As 2025 draws to a close, India’s primary market has once again captured investor imagination. This year saw a large number of companies make their stock market debut and many of them delivered exceptional returns, reinforcing the growing popularity of IPO investing among retail and institutional participants alike. With strong participation across categories, retail investors, high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) and institutions, IPO investing has increasingly been viewed as a gateway to early-stage wealth creation.
However, while some IPOs turned into spectacular winners, others struggled to sustain post-listing momentum. This divergence raises important questions: What exactly is IPO investing? Why does it attract so much attention? And more importantly, how should investors approach IPOs beyond the initial listing day excitement
What is an IPO and Why Companies Go Public
An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the process through which a privately held company offers its shares to the public for the first time and gets listed on stock exchanges such as the BSE and NSE. Through an IPO, companies raise capital to fund expansion, reduce debt, invest in new projects or provide an exit to early investors such as private equity funds.
For investors, IPOs represent an opportunity to invest in a company at an early stage of its public life cycle. Unlike secondary market purchases, IPO investing allows participation before the company is fully discovered by the market. However, this opportunity comes with higher uncertainty, making analysis and discipline essential.
Understanding IPO Investing
IPO investing refers to subscribing to shares offered during a company’s public issue or buying shares after listing based on fundamentals. Investors generally approach IPOs with two broad objectives. The first is listing gains where investors aim to benefit from price appreciation on the first day of trading. The second is long-term investing, where the focus is on business quality, growth prospects and valuation sustainability over several years.
The success of IPO investing depends on several factors, including the company’s business model, industry outlook, management quality, valuation at IPO price and overall market conditions. 2025 provided a favourable backdrop with strong domestic liquidity, sustained SIP inflows and selective participation from institutional investors.
Listing Day Performance: Strong Start, But Not the Full Story
A deeper look at IPO statistics from 2025 offers valuable insight into how the market behaved. On listing day, 77 mainboard stocks opened in profit while 20 opened in loss, translating into an average listing gain of approximately 8.7 per cent. By the end of the trading day, 66 stocks still closed in the green and 31 ended lower, taking the average end-of-day listing gain to around 9.3 per cent.
However, when tracked beyond the first day, the picture becomes more nuanced. To date, out of all mainboard IPOs listed in 2025, 49 stocks are trading above their issue price while 48 are below it, resulting in an average gain of about 5.2 per cent. This clearly shows that while listing day enthusiasm can be strong, sustainable returns depend on business quality, earnings delivery and valuation discipline.
2025: A Strong Year for IPO Returns
The year 2025 witnessed several mainboard IPOs delivering substantial wealth to investors, not just on listing day but over subsequent months as well. Below is a list of the ten most popular mainboard IPOs of 2025 based on performance on the BSE and NSE:
|
Company Name |
IPO Price (Rs) |
Listing Gain (Rs) |
LTP (Rs) |
|
675 |
1,015.00 (50.37%) |
1,511.9 (123.99%) |
|
|
321 |
328.00 (2.18%) |
675.2 (110.34%) |
|
|
90 |
120 (33.33%) |
184.92 (105.47%) |
|
|
105 |
120.00 (14.29%) |
189.03 (80.03%) |
|
|
90 |
100 (11.11%) |
160.97 (78.86%) |
|
|
425 |
430.00 (1.18%) |
717.2 (68.75%) |
|
|
91 |
92.00 (1.10%) |
148.53 (63.22%) |
|
|
232 |
265.05 (14.25%) |
366.85 (58.13%) |
|
|
100 |
112.00 (12.00%) |
151.18 (51.18%) |
|
|
204 |
183.85 (-9.88%) |
304.25 (49.14%) |
This list clearly highlights an important trend: some of the biggest wealth creators did not deliver dramatic listing day gains. Stocks like Ather Energy and Quality Power are listed with modest premiums but went on to more than double investor capital over time. This reinforces the idea that long-term IPO investing can be more rewarding than chasing first-day euphoria.
What Worked for Successful IPOs in 2025
A closer look at 2025’s top-performing IPOs reveals common patterns. Most of these companies operate in sectors aligned with India’s structural growth themes such as clean energy, digital platforms, recycling, manufacturing automation and infrastructure-linked services. Strong revenue visibility, scalable business models and prudent balance sheet management played a crucial role in sustaining post-listing momentum.
Aditya Infotech and Ather Energy benefited from rising technology adoption and energy transition narratives. Jain Resource Recycling and Quality Power gained from growing focus on sustainability and infrastructure spending. Even companies that had muted listing reactions later found market support as earnings visibility improved.
Risks Associated with IPO Investing
Despite the strong performance in 2025, IPO investing is not without risks. Not all IPOs succeed and history shows that overvalued offerings or businesses with weak fundamentals tend to underperform over time. Investors must be cautious of aggressive pricing, over-reliance on future projections and companies entering highly competitive industries without a clear moat.
Liquidity risk can also emerge post-listing if institutional participation dries up. Additionally, broader market corrections can hurt newly listed stocks more sharply due to limited historical data and valuation anchors.
How Retail Investors Should Approach IPOs
Retail investors should treat IPOs as part of a broader portfolio, not as guaranteed return generators. Studying the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP), understanding revenue drivers, evaluating promoter quality and assessing use of IPO proceeds are critical steps.
Rather than applying to every issue, investors are better served by selective participation. Even within successful IPO years, a diversified approach ensures that underperformers do not derail overall portfolio returns.
IPO Investing Beyond Listing Day
One of the biggest lessons from 2025 is that IPO investing does not end on listing day. Many of the best returns came months after listing, once businesses demonstrated execution and earnings growth. Investors willing to hold quality companies through short-term volatility were rewarded with superior returns.
Post-listing analysis is just as important as pre IPO evaluation. Tracking quarterly earnings, management commentary and industry trends helps investors decide whether to hold, accumulate or exit.
Final Thoughts
The IPO boom of 2025 has reaffirmed that the primary market can be a powerful wealth creation avenue when approached with discipline and research. While listing gains attract attention, true wealth was created by investors who focused on business quality and remained invested beyond the initial excitement.
As India’s economy continues to grow and more companies tap capital markets, IPO investing will remain an attractive but selective opportunity. The key takeaway from 2025 is clear: IPOs reward patience, fundamentals and strategy, not speculation.
Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.
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IPO Investing in 2025: From Listing-Day Buzz to Long-Term Wealth Creation