Shadowfax Technologies IPO Makes Weak Debut with 8.87% Discount, Lists at ₹113 Against Tepid 2.86x Subscription

Shadowfax Technologies Ltd, a Bengaluru-based logistics solution provider incorporated in June 2016 offering e-commerce express parcel delivery, hyperlocal and quick commerce within hours or same day, and SMS and personal courier services through its Flash app operating nationwide logistics network, clients including Meesho, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy, Bigbasket, Zepto, Nykaa, Blinkit, Zomato, Uber, Pincode, Purplle, Licious, ONDC, and Magicpin employing 4,472 permanent employees and 17,182 contract workers, made a weak debut on BSE and NSE on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. After closing its IPO bidding between January 20-22, 2026, the company commenced trading with a decline of 8.87% opening at ₹113.00 before recovering to trade around ₹116.00 (down 6.45% from issue price).

Shadowfax Technologies Listing Details

Shadowfax Technologies launched its IPO at ₹124 per share with minimum investment of 120 shares costing ₹14,880. The IPO received moderate response with subscription of 2.86 times - retail investors at 2.43 times, QIB at 4.00 times, NII undersubscribed at 0.88 times, employee portion at 2.17 times, total applications of 2,25,616.

First-Day Trading Performance

Listing Price: Shadowfax Technologies opened at ₹113.00 representing decline of 8.87% from issue price of ₹124.00, recovered to touch high of ₹119.55 (down 3.59%), with VWAP at ₹116.28, reflecting initial negative sentiment followed by buying interest as investors weighed long-term logistics growth potential with turnover of ₹20.47 crore and market capitalisation of ₹6,712.13 crore against pre-IPO market cap of ₹7,168.85 crore with delivery percentage of 55.83%.

Growth Drivers and Challenges

Growth Drivers:

Largest Gig-Based Delivery Infrastructure: Platform with 205,864 Average Quarterly Unique Transacting Delivery Partners making it the only large-scale provider for last-mile and end-to-end e-commerce delivery as well as quick commerce, food delivery, and hyperlocal services.

Marquee Client Base: Serving leading e-commerce and quick commerce platforms including Meesho, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy, Bigbasket, Zepto, Nykaa, Blinkit, Zomato, Uber.

Extensive Network Infrastructure: 4,299 touchpoints across 14,758 pin codes with over 3.50 million sq ft operational space, 53 sort centres, and dedicated fleet of over 3,000 trucks daily enabling scalable and efficient delivery operations.

Profitability Turnaround: Company marked declining losses from FY23 (₹142.64 crore) to FY24 (₹11.88 crore) and achieved turnaround in FY25 with PAT of ₹6.06 crore, H1 FY26 showing continued momentum with PAT of ₹21.04 crore.

Challenges:

Exorbitant Valuations: Issue priced at P/E of 170.39 post-IPO with analyst categorically stating the issue appears exorbitantly priced recommending only well-informed, cash surplus, risk seekers to invest for long term.

NII Undersubscription: HNI segment undersubscribed at 0.88 times with bNII at just 0.66 times reflecting concerns over valuations among informed investors, opening discount of 8.87% creating immediate investor losses.

Thin Margins: EBITDA margin of only 2.86% in H1 FY26.

Low Promoter Holding: Promoter holding at only 16.49% post-IPO.

Utilisation of IPO Proceeds

Network Infrastructure: ₹423.43 crore for funding capital expenditure requirements in relation to network infrastructure strengthening logistics capabilities.

Lease Payments: ₹138.64 crore for funding lease payments for new first-mile centres, last-mile centres, and sort centres expanding operational footprint.

Branding and Marketing: ₹88.57 crore for funding branding, marketing, and communication costs enhancing market presence.

Inorganic Growth: ₹291.94 crore for unidentified inorganic acquisitions and general corporate purposes supporting expansion strategy.

Financial Performance

Revenue: ₹1,819.80 crore for H1 FY26, ₹2,514.66 crore for FY25, growth from ₹1,896.48 crore in FY24 and ₹1,422.89 crore in FY23.

Net Profit: ₹21.04 crore in H1 FY26, ₹6.06 crore in FY25, significant turnaround from losses of ₹11.88 crore in FY24 and ₹142.64 crore in FY23, demonstrating improving profitability trajectory with post-IPO EPS of ₹0.73.