"Year of the Horse Tech Spring Festival Gala" reassures investors buying robots? Pre-holiday funds have already flowed into ETFs

This Year’s Year of the Horse CCTV Spring Festival Gala Has Been Called the “Technology Spring Festival Gala” by Many Viewers. During the over four-hour live broadcast, robots appeared almost from start to finish: humanoid robots performing martial arts, robots participating in skit interactions, and robots serving as dance partners in singing and dancing programs, with mechanical limbs rhythmically rising and falling under the lights.

Compared to the slightly awkward, more showy runway walks used to showcase presence in the past, this year’s robots have evolved from shaky supporting roles to being an integral part of stage storytelling.

Looking at the sponsorship list, the concentration of robots at this year’s Spring Festival Gala is also unusually high, featuring several humanoid robot companies including Yushu Technology, Galaxy General, Magic Atom, and Songyan Power. During guest performances, the camera occasionally shows brand exposure, simultaneously igniting the imagination of the capital market.

On social media, some joked, “What you know is watching the Spring Festival Gala, but those who don’t know might think they’re watching a documentary about humanoid robot sector rotation.” Others half-seriously and jokingly speculated, “Did the Spring Festival Gala staff buy robot stocks? And investors sighed, ‘Those who bought robot stocks before the holiday can breathe a sigh of relief.’”

A public equity investment professional told reporters that before the holiday, he saw discussions not only about New Year’s Eve dinners and red envelope covers but also about various configurations of humanoid robots on social media. “Everyone is asking whether this wave is about program-driven sales or a long-term industry trend confirmation.”

Robot ETFs Attract Capital Before the Holiday

If the Spring Festival Gala stage made robots go viral, then the capital flow into ETFs before the holiday was more like an early preview of this hot topic. Wind data shows that currently, there are about 13 ETFs directly related to the robot theme in the entire market. In the last week before the Spring Festival (February 9 to February 13), these products achieved a total net inflow of about 2.577 billion yuan.

Specifically, the Huaxia CSI Robot ETF saw a net inflow of 1.433 billion yuan, the E Fund CSI Robot Industry ETF about 662 million yuan, and the Tianhong CSI Robot ETF and Invesco Great Wall CSI Robot Industry ETF both received net inflows of over 100 million yuan.

Looking at the longer term since February, several hundred-billion-level robot ETFs also experienced net inflows. As of the last trading day before the holiday, the latest size of the Huaxia CSI Robot ETF was approximately 26.72 billion yuan, with a net inflow of 1.667 billion yuan since February. The E Fund CSI Robot Industry ETF’s latest size was 17.81 billion yuan, with a net inflow of 1.122 billion yuan this month. The Tianhong CSI Robot ETF had net inflows of 420 million yuan.

However, while robot ETFs attracted funds, broader artificial intelligence-related ETFs experienced net outflows, totaling about 600 million yuan during the same period. ETFs from fund companies like Fuguo, Bosera, Huabao, and GF Securities all saw net outflows of over 100 million yuan. In other words, within the same tech sector, capital appears to be shifting from general AI to more specific application areas.

A long-term tech manufacturing sector fund manager said he had modestly increased his robot-related holdings before the holiday, not simply because “it’s going to be on the Spring Festival Gala,” but due to industry rhythm and relative valuation considerations.

“This year, some AI infrastructure stocks have risen significantly, short-term expectations have been somewhat overextended, while some segments within the robot chain are accelerating in orders and technological progress, yet their stock prices are still in a relative catch-up phase. The Gala just provided a very intuitive symbol, turning stories discussed in research reports into visual images,” he explained.

Pre-Holiday Focus on “Spring Festival Gala Robots” in Brokerage Research Reports

From a trading perspective, the week before the holiday was not a generally strong market period. Some investors chose to take profits and wait until after the holiday for further judgment, so most broad-based index ETFs and some high-beta industry ETFs did not see significant capital inflows. Nonetheless, robot-themed ETFs still experienced net buying.

Insiders suggest that one reason is that the market had already preheated the humanoid robot concept before the Gala. Several brokerages released in-depth reports on humanoid robots since January, and industry trend topics continued to ferment. Additionally, the overall sentiment in A-shares was still in recovery, making capital more sensitive to new stories, and robots happen to be riding on both technological breakthroughs and national policy support narratives.

Guoyuan Securities explicitly stated in its research report that “2026 is likely to become the year of humanoid robot applications.” The reappearance of robots on the Spring Festival Gala is not just a “viral” event but an external reflection of improved product design and application maturity. The true beneficiaries are those capable of mass production and continuous cost reduction along the industrial chain.

Southwest Securities also noted in its pre-holiday research report that the main station’s Year of the Horse Gala is an “upgrade of ‘technology + art,’” integrating “tech manufacturing” into stage design and content creation, enriching people’s colorful imaginations of the New Year atmosphere. After the Snake Year Gala featured intelligent robots performing Yangge dance and became a “top trending” topic, robots will once again appear on the Gala stage, showcasing China’s technological progress with innovative, tech-savvy, and fresh ideas.

Huajin Securities stated that with robots repeatedly appearing on the Gala, their exposure in the public eye is expected to increase gradually, accelerating commercialization. Since many humanoid robot components share technology with the automotive industry, attention should be paid to OEMs with both hardware and AI iteration capabilities, such as Xpeng Motors, Xiaomi Group, Seres, and Changan Automobile, as well as companies capable of industrializing humanoid robot parts.

Some cautious voices remind that the tech sector often sees overly high expectations during narrative peaks. If subsequent performance growth or industry progress falls short of expectations, stock prices could experience sharper corrections. A long-term TMT sector analyst pointed out that valuations of some robot industry chain companies are already at relatively high levels historically. The emotional premium brought by the Gala, combined with short-term capital games after the holiday, could lead to increased volatility after initial gains. “For those with a long-term perspective, patience is needed to see industry data gradually materialize, rather than rushing in at the loudest moment.”

(Article source: Cailian Press)