Why Everyone's Suddenly Obsessed With Lenskart (And Whether You Should Be Too)

The Optical Shop Problem (That's Been Around For 30 Years)

Let me take you back to last time you bought glasses.

You walked into some random optical store. The owner showed you frames from a catalog. You picked one. He threw in a lens. He wrote down some random price. You paid it.

Did you know why that price? Nope.

Could you negotiate? Not really.

Could you find cheaper anywhere? Maybe, but you'd have to go to 10 other stores to find out.

That's been the eyewear business. Chaotic. Unorganized. Inefficient. Frustrating for customers.

But here's what's crazy: it was incredibly profitable for retailers.

They'd buy frames from a distributor for ₹500. Sell to you for ₹2,500. You'd pay because you had no other option.

Everyone in the supply chain was taking their cut. Distributors. Wholesalers. Franchise owners. Everyone.

Everyone except the customer.

Then Piyush Bansal Looked at This and Said: "What If We Did It Differently?"

What if we didn't buy from distributors?

What if we owned the factories ourselves?

What if we didn't just assemble glasses? What if we designed them in-house?

What if we didn't rely on franchises? What if we owned our stores directly?

What if we didn't pay licensing fees to brands? What if we created our own brands?

Basically: What if we cut out all the middlemen and owned the entire chain?

That's exactly what Lenskart did.

The result? While every other eyewear retailer operates on 40-50% gross margins, Lenskart operates on 70% gross margins.

Not 5% better. Not 10% better.

Almost double.

Think about what that means. It means Lenskart can:

Sell glasses at half the price and still be as profitable as competitors


Sell at the same price and make twice the profit


Undercut competitors and still expand margins

That's not a competitive advantage. That's a competitive moat.

How Lenskart Went From Losing Crores to Making Crores

Here's the plot twist nobody expected:

FY23: Lenskart was bleeding money. Lost ₹63.76 crore.

FY24: Still bleeding. Lost ₹10.15 crore.

FY25: Suddenly profitable. Made ₹297.34 crore.

That's a ₹300+ crore swing.

From negative to massively positive.

Now, the skeptics will tell you: "Some of that profit came from accounting adjustments on the Owndays acquisition."

Fair point. Strip those out. Adjusted profit is around ₹130 crore.

But here's what matters: This is the FIRST full year where the core business itself is genuinely profitable. Not by accident. By design.

And look at what happened to revenue:

₹3,788 crore (FY23) → ₹6,652.5 crore (FY25)

In just two years, revenue nearly doubled. That's 33% growth every single year.

Not one-time spike. Consistent, disciplined growth.

The Number That Separates Winners From Losers: EBITDA Margins

Most people look at profit and think that's enough.

It's not.

Let me show you something more important: EBITDA margins.

EBITDA = the actual cash your business generates from operations. It's the real profit before all the accounting stuff gets messy.

Watch what happened:

FY23: 6.9% EBITDA margin
FY24: 12.4% EBITDA margin
FY25: 14.7% EBITDA margin
Q1 FY26: 17.7% EBITDA margin

See what's happening here?

Every single quarter, every single year, margins are expanding.

In just 3 years, margins went from 6.9% to 17.7%. That's nearly 3x.

What does this mean? The business is getting stronger. Every rupee of sales is generating more profit. The company is becoming more efficient. Operating leverage is kicking in.

This is what happens when your business model actually works.

This is what separates companies that succeed from companies that just grow.

The Volume Secret That Nobody Talks About

Lenskart sold:

FY23: 1.8 crore eyeglasses


FY24: 2.2 crore eyeglasses


FY25: 2.7 crore eyeglasses

31% volume growth every year.

Most people think this is just "selling more stuff."

It's not.

Here's what's actually happening:

More volume → Factory utilization increases → Manufacturing costs drop → Margins expand → Can price lower while staying profitable → Market share increases → Sell even more volume → Costs drop even more.

This compound effect is how empires are built.

Think about Amazon. Think about Walmart. Think about every business that became unstoppable.

They used volume to drive down costs. Then used lower costs to gain more volume. This cycle repeats until they own the entire market.

Lenskart is doing this right now. In the eyewear business.

The Store Secret That Shows This Company Isn't Just Hype

Most retail stores take 18-24 months to become profitable.

Lenskart stores? 80% become profitable in 10-12 months.

That's almost half the time.

Why?

Because customers don't just buy glasses once.

Your eyes change. Prescription gets stronger. Weaker. You need backup frames. You want sunglasses. You want fashionable frames for different occasions. You want contact lenses. You want lens coatings.

Lenskart's repeat purchase rate is 98.16%.

That means 98 out of every 100 customers who buy once come back again.

When your store becomes profitable in 10-12 months, you can open 50 new stores. Then 100. Then 500. Without burning cash. Without taking debt.

That's how market share gets captured. That's how moats get built.

The Part Everyone Misses: International Business

Here's where most investors completely miss the story.

40% of Lenskart's revenue comes from outside India.

Japan. Singapore. UAE. Southeast Asia.

Now, most people think: "Oh, international is just selling the same thing in different countries."

That's wrong.

Each international store generates 2x the revenue of an Indian store.

Why?

Purchasing power is higher


Price sensitivity is lower


Brand loyalty is stronger


Margins are fatter

When Lenskart acquired Owndays (a major Japanese eyewear chain) for ₹2,513 crore, they weren't buying stores. They were buying immediate profitability in a premium market.

Now here's the forward projection that changes everything:

Analysts expect international to grow from 40% to 55-60% of total revenue by FY28-30.

Think about that.

If international becomes 60% of revenue at even higher margins than India, the entire profitability story changes. Dramatically.

This is the hidden growth engine that most people miss entirely.

The Honest Conversation About Valuation

At ₹402 per share, Lenskart trades at 237x P/E ratio.

I'm going to be straight with you: This is expensive.

Compare:

Premium Indian retailers (Trent, Shoppers Stop): 30-50x P/E


High-growth tech companies: 100-150x P/E historically


Most of the market: 15-25x P/E

So why is the market willing to pay 237x earnings?

Because it's making a bet.

It's betting that:

Revenue grows 25%+ every year for the next 5 years


EBITDA margins expand to 20%+ (from current 14.7%)


International becomes the profit engine


Lenskart maintains its competitive advantages

If all this happens? The valuation makes sense.

If even one of these doesn't happen? The stock corrects 30-50%.

That's the bet you're making when you invest at this valuation.

The Real Question: Should YOU Actually Apply?

YES, apply if:

You believe organized eyewear retail will transform India (it's still 70% unorganized)


You can hold for 5+ years without panic selling when the market gets scary


You're comfortable with the idea that you're betting on perfection


You want a growth story, not dividends or steady income


You're okay with seeing your investment down 40-50% temporarily and not freaking out

NO, don't apply if:

You want quick gains in the next 3-6 months (that window is closing)


You expect 50-100% returns in 1-2 years (unrealistic at current price)


You'll panic sell if the stock drops 30% after listing


You need predictable, stable returns


You want a safe, boring, income-generating stock

The Risks That Could Actually Hurt You

1. Valuation Risk: At 237x P/E, even small execution misses will hurt badly. Miss growth by 5%? Stock could drop 30%.

2. Supply Chain Risk: Components sourced from China. War. Trade restrictions. Any disruption = margin pressure.

3. Profitability Quality: Some FY25 profits came from accounting adjustments. Can they sustain profits organically? That's the test.

4. Regulatory Uncertainty: ED has requested information under FEMA. Ongoing scrutiny could emerge unexpectedly.

5. International Integration: ₹18,611 crore goodwill on Owndays. Underperformance = big problem.


The Uncomfortable Truth

Here's what nobody wants to hear:

Lenskart is a genuinely interesting business.

33% revenue growth. Expanding profitability. 70% margins. Vertical integration. 98% repeat purchase rate. Stores profitable in 10-12 months. Massive international growth runway.

All of this is real.

But—and here's the uncomfortable part—great companies at expensive prices can still disappoint investors.

You're not just betting that Lenskart is good. You're betting that it executes flawlessly for years. You're betting that management doesn't stumble. You're betting that competition doesn't get fierce. You're betting that international expansion works exactly as planned.

That's a lot of bets to win simultaneously

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What I Actually Think You Should Do

Read the DRHP. (That's the detailed prospectus with all the company details.)

Do the math yourself. Don't trust my analysis. Verify the numbers. See if the growth story makes sense to you.

Ask yourself: Can I hold this for 5+ years? If the answer is no, don't apply.

Talk to your financial advisor. Not someone who just sells IPOs. Someone who actually cares about your portfolio.

Then decide. Based on your own conviction. Not on FOMO. Not on what others are doing.

The best investment is one where you understand what you're buying, you know what can go wrong, and you're comfortable with it anyway.

Do that work first.

Then make your move.

This is educational content. Not investment advice. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before investing your money.