INDIA IPO STORY H1-2026 – RESILIENT IN A TOUGH YEAR

INDIA IPO STORY H1-2026 – RESILIENT IN A TOUGH YEAR

The first half of 2026 has just concluded and it has not seen the kind of IPO deluge we saw in the previous two years. That is not surprising, considering that the first half of 2026 has been racked by war in the Middle East, heavy FPI selling, and the lag effect of US sanctions. Here are some IPO mainboard highlights for the first half of calendar 2026.

In the first half of 2026, there were a total of 23 IPOs, of which 15 IPOs happened in the first quarter of 2026 and 8 IPOs in the second quarter of 2026. The slow movement of IPOs in the second quarter was largely due to the global geopolitical uncertainty.

The 23 IPOs in the first half of 2026 raised a total sum of ₹21,682 crore. This is very modest IPO collections compared to around ₹1,75,000 crore raised in each of the previous two years. However, the second half could see a pick-up.

While the IPO numbers were modest, the good news is that 18 out of the 23 IPOs of 2026 are trading above their issue price, with only 5 IPOs trading below the issue price. Here we have considered the listing date as benchmark and INVITs have been excluded from the calculation of IPO collections.

Out of the 23 IPOs in the first half of 2026, a total of 18 IPOs saw single-digit IPO subscriptions with just 2 IPOs getting subscribed over 100 times. This is clearly a reflection of the cautious state of the markets.

The good news was in the returns. Had an investor got allotment of 1 lot in each of the IPOs, their return on investment in the first half of 2026 would have been an impressive 40.66%. That is substantially better than the returns in the last 2 years.

Let us now turn to the granular picture of IPO return rankings.

HOW IPOS RANKED ON ABSOLUTE RETURNS IN H1-2026

Here are 23 IPOs ranked on absolute returns since listing, irrespective of holding period.

Here are some key takeaways from the IPO returns in the first half of 2026.

Only 2 IPOs; Omnitech Engineering and SEDEMAC Mechatronics gave more than 100% returns over the issue price. However, a total of 11 out of 23 IPOs have given returns in excess of 40% over the IPO price.

The top-10 companies by IPO returns gave average returns of 74.8%, while the top-15 IPOs by IPO returns delivered 60.0% on an average. The IPOs giving negative returns only accounted for 21.6% of the total IPO collections in the first half of 2026.

What about the linkage between subscription levels and IPO returns. That appears a lot more fluid this time around. The top-5 IPOs by returns had average subscription of 32.4X, while top-10 had 25.4X. However, this was skewed on the upside by BCCL.

What about the returns of IPOs with the best subscription levels. The top-5 IPOs by subscription delivered average returns of 28.6%, while the top-10 by subscription delivered 20.6%. Ironically, the bottom-5 by subscription delivered 36.3% returns. There appears to be a clear dichotomy between subscription levels and IPO performance.

So, what are the takeaways for the IPO story in the second half of 2026?

HOW WILL THE IPO STORY PAN OUT IN THE SECOND HALF OF 2026?

Looking at the first half of 2026 IPO collections, it looks like full year collections would fall well short of the previous years. However, there are some big IPOs lined up. NSE, SBI Mutual Fund, and Oyo will collect more than ₹40,000 crore between them. If Jio Platforms also completes its IPO before December, then we are looking at over ₹70,000 crore in IPO collections from just these 4 IPOs.

One must keep in mind that with stellar returns on IPOs in the first half of 2026, more investors are likely to be enthused to participate. Of course, a lot will still depend on whether the markets are able to absorb this deluge of paper supply in a short period of time. Pricing of the IPOs and how much the investment bankers leave on the table for investors may make the real difference to the full year 2026 IPO story!