Shankar Sharma Jokes Lenskart Valuation a 'Steal' Vs. Paytm, Nykaa IPOs

Amid fierce chatter over Lenskart's high valuation ahead of its IPO debut on Friday, veteran investor Shankar Sharma has weighed in with a sarcastic take, joking that the company's valuation is a "steal."

Sharma's statement comes against the backdrop of growing concerns over Lenskart's valuation, pegged at around Rs 70,000 crore. Many have pointed out the company's high price-to-sales multiple exceeding 10x and a high price-to-earnings ratio of 230x.

In a post on X, Sharma mockingly compared Lenskart's pricing to the sky-high valuations of past tech IPOs, suggesting any criticism was just an "organised campaign."

"There is an organised campaign against Lenskart. At ~10x Sales, it's a steal compared to P/ sales valuations of Paytm, Nykaa, Zomato, PB, Car Trade, etc, who IPOd at 25-50x their revenues ( with plenty of losses too)," Sharma wrote on X.

In addition to Lenskart's high valuations, market watchers are not particularly happy with the way the management has tried to justify the concerns by simply stating the company's aim to 'create value for the customer'.

In a recent interview with NDTV Profit, Quant Mutual Fund's Sandeep Tandon has recently called the ongoing IPO fervour a 'stupidity', in an indirect reference to Lenskart and other issues, which have opened with steep valuations.

However, Shankar Sharma, who was an early investor in companies like Amazon and Apple, believes Lenskart's valuations are a bargain, at least in relation to some of the other IPOs that have graced the Indian markets in recent years.

"Phir Aisa Kya ghor paap kar raha LensKart, bhaiya?" he quipped, before clarifying that he does not own any shares of Lenskart or 'any other kart'.