Eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions has created a stir in the entire stock market with its IPO. The IPO has received tremendous response from investors. Those who were expressing concern about the valuation of the company are now not tired of calling it a blockbuster. The special thing is that this IPO has received bids of more than Rs 1 lakh crore. The company’s Rs 7,278 crore IPO received an overwhelming response from all investor categories.
According to stock exchange data, the IPO was subscribed 26.4 times overall, with bids received for over 263 crore shares against the total of 9.97 crore shares. Due to which the total applications at the upper end of the price band of Rs 382-402 per share reached close to Rs 1 lakh crore.
Enthusiasm seen in QIB
Most enthusiasm came from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), who bid aggressively for the shares and subscribed 37.19 times their shares. This reflects strong confidence from foreign and domestic funds, although many analysts have warned that the high valuations of IPOs leave limited scope for profits after listing.
Institutional demand was expected to be strong following a strong anchor book, with large mutual funds and global investors inflows just before the issue opened. Anchor investors had already bought a large portion of the shares offered, which boosted sentiment in the primary market. Analysts were mostly positive on the long-term IPO, given Lenskart’s potential to dominate India’s organized eyewear market, which is still largely untouched and fragmented. The company is also expanding rapidly in overseas markets such as the Middle East and South East Asia, which will boost investor confidence in its growth journey.
HNI and retail investors also included
HNIs also joined the race and took subscription up to 18.07 times. The non-institutional investor segment witnessed consistent participation from individual bidders, both small and large, and witnessed significant interest in the last two days of the issue. Although participation from retail investors was the lowest among the three categories, it was still impressive – subscribed 6.98 times, reflecting the enthusiasm of common investors despite the high entry value. Retail investors bid for several crore shares, reflecting the popularity of the brand and optimism towards new-age consumer businesses.
Debate over valuation
Lenskart’s IPO has also sparked a heated debate among market watchers regarding valuation. At the upper end of the price range, the company’s valuation is around Rs 70,000 crore, which equates to a price-to-earnings multiple of more than 230 times based on FY2025 earnings – the highest among consumer-tech listings in India.
The company reported a profit of Rs 297 crore in FY25 on revenue of Rs 6,652 crore, but a large part of this was the result of a one-time accounting profit related to the acquisition of Japanese eyewear brand Ondays. After adjusting this, the normalized profit is around Rs 130 crore, which means the margins are very low.
Still, analysts say the market reaction shows investors are focusing on Lenskart’s scale, brand strength and digital-first retail model rather than short-term income indicators. The company’s strong distribution network – spanning over 2,500 stores across the globe and a leading online presence – has made it a major player in India’s eyewear industry.