India’s primary market enjoyed a record-breaking run in 2025, with IPOs delivering massive fund mobilisation and strong listing-day enthusiasm. However, as the year comes to a close, a reality check has emerged — not all newly listed companies have managed to sustain their early momentum.
According to market data cited by The Economic Times, investor excitement was high during IPO launches, but long-term performance has been uneven. Out of 103 firms that made their initial public offerings (IPOs) this year, 69 had their share prices set higher than the issue price at the time of the listing and 33 had to accept prices below their issue price. By December 26, just 54 stocks were still being traded above their IPO prices, while 47 had fallen into the loss category.
Analysts and market observers see this as a sign that the disparity between the hype around the listing day and the actual business value that can be sustained is increasing.“Several big-ticket IPOs saw strong initial demand but struggled to maintain valuations post listing,” said Dev Chandrasekhar, partner at Transcendum. He noted that companies without fresh capital for expansion must depend heavily on operational efficiency to justify premium pricing — a challenge in competitive sectors.
Despite the mixed outcomes, 2025 marked a historic year for capital raising. Mainboard IPOs mobilised a record ₹1.75 lakh crore, the highest ever in India’s equity markets. The SME segment was equally active, with 267 companies raising ₹11,429 crore.
Underachievers: Smaller Issues Bear the Brunt
A closer look at the worst-performing IPOs reveals a clear pattern. The 10 weakest stocks of the year were all issues sized below ₹1,000 crore. Several of these stocks lost between 30% and over 50% from their issue prices. Glottis plunged 52.78%, Gem Aromatics fell 48.34%, and VMS TMT declined 46.25%.
Toppers: Big Issues Show Greater Resilience
Larger IPOs, on the other hand, demonstrated stronger resilience. Six of the top-performing listings raised more than ₹1,000 crore. Meesho, which raised ₹5,421 crore, is trading over 78% above its issue price. The parent firm of Groww, Billionbrains Garage Ventures, has collected a total of ₹6,632 crores and is already enjoying a hike of approximately 65%.
Tata Capital, HDB Financial Services, LG Electronics India, and ICICI Prudential Asset Management were the ones that majorly listed and all of them were at a premium. While LG and ICICI Prudential maintained their profits, HDB Financial Services experienced a significant reduction in its upside to approximately 2% after a robust opening.
“The market is clearly separating quality from hype,” said Ganesh Jagdishen, CEO of Plutus Global. Experts have noted that indeed, IPO pricing is still primarily influenced by sentiment rather than by the company’s actual performance.
Stallion India Fluorochemicals is the biggest winner in the current year, with a considerable increase of 146.28% from the IPO price. Along with it, there are other top performers like Aditya Infotech (122.71%), Ather Energy (121.14%), Belrise Industries (99.33%), Meesho (78.29%), Jain Resource Recycling (77.67%), and Billionbrains Garage Ventures (65.40%).
Investor Takeaway
The changing market dynamics, on the other hand, lead analysts to suggest being careful. Chandrasekhar is advising rather to wait and watch than to chase after new listings, to the point of calling investors to check post-listing performance before investing.
When the year 2026 comes, a transformation from the “new star” and “platinum” types of IPOs to “selective” and “fundamentals-driven” investing will take place as per the experts. “Retail investors must look beyond flashy listing gains and focus on business strength, especially in an environment where growth capital is becoming costlier,” Jagdishen said.
