It was another good day from initial public offerings (IPOs) that listed on Wednesday. Softbank-backed e-commerce major Meesho listed at a 46% premium – Rs 161.20. The stock, whose offer price was Rs 111 rose 60% intra-day, before closing at Rs 170.09, up 53%. The Rs 5,421 crore IPO was subscribed 79 times.
Another debutant Aequs that focuses on high-precision components and assemblies for civil aviation listed at a 13% premium at Rs 140 and closed with 21% gains above the IPO price of Rs 124. Vidya Wires shares that also debuted, listed flat, but closed at Rs 53.14, up 2%.
‘Bharat’ Story Drives a Stellar Market Debut
“Bharat has come to Dalal Street today. E-commerce in India was big city consumers. What we saw was a different reality. We saw Bharat,” said co-founder Vidit Aatrey (CEO), adding that the company has not scratched the surface of the entire opportunity,” he said.
Sanjeev Barnwal, who co-founded Meesho in December 2015, said direct honest feedback from users helped improve the firm’s app.
Peak owns 11.4% of Meesho, now valued at Rs 8,514 crore, around 38-time return on investment. Elevation Capital, the largest shareholder (11.9% stake) worth nearly Rs 8,950 crore, up 53-times from the investment amount. Prosus owns Rs 8,371 crore stake while the promoters own Rs 12,190 crore worth of shares.
“The main advantages of investing in E-Commerce Sector IPOs include exposure to India’s digital retail growth, scalable business models, technological innovation opportunities, and strategic market positioning,” said discount brokerage Alice Blue. “Disadvantage include high operational costs, technological infrastructure requirements, competitive pressures, and profitability concerns,” it noted.
Meesho operates a low-AOV, value-focused model comparable to peers like PDD and Shopee in China and Southeast Asia and continues to widen access for millions of value-conscious consumers,” a recent report from BofA Global Research had said.
The company has robust leadership across key categories, and its focus on unit economics and scale positions it well for long-term growth, said other analysts. The Bengaluru headquartered firm was founded to enable small entrepreneurs in smaller cities, as its business model connects resellers with a host of products.
Analysts Forecast Strong Revenue Growth
“Meesho remains in the high-growth phase of the platform lifecycle and is expected to deliver 31% FY25–28E revenue CAGR, supported by deep value-commerce penetration and logistics efficiencies” said Choice Institutional Equities. “Meesho trades at 2.4x FY28E EV/Revenue versus the peer average of 5.4x, indicating substantial upside potential as fundamentals strengthen,” said the report.
The firm reported operating revenue of Rs 5,577 crore in H1 FY26, up from Rs 4,311 crore in H1 FY25. Its net loss during this period dropped sharply to Rs 700 crore from Rs 2,512 crore. “Going forward, Meesho’s path to sustainable profitability will be a key monitorable especially as it continues to make investments in technology, marketing and engineers,” said Sunny Agrawal – Head of Fundamental Research, SBI Securities.
Meesho operates in more than 3,000 cities across India. The platform reports having over 13 million resellers and more than 100 million customers. It uses machine learning algorithms for recommendations and personalized experiences. The stock ended at Rs 170.20, up around 5% for the day. The IPO was advised by JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Axis, Kotak Mahindra and Citi.