Inovance robot-and-energy line up 88%; Sanhua, Tuopu Q3 reports never mention robots
Six Chinese companies held by robot index funds filed Q3 reports between Oct 27 and Oct 30. Inovance alone put a number near robots: RMB 2.1bn in nine-month sales for intelligent robots and digital energy combined, up about 88%.
Sanhua and Tuopu mention robots only in fund names, Siasun's loss doubled, and Shuanghuan dropped its robot-joint spin-off.
Robot index funds rank among the largest holders of six Chinese manufacturers, yet the third-quarter reports those companies filed between Oct 27 and Oct 30 say almost nothing about robots. MEKAWIRE read all six. Sanhua Intelligent Controls and Tuopu Group use the word only in the names of the funds on their shareholder lists. Inovance Technology is the only one that gives a sales figure touching robots, and it folds that figure in with digital energy.
That gap matters because these suppliers trade on a humanoid story that their reporting cannot yet prove. The filings show where the money comes from today, and one of them shows a robot listing being called off.
Inovance gives the only number, and it is a blended one
Inovance said in its report of Oct 27 that nine-month sales from its emerging business, intelligent robots and digital energy, were about RMB 2.1bn, up about 88%. That is 5.5% of nine-month revenue of RMB 37.96bn, by our calculation. The split between the two is not given. Servo systems alone brought in about RMB 6.9bn.
Third-quarter revenue rose 19.08% to RMB 13.28bn and net profit 23.55% to RMB 1.59bn, but profit excluding non-recurring items fell 5.37% to RMB 1.15bn. Operating cash flow for nine months fell 77.22% to RMB 895.5m, and inventory grew 54.20% to RMB 12.46bn, which the company attributed to sales-driven production and strategic stocking. Inovance launched its InoBot W1 wheeled humanoid on Oct 21.
Siasun sells more robots and loses more money
Siasun, the one pure robot maker of the six, said in its report of Oct 29 that third-quarter revenue rose 76.60% to RMB 986.1m while its net loss widened 101.63% to RMB 129.4m. The nine-month loss reached RMB 318.5m and operating cash outflow RMB 644.3m. R&D spending rose 58.15% to RMB 236.2m, and associates cost it RMB 85.4m in investment losses, against RMB 25.4m a year earlier. Inventory rose 44.49% and contract liabilities 34.19%, which points to more work in hand than has been recognised.
Shuanghuan cancels the listing that would have priced its joints
Shuanghuan Driveline said its board and shareholders agreed on Sep 3 and Sep 21 to end the STAR Market spin-off of Huandong, its robot-joint subsidiary, and withdraw the application filed in 2024. The stated reason is that market conditions had changed considerably since planning began. A listing would have given investors separate accounts for a Chinese joint maker of this kind. Those accounts now stay inside the group.
- Inovance
- 13,281
- +19.08%
- 1,589
- +23.55%
- 28.2%
- 29.3%
- 1.05%
- Tuopu
- 8,416
- +5.28%
- 640
- -4.78%
- 18.5%
- 19.2%
- 1.71%
- Sanhua
- 8,374
- +7.82%
- 1,023
- -9.64%
- 28.3%
- 28.1%
- 1.58%
- Shuanghuan
- 2,559
- +14.40%
- 333
- +3.76%
- 26.8%
- 27.0%
- 4.02%
- Siasun
- 986
- +76.60%
- -129
- loss wider 101.63%
- 15.2%
- 13.8%
- 5.29%
- Zhaowei
- 445
- -4.94%
- 48
- -29.44%
- 31.4%
- 32.2%
- 1.37%
Source: 2026 third-quarter reports, unaudited, filed Oct 27 to Oct 30. Gross margin = (revenue minus cost of sales) / revenue, MEKAWIRE calculation. Robot funds = sum of the stakes of robot index funds in each top-ten list, tradable-share list for Inovance, MEKAWIRE calculation (Inovance stake from share count).
As of Nov 1, 2026
MEKAWIRE analysis
Index money treats these suppliers as robot companies; their filings still describe automotive, appliance and automation businesses.
Siasun at least sells robots. The others are the test. In the top-ten shareholder lists, funds tracking robot indices hold 4.02% of Shuanghuan and 1.71% of Tuopu, against a robot sales figure that neither report provides. Tuopu saw nine-month net profit fall 15.48% and Sanhua 5.40%, the latter with financial costs up RMB 267m on currency losses. Zhaowei, the micro-drive specialist, reported third-quarter net profit down 29.44%.
The counter-argument is that quarterly reports in China are condensed, so silence proves little. Our profiles of Sanhua and Tuopu record actuator work, and it may simply be too early for that to show in the numbers. Compare Leaderdrive and Efort, much smaller companies that named embodied AI and robot sales as drivers on Oct 31. See also our Q3 scorecard and our China policy explainer.
What would change our view is a separate robot line in the 2026 annual reports, due by Apr 30, 2027. Until then, the only hard figure in this group is Inovance's RMB 2.1bn, and nobody outside the company knows how much of it is robots.
- Revenue RMB 986.1m, up 76.60%; net loss RMB 129.4m, widened 101.63%
- Huandong robot-joint spin-off ended, approved Sep 3 and Sep 21
- Robots appear only in shareholder fund names
- About RMB 2.1bn, up about 88% (robots and digital energy combined)
- RMB 1.15bn, down 5.37%
- 5.5% (MEKAWIRE calc.)
- 5.29% of Siasun, 4.02% of Shuanghuan (MEKAWIRE sum)
Why it matters
Robot index funds now sit among the top holders of these suppliers, so their share registers already reflect a humanoid thesis. The third-quarter reports give investors almost no way to test it. Only Inovance discloses a line that includes robots, and it is blended with digital energy.
The withdrawal of Huandong's listing removes a rare chance to see stand-alone accounts for a Chinese robot-joint maker.
Signals to watch
Annual reports due by Apr 30, 2027: any separate robot line at Inovance, Sanhua or Tuopu. Siasun's conversion of contract liabilities into revenue and cash. Any new capital plan for Huandong after the spin-off withdrawal.
Analyst view
Thesis: disclosure lags narrative. Confidence medium, because quarterly reports are condensed and annual reports may add segment detail.