New-age firms' listing gains fade fast; IT deal renewal in focus

Happy Thursday! Some of the best-received new-age IPOs are now trading below their issue price, ET analysis shows. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Lenskart’s Q1 report
■ Creators shape Gen Z's shopping
■ Yulu raises funds

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New-age IPOs: listing-day performance proves poor guide to long-term gains

Listing-day pops have offered little guidance on how India’s new-age stocks perform once quarterly scrutiny begins.

Driving the news: An ET analysis of 27 venture capital- and private equity-backed companies listed since 2024 shows investors rapidly revising early verdicts as execution, competition and cash burn replace scarcity-driven demand.

The disconnect shows why the opening auction is a starting signal, not the public market’s considered verdict on a company.

The reversals:

• Seven of 17 stocks that opened above their issue prices now trade below them, showing how quickly early gains can evaporate.
• Four of seven discount openers have recovered above their IPO prices; three other companies opened flat.
• Unicommerce, MobiKwik and FirstCry surrendered strong debuts, while Shadowfax, Amagi, BlueStone and Lenskart reversed weak openings.

The reset:

• Limited free float, anchor allocations and oversubscription can magnify debut demand without validating the underlying business.
• Quarterly disclosures shift attention to revenue quality, margins, cash generation, competitive intensity and whether management delivers on guidance.
• The lesson matters for the next IPO cohort: defensible pricing may build a stronger listed franchise over time than maximising valuation.

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Clients may hit refresh on $13 billion IT deals by December

About $13 billion worth of IT contracts are expected to be renewed by December 2026, broadly similar to the same period in 2025, with global tier-I and mid-sized IT firms competing for a share.

For instance: Some deals expected to be up for renewal are banking giant HSBC’s ERP implementation and modernisation contract with Accenture and Capgemini, Wipro’s contract with ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services’ engagements with GE Healthcare, TCS and HCLTech’s contracts with Cemex, among others, said industry sources.


Yes, and: While the number of renewals is rising, AI-led deflation and vendor consolidation are keeping overall values flat. For the IT industry, large deals are typically $100 million and above, with mega deals at $500 million plus.

• Wipro’s deal was a seven-year engagement valued at $300 million from ICICI Bank.
• HSBC's engagement with Accenture and Capgemini was estimated to be a cumulative size of $250-500+ million.
• TCS’ expanded contract with GE HealthCare was valued at $350 million.

Expert take: “The order book will continue to look healthy, and deals will continue to get signed. But which of these deals will be converted into native AI apps and services, and smaller contracts on top of them, will depend on the client’s productivity improvements,” said Gaurav Vasu, CEO of UnearthInsight, adding that this makes revenue conversion still cloudy despite a healthy pipeline.

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Lenskart posts steady growth in Q1 revenue, profit as operating leverage kicks in

Peyush Bansal, CEO, Lenskart

Lenskart reported strong growth in revenue and profit in the April-June quarter, helped by higher volumes, premium products, and international growth.

Financials:

• Operating revenue: Up 43% at Rs 2,714 crore.
• Net profit: Up 3.7 times at Rs 228 crore, as operating leverage improved.

Yes, but: Lenskart continued to face higher costs as the Indian rupee weakened against the Chinese yuan (RMB). A significant share of its frames are sourced from China.

“Despite this, product margin has continued to be resilient in both India and international (markets), absorbing the currency impact through two structural offsets: growing premiumisation and, increasingly, how much more of our own manufacturing we now do in-house,” the company noted.

Also Read: Public markets add responsibility but won't change core focus: Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal

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Logistics platform Porter logs 54% revenue growth in FY26; profit rises four-fold

(L-R) Pranav Goel and Uttam Digga, cofounders, Porter

Porter reported strong growth and improved profitability in FY26, marking its second consecutive profitable year.

By the numbers:

• Operating revenue: Up 54% to Rs 6,649 crore, compared with Rs 4,321 crore a year ago.
• Net profit: Nearly quadrupled to Rs 229 crore vs Rs 59 crore in FY25.

The profit growth was partly helped by a Rs 32 crore deferred tax benefit. Porter was also profitable before tax, with better operating leverage improving margins.

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From discovery to purchase: How creators shape Gen Z's festive shopping

Gen Z is increasingly turning to social media creators before making shopping choices, a trend expected to boost content commerce this festive season, according to industry executives and D2C founders.


Data decoded: As per a study conducted by social media app Snapchat and market research firm GWI,

• About 34% of Gen Z turn to social platforms for inspiration and ideas
• Around 28% use them to coordinate plans or gifting.
• About seven in 10 Gen Z consumers said that content creators are increasingly helping them discover products.
• For about 70% of Gen Z, the festive season is made up of multiple smaller celebrations rather than a single peak period

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Other Top Stories By Our Reporters

Yulu raises $93 million: Electric mobility startup Yulu has raised $93 million in fresh funding, comprising $63 million in equity and $30 million in debt, to “quadruple” its fleet and expand into ecommerce logistics, bike taxis and express parcel delivery.

Astrotalk announces Esop buyback: Noida-based astrology and spiritual services platform Astrotalk has announced an employee stock option (Esop) buyback for more than 100 employees at a valuation of $1 billion, it said in a press release.

Ola Electric's PLI lifeline: The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), the nodal ministry for India’s automotive sector, has revised the timeline for Ola Electric’s battery-cell manufacturing milestones under the advanced chemistry cell (ACC) production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

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Global Picks We Are Reading

■ Humans cannot remain passengers in the back of the AGI car (FT)

■ Why we should all be worried about AI in elections (Rest of World)

■ Kalshi tops $4 billion in annualised revenue as it seeks $40 billion valuation (The Information)