India’s eyewear giant makes its debut on the stock market with volatility, strong demand, and a valuation that has everyone talking.
Photo by Shayan Khalili on Unsplash
On its first day as a public company, Lenskart took investors on a bit of a ride.
The stock opened lower than expected on Monday at ₹395, dipping a full 11% to ₹356.10 before clawing its way back to close at ₹404.55 — just a hair above its ₹402 IPO price. It wasn’t the smoothest debut, but it still managed to finish slightly in the green by day’s end.
So what actually happened?
The IPO was hot — but the valuation made people sweat
Lenskart, the 15-year-old Indian eyewear retailer known for its direct-to-consumer model, pulled off a massive ₹72.8 billion ($821 million) IPO that sold out in just a few hours. Demand was high — the offering was oversubscribed about 28 times — mostly thanks to eager institutional investors.
But despite the frenzy, the stock opened below its IPO price, which raised eyebrows.
The valuation was a big part of the conversation. Lenskart was aiming for a market value of around ₹700 billion — roughly $7.9 billion. By the end of the day, the company landed around ₹702 billion, close to its target. Sounds impressive, right?
Photo by Onkarphoto on Unsplash
Here’s the catch: That valuation put Lenskart at an eye-popping 230 times its core net profit and about 10 times its revenue. For some investors, especially regular folks, that ratio seemed more than a little rich.
Profit or potential? That’s the big question
In its latest fiscal year ending March 2025, Lenskart reported a profit — that’s important. Revenue grew 23% year-over-year, hitting ₹66.53 billion (around $750 million). Net profit reached ₹2.97 billion (about $33 million), but this number included a one-off accounting gain of ₹1.67 billion related to its Owndays acquisition. Without that, core profit landed at ₹1.30 billion, or roughly $15 million.
So while the company is making money, it’s still early days for the scale investors are betting on — especially internationally.
Still, there’s a core story here that’s exciting to many.
A vertically integrated vision (pun intended)
Lenskart’s pitch is clear: by controlling their entire chain — from manufacturing to store shelves — they believe they can beat the older chains and upstart online competitors. That model has already helped them stand out in a crowded market.
CEO Peyush Bansal, who’s become a familiar face from his time on Shark Tank India, insisted the IPO was “fairly priced,” citing confidence from institutional investors backing the vision.
Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash
At the IPO ceremony in Mumbai, Bansal made it personal: “We didn’t build Lenskart to reach a valuation. We did it to reach people, from Delhi to the smallest towns of India.”
Where the money’s going
- Open more stores both in India and abroad
- Strengthen its supply chain
- Invest further in technology and marketing
- Possibly acquire more companies
- Fund general corporate needs
It’s also worth noting that several existing investors — including SoftBank, Schroders Capital, Premji Invest, Kedaara Capital, and Alpha Wave Ventures — used the IPO to sell off some of their shares. Co-founders Peyush Bansal, Nehal Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi also partially cashed out.
The big picture
Lenskart’s IPO marks a growing trend: more Indian startups are heading to public markets as late-stage venture capital becomes harder to secure. It’s not alone. Companies like Groww, Pine Labs, BoAt, and PhysicsWallah are all preparing for their own market debuts.
After raising money at a $5 billion valuation just last year, Lenskart’s move into the $8 billion arena is bold. Fidelity had already marked up its stake to $5.6 billion back in November, so they likely saw this coming.
But now that it’s on the public market, Lenskart has to prove it can scale profitably — and quickly — while standing out in a busy field.
For now, it’s off to a slightly shaky but solid start.
Whether Lenskart’s vision stays crystal clear will depend on what it does next — and how patient the market is willing to be.
Keywords: Lenskart, IPO, stock market, India, investors, valuation, businesses, investment
