Lenskart Solutions made a muted trading debut on Monday as stretched valuations clouded the outlook for shares of India’s largest eyewear retailer.
The stock was at 392.3 rupees as of 10:07 a.m. IST, valuing the eyewear retailer at 676.25 billion rupees ($7.69 billion). Rival Titan TITN.NS commands a valuation of $37.7 billion.
Lenskart’s $828 million IPO, one of the largest in India this year, was lapped up by investors on the first day of bidding, with total bids – including the so-called anchor book – surpassing $13 billion.
Its trading debut comes in a busy primary market, with other technology-driven companies like stock broker Groww BILO.NS, edtech company PhysicsWallah PHYS.NS and fintech firm Pine Labs PINL.NS in the process of listing their shares.
Lenskart’s shares, which were issued at 402 rupees, fell as much as 11% to 356.1 rupees.
“Lenskart looks good from a business model perspective, but at the right valuation which is much lower than the current levels,” said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst.
Lenskart turned profitable in financial year 2025 and reported a 23% rise in revenue to 66.53 billion rupees.
“The (weak) listing shows the importance of looking at the valuation and not to go blindly by grey market premium or oversubscription to apply for an IPO,” Baliga said.
The premium for company’s shares in the grey market was as high as 108 rupees ahead of the IPO.
Baliga added that this sort of listing, especially after strong subscription, could affect retail investor participation in upcoming IPOs.
Lenskart’s IPO comprised of a fresh issue of 21.5 billion rupees and an offer for sale of 51.3 billion rupees.
($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)
Reuters
