IPO Listings: Adroit Industries Soars 85% as Elevate, ArMee Slip

One Day, Four Different Outcomes

On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, four mainboard companies listed on India's stock exchanges together, and their first-day results could hardly have been more different. Adroit Industries (India), Elevate Campuses, Swastika Infra and ArMee Infotech all went through the same September 23–25 bidding window. Between them they raised roughly ₹2,712 crore64. By the close, one stock had nearly doubled, one had held a modest gain, and two were trading below the price investors paid in the IPO7.

The main point of the day was that heavy demand during bidding turned into gains on listing, while lukewarm demand turned into losses. The grey market, the unofficial pre-listing trade that investors watch for clues, missed in both directions.

Adroit Industries: Heavy Oversubscription, Big Premium

Adroit, which makes propeller shafts, was the clear winner. On the NSE it opened at ₹235, a 75.37% premium to its ₹134 issue price. On the BSE it opened at ₹250, 86.57% above the issue price39. The stock then rose to its 5% upper circuit, the daily price limit, at ₹248.39. That put it about 85% above the IPO price15. Reports differ on the size of the listing gain only because the NSE and BSE opening prices differed. They agree that shares finished the day 85% higher34.

The gain matched the demand. The ₹150.71 crore issue was subscribed 176.85 times. Non-institutional investors bid for 332 times their quota and institutional buyers for 195 times2. The issue was small, which helped: it was worth about a quarter of the company's ₹600 crore post-issue market value, and only around 17.6% of total equity could trade on day one3940.

Before listing, not everyone thought the price was cheap. One independent analyst said the issue was "fully priced" at about 18 times historical earnings. That analyst pointed to revenue concentrated in a few geographies and single-digit historical growth39. Adroit earns close to 85% of its income from exports to 32 countries and reports EBITDA margins near 27.7%40. At the listing-day close its market value was about ₹1,113 crore, almost double the valuation implied by the issue price3436.

The skeptics have partly been proven right since then. By October 21 Adroit had fallen to ₹166.55. That is still about 24% above the issue price, but roughly a third below its post-listing high of ₹258.8036. Half of the anchor investors' shares can be sold from late October. Listings give slightly different dates for when that lock-in ends3638.

Swastika Infra: Small Gain, Strong Follow-Up

Swastika Infra builds power transmission and distribution projects on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. It listed at ₹200 on both exchanges, 8.11% above its ₹185 issue price, and quickly hit its upper circuit at ₹21018. That left shares about 13.5% above the IPO price5. Its ₹160.88 crore issue was subscribed 7.6 times, mostly by non-institutional investors, whose portion was subscribed 18.5 times2.

Of the four companies, Swastika's valuation case is probably the easiest to defend. At the issue price it was valued at about 15 times post-issue earnings. Profit after tax rose to ₹41.43 crore in FY26 from ₹27.45 crore a year earlier43. The company said it would use ₹90 crore of the fresh money for working capital44.

Its first results as a listed company backed up the listing-day gain. For the September quarter, Swastika reported profit of ₹16.38 crore, up about 80%. It said its unexecuted order book had more than doubled to ₹1,420 crore since March50. It also said all ₹109.38 crore of IPO proceeds was still unspent and held in bank deposits as of September 3047. Shareholders will want to see that money put to work.

Pre-IPO coverage of the order book was inconsistent. One outlet put the aggregate order value at ₹20,366.5 crore, while another reported ₹2,036.65 crore4144. Given that the company's annual revenue is about ₹506 crore, the smaller figure is the one that makes sense.

Elevate Campuses: The Largest Issue Did Worst

Elevate Campuses had the biggest issue of the group at ₹2,100 crore, all of it new shares. It opened at ₹355.10 on the NSE, a 1.91% discount to its ₹362 issue price119. The decline continued during the day. At one point the stock touched about ₹290 and it closed near ₹323, roughly 11% below the IPO price11. Early reports gave a much higher intraday low of ₹321, which shows the selling grew heavier as the session went on1.

The signs were there before listing. The issue was subscribed only 1.79 times. The non-institutional portion was not even fully taken up, at 0.84 times, and retail demand only just covered its quota at 1.01 times2. The grey market had pointed to a small premium, with estimates ranging from a flat listing to about ₹368. The stock opened below all of those estimates215.

The company's financial profile helps explain the caution. Elevate runs student housing and K-12 school infrastructure. In FY26 its profit jumped to ₹173.76 crore, but total borrowings rose to more than ₹4,120 crore, from about ₹1,207 crore a year earlier. The issue was priced at around 35 times post-issue earnings, and there was no listed peer to compare it with14. A highly leveraged business priced at a premium, with no benchmark, is a hard sell to retail investors. By October 21 the stock was at ₹304.7011.

ArMee Infotech: Flat Open, Lower-Circuit Close

ArMee Infotech had the worst day. The IT infrastructure and managed-services company opened at its ₹375 issue price on the NSE and at ₹368.85 on the BSE31. Selling built through the session, and the stock closed at its 20% lower circuit of ₹300, far below the roughly 1.6% premium the grey market had suggested237. Reports of its market value differ depending on the price used: about ₹1,190 crore at the issue price, and around ₹1,170 crore based on early trading3023.

The reports also disagree on subscription. NSE-based figures show 2.44 times, while other outlets report 2.62 times, apparently because they count the shares on offer differently2522. Both numbers point to a lukewarm book. In one of the day's reporting errors, one outlet's opening line described ArMee's debut as a premium even though it listed at a discount25. Before listing, one analysis valued the company at about 26 times post-listing earnings30. That multiple left little room for error given the weak demand.

What the Day Shows About India's IPO Market

Four lessons stand out.

Subscription mattered more than any other signal. The ranking by first-day performance matches the ranking by subscription: 176.85 times, 7.6 times, 2.44 times and 1.79 times8. A strong book was the best guide to a strong listing.

The grey market was wrong in both directions. It underestimated Adroit, pointing to a premium of about 32% to 41% when the actual figure was around 75%237. It overestimated Elevate and ArMee, pointing to small gains for both1523. These numbers show sentiment, not a forecast, and on this day they missed by wide margins.

A big issue was a disadvantage. Elevate made up more than three-quarters of the money raised in this batch, and it struggled most to find buyers outside the institutional portion2. Market depth for large, leveraged issues from unusual businesses appears limited, while small, tightly held issues can rise sharply because few shares are available to trade.

First-day gains don't last on their own. Adroit's three-week fall from its peak shows that a high multiple driven by short supply of shares eventually gets tested against earnings36. Swastika has started to show the kind of operating results that can support a valuation after listing, though its unspent cash still needs to be deployed5047.

For companies planning their own IPOs, the message is that demand at this stage of the cycle depends heavily on price and is selective. Investors will rush into a small, profitable, niche manufacturer priced reasonably. They hold back from a large, debt-heavy issue with no peer to compare it with. These four listings suggest the market is judging each issue on its own merits rather than buying everything on offer.