Indian financial markets are set for another blockbuster year of initial public offerings (IPOs). Companies and selling shareholders have mobilised over Rs70,000 crore as of September 2025, according to the latest data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The cumulative amount is likely to be higher than in 2024, according to most analysts. While some companies have generated significant post-IPO returns, most are trading at or below the issue price. Overall, it is a subdued performance (IPOs), according to one analysis by Kotak Securities, a brokerage firm.
That is not stalling any momentum as more companies are tapping public markets in India. Imagine Marketing, the company behind the ‘BoAT’ brand of audio wearables, filed an IPO offer document last week. Aman Gupta, an investor on the popular TV show ‘Shark Tank’, is offering shares in the offer. Another ‘Shark Tank’ investor, Peyush Bansal, the founder of Lenskart, is tackling harsh scrutiny on social media about his company’s share sale through another large IPO. Groww, one of India's largest stockbrokers, is set to go public this month. You are aware of the people who created these brands. You are also aware of the products they sell. Many of you would be users. Naturally, you might be inclined to invest in these businesses.
While you do that, it is essential to note that the post-IPO stock performance of some popular consumer tech companies over the past few years, such as Eternal (Zomato-Blinkit), One96 Communications (PayTm), and FSN E-commerce (Nykaa), shows that it is a grind for popular brands to please investors. The top performer among these stocks post-IPO is Eternal. It took the company two years to deliver positive returns to IPO investors. Since then, the stock has jumped multiple times.
The argument about investing in these companies was about the hot consumer-technology high-growth prospect. These companies enjoyed significant market value even though they were not making any profit. As markets put a price on tomorrow’s profits, the entire valuation game was about how much money these companies can eventually make.
It is a grind for a legacy company like the Life Insurance Corporation of India, too. The government is looking to sell more stake in the insurance giant. LIC has a dominant market share in the Indian life insurance segment, and given the relatively low insurance penetration in India, growth is likely to be strong across insurance companies.
What does it mean to you?
When looking at IPOs, you may want to shift your focus from the short term to the long term. A lot of you borrow money to subscribe to hot IPOs. The idea is to take advantage of the IPO bump. However, that is not possible across any company. A reasonably good indicator could be to track demand for the company's shares seeking a listing. That is clear from the oversubscription an IPO receives. When demand for a company's shares is high, the share price tends to remain stable or even rise after the IPO.
The other thing to do is read the company’s offer document. The final red herring prospectus provides a wealth of information about the industry the company operates in and its position relative to the peer group. Any business serving an underpenetrated market has better long-term prospects. The other key factor in an IPO is the quality of the management. You can watch their interviews or read about the founding team and key shareholders.
Many companies are making offers to purchase from major existing shareholders, along with new share offerings. The overall demand for shares should indicate the prospects. If there are new shareholders eager to own a part of the business, existing shareholders’ selling may not be a problem. At the same time, an offer for sale is not such a bad thing. It means the company’s operations do not require day-to-day financing.
