Nearly half of India’s top 10 most-subscribed IPOs are trading below their listing price. Here, we are considering subscription figures in excess of 100x the shares on offer.
This includes names like Vibhor Steel, Latent View, Indo Farm and Manba Finance, which attracted aggressive bidding but are now significantly off their highs.The IPO of Vibhor Steel Tubes, for instance, subscribed a staggering 320 times in 2024 — the second-highest in the last 5 years, made a stellar debut at ₹425 on the bourses, 2.5x its issue price of ₹151. Since then, the stock has tanked to levels of ₹152, barely above its IPO price. Latent View, the most-subscribed Indian IPO till date, at 326x, trades below its listing price, although it remains above its issue price of ₹197.
Indo Farm Equipment, listed this year, saw its three-day issue being subscribed over 227x the shares on offer. That stock, now trades at ₹197, even below its issue price of ₹215.
A common thread that binds these issues? Heavy retail subscription. Most of these issues have seen the portion reserved for retail investors being subscribed in excess of 100x the shares on offer.
| IPO | Retail Subscription | Listing Premium | CMP Vs Issue Price |
| Vibhor steel tubes | 201x | 181% | 0 |
| Manna finance | 144x | 21% | 15% |
| Indo Farm Equipment | 102x | 20% | -9% |
On the flip side, not every IPO that saw heavy subscription has been a disappointment. Take Mazagon Dock for instance. The defence equipment manufacturer had an IPO price of ₹145, and saw retail subscription of over 35x in an issue that saw overall subscription of 155x. The stock, today, adjusted for its split, has delivered returns of over 1,800% from its issue price, despite a significant correction from their record high levels.
Tega Industries, Paras Defence, and KRN Heat Exchanger are some of the other notable success stories, even as these stocks have also significantly corrected from their respective peaks.
| IPO | Retail Subscription | Listing Premium | CMP Vs Issue Price |
| Tega Industries | 30x | 68% | 311% |
| Mazagon Dock | 35x | 49% | 1860% |
| KRN Heat Exchanger | 97x | 118% | 288% |
Pranav Haldea, MD of Prime Database Group told CNBC-TV18 that “Most retail investors primarily invest in IPOs for listing day gains, after looking at the hype and grey market premium, and exit on the listing day or within a week of listing. The fundamentals, which play an important part in the long-term growth, and hence the stock price, of the company, are often ignored by retail investors while picking IPOs.”
Some of the recent instances like GNG Electronics and NSDL have also seen heavy investor interest. While NSDL has already come off 20% from its post-listing high, GNG Electronics is down 10% from those levels. Both these names though, remain above their IPO price. On the flip side, India’s largest IPO so far this year, HDB Financial, is back to testing its IPO price of ₹740, after making a post-listing high of ₹891.
