The session comes after the cement maker’s listing on Thursday, August 14, when the stock opened at Rs 153 but quickly reversed, sliding over 5% to Rs 145.05. Markets were shut on Friday for the Independence Day holiday, making Monday effectively its second trading day.
Debut stumble, quick recovery
JSW Cement’s Rs 3,600-crore IPO had listed at a premium of about 4% but lost momentum in its debut session, erasing early gains that had topped grey-market expectations. Still, the issue was fully subscribed, drawing 7.77 times bids, led by qualified institutional buyers with 15.8 times demand. Non-institutional investors subscribed 10.97 times, while retail participation was at 1.81 times.
Analyst caution
Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika Investmart, said the muted debut underscored concerns around valuations and profitability.
“Being in a growth phase, the company’s high valuation and current losses could lead to short-term volatility in returns,” Nyati said and advised IPO investors chasing listing gains to keep a stop loss at Rs 138, while medium-term to long-term investors could hold the stock for its growth potential.SimranJeet Singh Bhatia, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Almondz Global, flagged high leverage and weakening operating margins.“The company operating performance continued to be weak, with concern majorly on high debt, weak coverage ratios. On the revenue front, the company has posted growth in revenue from FY23 till date. Revenue posted in FY25 is Rs 5813 crore, Operating margins decline to 12% in FY25 from 15.37% in FY24,” Bhatia said.Debt rose to Rs 6,166 crore in FY25 from Rs 5,420 crore in FY23, with debt-to-EBITDA at 8.63x. Despite plans to nearly double grinding capacity from 20.6 MTPA to 41.85 MTPA, Bhatia recommended booking profits given the stretched balance sheet and soft operating metrics.
Valuation and outlook
Gaurav Garg of Lemonn Markets Desk said the IPO showed strong investor appetite but came at “rich valuations and near-term earnings pressure.”
Brokerages had broadly advised investors to take a long-term view. Canara Bank Securities had described JSW Cement as India’s fastest-growing and the world’s “greenest” cement producer, while flagging its 32x EV/EBITDA valuation versus the 23x industry average.
SBI Securities had pointed to capacity expansion plans to 60 MTPA by the mid-2030s, expecting profitability to improve through cost optimisation and new projects such as Shiva Cement’s grinding unit in FY26.
Company plans
Proceeds from the fresh issue will fund a new integrated cement unit at Nagaur, Rajasthan, repay borrowings, and meet general corporate purposes. Promoter proceeds from the offer for sale will go to existing shareholders.
With the stock back above its IPO price, investors will be watching whether JSW Cement can build sustained momentum as it pushes ahead with capacity expansion after reporting a loss in FY25.
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