There is much excitement surrounding the initial public offering of Lenskart Solutions, set to debut on the D-Street on Friday, October 31. Investors are pondering whether this excitement is warranted and if it’s wise to subscribe to the offering, while also examining competitors for insights.
According to Lenskart’s red herring prospectus (RHP), the company mainly competes with major organized retailers of prescription eyewear in India, including firms like Eyegear Optics India Private Ltd, Gangar Opticians Private Ltd, GKB Opticals Ltd, Lawrence and Mayo (India) Private Ltd, Specsmakers Opticians Private Ltd, and Titan Company Ltd (Eyecare division).
Other leading organized optical retailers are not listed, with the exception of Titan Company Ltd, which includes the Titan Eyecare division. With Lenskart soon to be listed on the Indian stock exchanges, comparing it to Titan could provide valuable insights for potential investors.
Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst, Senior Vice President of Research at Mehta Equities believes that before deciding which company is faster or better, investors should always dig deeper to make well-informed decisions. India’s eyewear market is growing rapidly, driven by rising eye-care awareness, increasing digital screen usage, and evolving fashion trends.
Both Lenskart and Titan Eye+ appear fundamentally strong, each with distinct advantages and business approaches. A closer look at their models, growth strategies, and financials helps in understanding how they may perform from a long-term investment perspective.
Lenskart vs Titan EyeCare – 5 key things to know
Company Structure
Lenskart operates as a standalone eyewear retailer, whereas Titan EyeCare functions as a division of Titan Company Limited, which is a publicly traded company under the Tata Group.
Prashanth Tapse explained that Lenskart, which is planning to raise funds through the IPO route. It is a pure-play eyewear specialist with a vertically integrated and omnichannel business model, combining strong offline store growth with rapid online expansion. The company has a high-growth opportunity both in India and international markets.
On the other hand, Titan’s eyewear business is smaller in scale but benefits from being part of the Tata Group, backed by strong governance, brand trust, and an established retail network. While the segment maintains decent margins, its growth remains modest and incremental, as eyewear represents only a small part of Titan’s diversified portfolio largely dominated by jewellery and watches.
Profitability and financial strength
Lenskart reported profit growth leading up to its IPO, moving into net profitability in FY25 after several years of losses due to heavy investments.
In FY25, Lenskart achieved a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹297.34 crore, and in Q1FY26, it recorded a PAT of ₹61.17 crore. Abhinav Tiwari, a Research Analyst at Bonanza, pointed out that this figure encompasses a Rs. 167.2 crore gain from Fair Value Through Profit or Loss associated with the Owndays acquisition. If this nonrecurring item is excluded, the adjusted profit falls to ₹130.1 crore, leading to a slight net margin of 1.96%, in contrast to the reported 4.24%.
On the similar line, Mohit Gulati, CIO and managing partner of ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, said that Lenskart’s DRHP does show some window dressing ahead of its IPO, with profitability flattered by one-time accounting gains rather than core performance.
Talking about Titan, in the fiscal year FY25, the EyeCare Division achieved a Total Income increase of 10%, reaching R796 crores. The related EBIT stood at ₹85 crores, reflecting a margin of 10.7%.
In the first quarter of FY26, Titan EyeCare reported a revenue increase of 13%, reaching ₹238 crore, alongside an EBIT of ₹20 crore, which corresponds to an 8.4% margin. The growth in sunglasses sales exceeded that of prescription products. A new store was launched in Sharjah, while there were 20 net closures across India.
Prashanth Tapse added that Lenskart turned profitable in FY25 with margins of around 4.5% and improving RoCE, whereas Titan’s eyewear division enjoys a higher margin of ~10%, but on a relatively smaller base.
Overall, Titan’s growth focus in eyewear appears limited, as the segment could be overshadowed by its larger businesses and rising competition.
Business Focus
In terms of business focus, Lenskart is entirely dedicated to eyewear and optical innovation, leveraging technology and rapid scaling. This concentrated focus allows the company to achieve greater growth and consistently increase its market share.
On the other hand, Titan’s eyewear division makes up less than 5% of its total business portfolio, which results in a naturally lower strategic emphasis and restricted growth potential in this area. Although Titan continues to gain from its diversified interests in jewellery and watches, this diversification means that the eyewear segment is too small to substantially influence Titan’s overall growth path.
Store Count
Lenskart runs its operations through a total of 2,806 outlets worldwide, which includes 2,137 outlets in India and 669 located internationally. The company offers remote eye examination services in 266 locations in Japan and has recently launched these services in Thailand.
As of October 2025, Titan EyeCare (Titan Eye+) has over 900 outlets throughout India, located in more than 350 cities. The brand is still growing its retail footprint and aims to exceed the 1,000-store milestone soon, with recent openings in new international markets, as per reports.
Brand Architecture
As of June 30, 2025, Lenskart operates a variety of brands and sub-brands in 14 different countries. The company believes that the recognition and esteem of their Lenskart and Owndays brands, along with their various product categories and eyewear labels like John Jacobs, Vincent Chase, and Hustlr, in addition to their omnichannel retail network, greatly enhance their competitive advantage.
On the other side, Titan Eye+ features its own brand Fastrack, along with Ray-Ban, Oakley, Polaroid, Zefr, Neo Sync Progressive lenses, DrivEZ lenses, Titan EyeX smart glasses, and Ray-Ban Meta AI Smart Glasses.
Titan Eye+ merges a wide selection of international and proprietary brands, top-notch lenses, and innovative smart glasses to cater to diverse consumer tastes and market sectors in India and abroad, including the UAE.
Lenskart vs Titan EyeCare – What should investors do?
Prashanth Tapse advises investors that Lenskart can be high growth, high risk, high reward while Titan would be a low risk, moderate rewarding player for investors.
In the current segment growth if investors wish to see faster scalability Lenskart could be the “next Titan Eye+” a focused eyewear giant riding India’s eye care consumption boom.
Both Lenskart and Titan have done a phenomenal job in organising India’s eyewear market turning what was once a fragmented, unbranded category into a scaled, aspirational one.
On the other side, Mohit Gulati said that both Lenskart and Titan have done a phenomenal job in organising India’s eyewear market turning what was once a fragmented, unbranded category into a scaled, aspirational one.
“I wouldn’t jump in at the current valuation — it makes sense to wait for a better entry point that prices in both sustainable growth and real, recurring profitability. Titan Eye+, on the other hand, benefits from being part of the Titan Group’s well-oiled retail engine steady, profitable, and backed by deep parent support. It’s honestly not a comparable really,” added Gulati.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
