PhysicsWallah Listing: India’s First Pure-Play EdTech To Test The Offline Bet

PhysicsWallah Ltd., India’s first pure-play ed-tech company to enter the public markets, made a strong debut with the stock listing at a 33% premium. Its IPO was subscribed 1.92 times, reflecting cautious optimism from investors who see both promise and pressure in the company’s evolving business model.

PhysicsWallah’s revenues have expanded rapidly, rising from Rs 744 crore in financial year 2023 to Rs 2,887 crore in fiscal 2025, with the first three months of fiscal 2026 contributing another Rs 847 crore. However, profitability has been inconsistent.

Ebitda moved from a loss of Rs 975 crore in fiscal 2024 to a positive Rs 74 crore in the previous financial year, before slipping back to a loss of Rs 80 crore in the first three months of this fiscal.

Profit has remained negative throughout, widening from Rs 84 crore in fiscal year 2023 to Rs 1,131 crore in financial year 2024, before improving to a loss of Rs 243 crore in fiscal 2025 and Rs 127 crore in the first three months of this financial year.

The company is clearly scaling at speed, but the cost of expansion — particularly the offline push — continues to drag profitability.

PhysicsWallah’s core strength lies in its cost-efficient courses that cater to India’s value-conscious education market.

Promoters retain a strong 72% stake post listing, signalling confidence in long-term prospects.

Its presence across online platforms, offline centres, YouTube, print content and apps creates a large, diversified funnel for student acquisition.

PhysicsWallah lacks meaningful exposure to South India, one of the most competitive academic markets in the country. More importantly, its flagship shift toward offline centres is being driven by economics rather than strategy.

The contrast in revenue per student explains the shift:

• Online student: Rs 3,682.79

• Offline student: Rs 40,404.56

An offline learner generates more than ten times the revenue of an online one. As a result, offline revenue that accounted for 37.77% of total receipts in fiscal 2023 has risen to 46.83% in financial year 2025.

However, this transition is capital-intensive. The breakdown of the Rs 3,100 crore IPO proceeds reveals surprising priorities:

• Rs 710 crore (22.9%) for marketing

• Rs 597.5 crore (19.3%) for rent payments of existing centres

• Rs 460.5 crore (14.8%) for new offline centre fit-outs

In total, Rs 1,307.5 crore — or 42.2% — is being directed toward marketing and rent rather than building new infrastructure. This indicates that organic brand pull is no longer sufficient to fill offline classrooms, requiring substantial paid marketing and recurring lease commitments.

PhysicsWallah’s offline expansion opens up a significantly larger addressable market including Tier-II and Tier-III students who prefer classroom learning.

The company can also broaden its portfolio with competitive test prep, vocational courses and hybrid skill-based modules. Global expansion remains a long-term possibility.

At the same time, the company must address internal challenges such as high employee and faculty churn, operational compliance gaps and a history of acquisitions that have not delivered the expected outcomes.

Local and regional players with deep on-ground presence remain strong competitors, particularly in regions PhysicsWallah has not penetrated. Rapid advances in AI-led personalised learning could shift demand away from traditional teaching models. Meanwhile, the churn of subject experts and trainers remains one of PW’s most critical risks, given the strong influence faculty have on student attraction and retention.