Pine Labs IPO listing: Contrary to muted market expectations, Pine Labs shares staged a stellar debut in the primary market on Friday, November 14, as investors focused on the company’s prospects despite valuations being on the higher side.
After listing at a near 10% premium on the bourses today at ₹242 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Pine Labs’ share price extended gains to rise as much as 28.5% above its issue price of ₹221. The stock hit the day’s peak of ₹284.
Earlier today, the grey market premium (GMP) for Pine Labs was ₹5.5 per share, indicating the listing pop of just 2.5% for the PayPal-backed company.
Recent IPOs have delivered mixed performances, raising concerns that the sizzling IPO market momentum could slow down. Eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions dropped as much as 12% on its Monday debut, while Studds and Orkla also listed at discounts. However, Billionbrains Garage Ventures — the parent company of India’s leading discount broker Groww — jumped 31% when it listed on Wednesday, and now Pine Labs has jumped almost 28% easing these worries.
What should investors do with Pine Labs shares?
Now with the listing done, and stock trading at a hefty premium despite a tepid stock market trend, the question remains — should investors buy more or book profits?
According to Prashanth Tapse, Sr VP Research at Mehta Equities, Pine Labs listed better than Street expectations despite valuations being slightly on the higher side at the issue level. The healthy debut reinforces investor confidence in the company’s strong fundamentals, scalable business model, and leadership position across digital payments and commerce-tech solutions, said Tapse.
He advised a long-term HOLD recommendation for allotted investors. As for non-allotted investors, a wait-and-watch approach is prudent until valuations stabilise and the stock finds a sustainable post-listing range, said the expert.
“We believe Pine Labs presents a compelling long-term opportunity as one of India’s leading and globally expanding commerce technology platforms. Its business sits at the strategic intersection of payments, fintech, merchant solutions, and digital infrastructure, giving it multi-dimensional monetisation avenues,” as per Tapse.
He believes the company continues to command a premium due to its:
⦁ Market leadership across merchant payments and POS-based fintech solutions
⦁ High contribution margins driven by software-led and subscription-based revenue
⦁ Scalable digital infrastructure enabling strong operating leverage
⦁ Expanding addressable market across India and Southeast Asia
⦁ Focus on high-margin value-added services (VAS) and tech-driven merchant monetisation
Meanwhile, Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika Investmart, said that
Pine Labs’ listing was driven by healthy investor confidence in the company’s established footprint as a merchant-commerce and fintech platform offering point-of-sale, QR payments, BNPL, and loyalty services to retailers across India.
“Pine Labs’ strengths include a wide merchant network, strong bank & payment partner integrations, consistent growth in transaction volumes, and a diversified revenue model that spans payments, credit, and merchant solutions. Despite the strong debut, investors remain cautious because of competitive intensity in fintech/merchant commerce, regulatory risk in payments, and the need to deliver scaled profitability. The IPO attracted meaningful institutional participation, supported by expectations of continued growth in digital-payments adoption, merchant value-added services expansion, and improved operating leverage,” said Niyati.
Investors/traders allotted shares may consider booking part of the gain and holding the remainder for the medium to long term, with a stop-loss of 200, the analyst opined.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations expressed are those of individual analysts or broking firms, not Mint. We advise investors to consult with certified experts before making any investment decisions, as market conditions can change rapidly and circumstances may vary.
