IPO rally turns uneven as Groww, Lenskart buck the trend

The equity market is scaling new highs, with the benchmark Nifty50 now about 200 points shy of its previous record. The primary market, too, remains robust — nearly 90 companies have already raised ₹1.53 lakh crore this year, compared with last year’s record mobilisation of ₹1.60 lakh crore.

However, what stands out is that about 43% of the companies that debuted in 2025 are currently trading below their issue price. A similar proportion of constituents in the BSE IPO Index are also in the red for the year, with a dozen stocks falling more than 25%.

Despite the broader weakness, some recent debutants have continued their upward rally, shrugging off rich valuations. Shares of Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent of discount broker Groww, have jumped 75% since their stellar debut, taking the company’s market capitalisation to ₹1.08 lakh crore as of Monday’s close. Eye-care solutions provider Lenskart Solutions also extended its gains, ending the session at ₹431.45 on the NSE, compared with its issue price of ₹402 per share.

Other newly listed firms that have more than doubled since listing include Aditya Infotech Ltd, and Ather Energy Ltd, underscoring the uneven performance of IPOs in India’s ongoing market boom.

IPO returns cannot be generalised, said Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, Prime Database Group. While some offerings may fail to deliver the expected gains, many others have created significant value for shareholders over time. Tech-based companies, for instance, have generated an average return of over 44% since listing. “Ultimately, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder,” added Haldea.

The BSE IPO Index, which tracks companies for a year after their listing, has underperformed the broader market and is on course for its first yearly decline since 2022. The index has fallen over 2% so far in 2025, following stellar returns of 32% in 2024 and 41% in 2023. It comprises 108 newly listed firms, with One Mobikwik Systems Ltd, Laxmi Dental Ltd, Highway Infrastructure Ltd, and Concord Enviro Systems Ltd among the worst performers — each down between 42% and 56.2% since the start of the year.

Interestingly, all these laggards had a strong debut. One Mobikwik Systems

rallied as much as 90% on its December 2024 listing; Laxmi Dental surged 36%; Highway Infrastructure jumped 75%; and Concord Enviro Systems gained 23% on debut.

Ambit Capital — the only brokerage currently covering Lenskart Solutions on Bloomberg — has assigned the stock a Sell rating with a 12-month target price of ₹337. In contrast, Groww has yet to receive formal target-price coverage from the analyst community, even as its shares have surged nearly 75% in just four sessions since listing.