The listing comes after a week of volatility in the grey market, where the stock’s premium — once as high as Rs 108, crashed to zero just before debut, signaling uncertainty over near-term gains despite strong investor subscription.
The Rs 7,278 crore IPO received a robust response from investors, being subscribed 28 times overall. Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) led the charge, subscribing 45 times, while the non-institutional investor and retail portions were booked multiple times as well.
Despite healthy demand, the IPO’s high valuation raised questions about its ability to deliver meaningful listing gains, a sentiment that ultimately played out in its flat or modest debut performance.
At the upper price band, the issue was valued at FY25 EV/Sales and EV/EBITDA multiples of 10.1x and 68.7x, significantly higher than even established global peers.
However, Lenskart’s dominant position in India’s organized eyewear retail market, strong brand recall, and improving margins could make it a structural long-term story.Ambit Capital initiated coverage on Lenskart earlier this week with a “Sell” rating and a target price of Rs 337, implying a 16% downside from the issue price. The report highlighted that while Lenskart’s topline is expected to grow around 20% CAGR over FY25–28, its capex-heavy model, thin free cash flows, and low returns on capital (RoCE of ~9%) make its valuation difficult to justify.”The implied 55x FY28 EV/EBITDA multiple for India operations is 15–30% above Trent and Nykaa despite much lower return ratios,” the note said, calling the pricing “unwarranted.”
Lenskart’s financial performance before the IPO had shown strong revenue growth but modest profitability. In FY25, the company reported Rs 6,652 crore in revenue, up 32.5% year-on-year, and a net profit of Rs 297 crore, helped partly by a one-time gain of Rs 167 crore from its Owndays acquisition.
Adjusted for this, normalized profit stood around Rs 130 crore, translating to a thin net margin of under 2%. The company’s EBITDA margin improved to 14.7% in FY25, reflecting operational leverage as it expanded globally across Singapore, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
Analysts say that while the company’s strong omnichannel presence, digital-first strategy, and centralised manufacturing provide scalability, investors will be closely watching margin progression and profitability trends in the coming quarters.
The long-term thesis remains intact, but valuations have already priced in a lot of the growth, said most brokerages and that the next leg of rerating will depend on execution, not sentiment.
At listing, Lenskart’s market cap stood around Rs xx crore. While early investors may be disappointed by the lack of listing fireworks, analysts maintain that the company’s long-term opportunity in India’s Rs 50,000 crore eyewear market, coupled with increasing penetration of organized retail, makes it a steady but patient bet for long-term investors.
As the dust settles on the debut, the market’s focus will shift to quarterly performance. Whether Lenskart can justify its steep valuations through sustained margin expansion and global scale-up will determine if the stock can eventually offer investors the “clear vision” they were hoping for.