caught in a range that stretched nearly 50% from top to bottom.

From a share supply perspective, the volatility reflected the limited number of freely tradable shares. The public offering accounted for only 9.5%, while cornerstone investors locked up another 4.12%. With limited supply, both a rally and a pullback required only a small amount of trading volume.

The eight cornerstone investors subscribed to a combined 43.34% and are subject to a six-month lock-up. They include Hillhouse’s HHLRA, GF Fund, and others. Their holdings moved from an aggregate paper loss of about HKD 33.67 million (USD 4.3 million) to a paper gain of about HKD 64.15 million (USD 8.2 million) as the stock swung.

Seer Robotics is regarded as a market leader in robot controllers, with a 24.8% share. But under a different metric, based on revenue from industrial intelligent robots, the company’s own prospectus shows that Seer Robotics ranks only seventh globally, with a 1.1% share, and third in China, with a 2.5% share.

Leadership in sales volume does not necessarily translate into leadership by revenue, much less dominance of the broader market. Robot controllers remain a narrow niche. That business alone may not be enough to support a market capitalization of HKD 12.8 billion (USD 1.6 billion), which is why Seer Robotics needs to make and sell complete robot units at scale. But complete robot units have a gross margin of only 38.4%, which helps explain the pressure on profit growth.

An industry player told 36Kr that major robotics manufacturers rarely source controllers externally because they can make controllers themselves, and because external sourcing could help cultivate a competitor. As a result, Seer Robotics’ real controller customers have not been major manufacturers, but a group of integrators. Scaled procurement by these integrators will likely have to wait until industry penetration rises further, the person said. In other words, the high-margin story around standalone controllers has not yet fully materialized.

When a company’s market leadership is defined narrowly, its complete robot business weighs on gross margins, and its valuation is already high compared with peers, investors may not keep buying the stock based on status alone. In the short term, Seer Robotics’ share price will depend partly on market sentiment. In the medium to long term, it will depend on whether the company can defend its controller share and whether profitability from complete robot units can improve.

KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Peng Xiaoqiu for 36Kr.

Note: HKD, RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of HKD 7.84 = USD 1 and RMB 6.82 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 25, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.