Meesho IPO Day 1 Highlights: Issue booked 2.35x; GMP signals 42% listing pop — Should you bid?

Meesho IPO was subscribed 2.35x by the end of the first day of the bidding process on Wednesday. The different quotas were subscribed as follows:

QIB: 2.12x

NII: 1.80x

Retail: 3.86x

With a unique zero-commission & asset light model, deep Bharat penetration, a defensible logistics flywheel, and a rapidly scaling ad/content commerce engine, Meesho is positioned as one of India’s most powerful long-term consumer-tech stories. Its focus on affordability and frequency creates a structural moat that is difficult for traditional e-commerce players to replicate. At 4.5x Price/Sales (Q2FY26 annualized & diluted), valuations look reasonable compared to other e-commerce players (average ~7x P/S); Hence, we recommend investors to ‘Subscribe’ to the issue.

— MOSL

Here's how Meesho stacks up versus peers, as per Swastika Investmart

• Intense competition from large domestic and global e-commerce players.
• Dependence on small, fragmented sellers may impact product quality and trust.
• High reliance on cash-on-delivery orders affecting efficiency and cash flow.
• Regulatory uncertainty around e-commerce, FDI, and data protection norms.
• Potential brand damage from counterfeit goods or negative publicity.

Meesho has successfully carved out a niche in Tier-2/3 cities where Amazon and Flipkart struggle to penetrate deeply. Meesho has turned Free Cash Flow (FCF) positive in FY25, even though reported Net Profit is still negative due to one-off items. At a valuation of ~$6 billion ( ₹50,000 crore), it is priced at roughly 5.5x Price-to-Sales (FY25), which is attractive compared to Zomato (trading often at >10x Sales). It has a “scarcity premium” as it is the only pure-play “value e-commerce” stock in India. Aggressive investors can subscribe for both listing gains and long term.

— Swastika Investmart

Meesho IPO sailed through on the first day of the bidding process amid strong retail and NII demand. Here's a look at how different quotas were booked so far:

QIB: 38%

NII: 1.34x

Retail: 3.32x

Financially, the company remains loss-making, posting a restated loss of INR 3,941.7 crore in FY25, with only partial improvement in adjusted EBITDA. While free cash flow turned positive in FY25, sustainability hinges on strict cost discipline and maintaining marketing efficiency.

Though the broader value e-commerce segment continues to grow, Meesho faces persistent competitive intensity, regulatory scrutiny on marketplace practices, and structural constraints on long-term margin expansion, making the path to durable profitability dependent on execution and tighter operational control.

Considering the FY25 sales of ₹9,390 cr on a post-issue basis, the company is set to list at a M-cap/Sales of approximately ~5x with a market cap of ₹50,096 cr, whereas its peers, namely Eternal Ltd, Swiggy Ltd, Brainbees Solutions Ltd, FSN E-commerce Ventures Ltd, Vishal Mega Mart Ltd, Trent Ltd, and Avenue Supermarts Ltd, are trading at a M-cap/Sales ratio of approximately ~14x, ~6x, ~2x, ~10x, ~6x, ~9x, and ~4x.

We assign a ‘Subscribe (With Caution)’ rating to this IPO as the company has developed strong, tech-enabled marketplace capabilities, deep reach across value-driven Tier II+ cities, and a scalable, asset-light model. However, the company has incurred losses in the past, which makes us cautious from a long-term perspective.

Meesho IPO was subscribed 82% so far on the fiday of the bidding process on Wednesday. The different quotas were subscribed as follows:

QIB: 4%

NII: 99%

Retail: 2.85x

Meesho offers a wide assortment of products, including low-cost unbranded products, regional brands, and national brands. As of H1FY26 and H1FY25, Meesho hosted 15.4 crore and 10.9 crore Daily Active Product Listings, respectively. The wide assortment of products on Meesho addresses the broader consumer preference in India, including any regional preferences.

Meesho enables consumers to access a wide range of products at low prices, as sellers on its platform benefit from low costs.

It has continually reduced the average cost charged to sellers. This is reflected in the reducing Average Order Value (“AOV”) on its marketplace, from ₹336.71 in FY23, ₹298.36 in FY24 to ₹274.27 in FY25, while the number of Placed Orders substantially increased from 102.4cr orders in FY23 to 134.2cr orders in FY24 to 183.4cr in FY25.

Meesho’s zero-commission business model catering to value-conscious customers largely from tier 2 and tier 3 towns is a key differentiator compared with other listed tech-based consumer service companies in India. Leveraging an efficient business model, the company is able to achieve strong double-digit revenue growth with increasing customers and has generated consistent FCF for the last two years. Further, its valuation at 5x its FY25 revenues is at a discount to close peers. We recommend SUBSCRIBE on Meesho.

Meesho’s order frequency stood at 9.7x in FY25 and grew at CAGR of 34% over FY23-25. Its net merchandise value (NMV) grew by at CAGR of 25% over the same period. NMV growth is lower compared to order growth due to decline in the order value, which is a strategy to drive high volumes on platform.

In FY25, 19.9cr ATUs transacted on Meesho’s platform, of which 17.4 crore were from outside the top eight cities in India. Its ATUs have grown by ~46% vs. the ecommerce shoppers’ growth of 11-20% in India from FY23 to FY25.

Meesho operates on a zero-commission model and primarily generates revenue through its logistics services and advertisements. Although the company is making losses on a net basis even after adjusting for exceptional items, it has started to generate positive free cash flows from the last two years. Further, Meesho reported tax expenses of ₹2,487 cr and ₹72 cr in FY25/1HFY26 respectively on account of business combination. As this event is complete, there would likely be no exceptional tax expense going forward, which should help reduce losses. At the upper price band of ₹111, Meesho is valued at an FY25 Price-to-Sales ratio of 5.3x on post-issue capital. Going forward, Meesho’s path to sustainable profitability will be a key monitorable, especially as it continues to make investments in technology, marketing, and engineers. We recommend investors to SUBSCRIBE to the issue at the cut-off price for a long-term investment horizon.

— SBI Capital

Meesho IPO was subscribed 28% so far within an hour. The retail portion was fully booked amid strong GMP. The NII quota was booked 33% so far and QIB segment did not see any bids yet.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, J.P. Morgan India Private Limited, Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited, Axis Capital Limited and Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited are the book-running lead managers to the IPO.

The issue consists of a fresh issue worth ₹4,250 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 10.55 crore shares, valued at ₹1,171 crore at the upper price band. The company proposes to utilise the net proceeds from the Issue towards funding the following objects:

- Investment in cloud infrastructure in Meesho Technologies Private Limited, the Subsidiary

- Payment of salaries of existing and replacement hires for the Machine Learning and AI and technology teams or AI and technology development undertaken by Meesho Technologies Private Limited

- Investment in Meesho Technologies Private Limited, the Subsidiary, for expenditure towards marketing and brand initiatives

- Funding inorganic growth through acquisitions and other strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes

Meesho Limited is one of the largest pure-play e-commerce with the focus on providing ‘Everyday Low Prices’ to consumers. The company aims to Increase consumer base and their transaction frequency by expanding product listings and seller base and intends to further invest in technology and product development and enhance AI capabilities. The company is focused on making e-commerce affordable and accessible for consumers across India. Investors may consider the IPO as a potential long-term investment opportunity.

— Master Capital Services Ltd.

Meesho IPO opened for the first day of bidding today at 10 am. Investors can apply for the IPO till 5 pm today. Additionally, the IPO will open in the same window over the next two days.

Meesho announced on Tuesday that it has raised a little over ₹2,439 crore from anchor investors—including SBI Mutual Fund, Fidelity Funds, and BlackRock—ahead of its IPO opening.

According to PTI sources, the anchor portion drew demand of more than ₹80,000 crore, nearly 30 times oversubscription. A total of 60 investors participated, featuring major domestic institutional players as well as prominent global names such as the Government of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, as listed in a circular issued on the BSE website.

On the domestic side, investors such as SBI MF, UTI MF, Tata MF, Motilal Oswal MF, Axis MF, Bandhan MF, and HSBC MF received allocations. In total, Meesho allotted 21.97 crore equity shares at ₹111 per share, raising ₹2,439.5 crore.

Meesho IPO is witnessing a significant demand in the grey market. Meesho IPO GMP today is ₹49 --- highest so far. At the prevailing GMP, Meesho's listing price could be ₹160, signalling a listing pop of 44.14%.

The company is set to list on the stock exchanges on December 10.