Leaderdrive Q3 sales up 56% on humanoid joints as margins slip; Efort narrows loss
Leaderdrive, the Suzhou maker of strain wave reducers for robot joints, said in its Q3 report on Oct 31 that revenue rose 56.10% to RMB 242.3m and net profit 29.12% to RMB 52.0m, citing industrial-robot share gains and sharp growth in its embodied-AI robot business.
Industrial robot maker Efort reported Q3 revenue up 53.31% to RMB 296.8m, with intelligent robot sales up 77.28% and its net loss narrowed to RMB 13.0m. MEKAWIRE's calculation shows Leaderdrive's nine-month gross margin fell to 32.7% from 36.6%.
Two Chinese robot suppliers reported their fastest growth in years on Oct 31, and the filings show what that growth costs. Leaderdrive, the Suzhou maker of strain wave reducers and joint actuators, said third-quarter revenue rose 56.10% year on year to RMB 242.3m and net profit attributable to shareholders rose 29.12% to RMB 52.0m. It credited a larger share of the industrial-robot market and a sharp increase in the scale of its embodied-AI robot business, the reducers that go into humanoid and other new robot joints.
Efort, the Wuhu industrial robot maker, said Q3 revenue rose 53.31% to RMB 296.8m and its intelligent robot business, which covers industrial and embodied-AI robots, grew 77.28%. It still lost RMB 13.0m, though the loss narrowed by 73.22% from a year earlier.
Leaderdrive sells more joints at lower margins
For January to September Leaderdrive's revenue rose 45.30% to RMB 590.9m and net profit 30.33% to RMB 122.1m. Profit grew more slowly than sales because margins fell: by MEKAWIRE's calculation from the income statement, nine-month gross margin was 32.7%, down from 36.6% a year earlier. R&D spending rose 27.89% to RMB 50.9m, or 8.61% of revenue. Inventory reached RMB 427.0m on Sep 30, up 49.8% from the end of 2025, and nine-month operating cash flow was minus RMB 71.3m.
Efort's recovery comes from a low base
Efort's nine-month revenue rose 35.66% to RMB 952.4m and the net loss narrowed 65.08% to RMB 69.9m. The company said its gross margin recovered to 16.36% from 7.55% a year earlier, and 18.66% in the third quarter alone. A RMB 64.9m rise in other income, mostly government subsidies recognised when research projects were accepted, helped the bottom line. Q3 operating cash flow was positive at RMB 103.9m.
- Unitree
- Quadruped and humanoid robots
- 665.0
- +69.93%
- 112.7
- 54.0%
- 59.7%
- Leaderdrive
- Strain wave reducers, joint actuators
- 242.3
- +56.10%
- 52.0
- 32.7%
- 36.6%
- Efort
- Industrial robots, integration
- 296.8
- +53.31%
- -13.0
- 16.36%
- 7.55%
- Estun
- Industrial robots, motion control
- 1,101
- -12.43%
- 18.7
- 32.4%
- 28.5%
Source: 2026 third-quarter reports of Leaderdrive (SSE STAR 688017, Oct 31), Efort (SSE STAR 688165, Oct 31), Unitree (SSE STAR 688836, Oct 28) and Estun (HKEX and SZSE, Oct 29), unaudited, as covered by MEKAWIRE. Gross margin = (revenue minus cost of sales) / revenue, calculated by MEKAWIRE except Efort, which states it in its report.
As of Oct 31, 2026
MEKAWIRE analysis
China's humanoid build-out is lifting volumes fastest at the joint and robot suppliers, but it is being paid for in price, so margins are falling at the leaders and rising only where they started from a trough.
Our table of Q3 filings from the four Chinese robot companies MEKAWIRE has covered this season shows the pattern. Unitree grew revenue 69.93% while its nine-month gross margin fell to 54.0% from 59.7%, and Leaderdrive grew 56.10% with margin down about four points. Estun, whose sales shrank 12.43%, is the one whose margin widened most among the profitable names, to 32.4% from 28.5%. Efort's gain is a recovery from a 7.55% margin that left it loss-making.
The counter-argument is that Leaderdrive is investing for scale, and new capacity weighs on margins before it fills. Its own report lists capacity expansion among the reasons for higher profit, so the squeeze looks more like price than under-used plant. That matters for Japan's Harmonic Drive Systems, whose recovery we described in our strain wave gear explainer: the humanoid demand both firms chase comes with Chinese pricing. Our humanoid joint supplier guide lists the other contenders, and the Leaderdrive and Efort profiles carry both companies.
What would change our view: a Leaderdrive quarter with rising sales and a stable margin. Signals to watch are the two companies' 2026 annual reports, Unitree's and other humanoid makers' unit disclosures, and any price list changes for reducers in early 2027.
- RMB 296.8m, up 53.31%
- Loss of RMB 13.0m, narrowed 73.22%
- 16.36% vs 7.55% (company filing)
- RMB 242.3m, up 56.10%
- RMB 52.0m, up 29.12%
- Industrial robot share gains and sharp growth in embodied-AI robot business
- 32.7% vs 36.6% (MEKAWIRE calc.)
- Up 77.28% in Q3, up 38.09% in 9M