August saw 20 companies raise more than ₹21,000 cr, the busiest month in a year. With marquee names like NSE, Reliance Jio and Zepto in the pipeline, supply of new listings should remain elevated. Average listing-day returns have gone from a 2% discount in January-March to a 7% gain in April-June, and a whopping 25% premium in July-August. Of the 22 companies that listed in the latest period, 18 delivered positive debut-day returns.
So, it's easy to start treating an IPO as a lottery ticket: subscribe, hope for a premium, and sell on listing day. At the risk of being a wet blanket, it's worth emphasising that listing gains are not a substitute for due diligence.
