PhysicsWallah’s stellar stock market debut has sent the net worth of its co-founders, Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob, soaring. On its first day of trading, the stock closed at ₹155.20, up 42.39% from the issue price, adding ₹12,354 crore to investor wealth in a single session. The edtech firm’s stronger-than-expected debut came despite its ₹3,480-crore IPO receiving only a modest subscription from investors.

Both founders held 105.12 crore shares each before the IPO, a 40.31% stake in the company, valuing their holdings at ₹11,315 crore apiece at the IPO price of ₹109 apiece. As part of the offer for sale (OFS), Pandey and Boob sold 1.74 crore shares each, amounting to ₹190 crore at the offer price. Post the OFS, their shareholding reduced to 103.37 crore shares each.

With shares closing at ₹155.20 on listing day, the value of each founder’s remaining stake soared to ₹16,044 crore, making them richer by ₹4,729 crore each in a single day.

PhysicsWallah’s market capitalisation, which stood at ₹32,028.56 crore ahead of listing, jumped to ₹44,382.43 crore by the end of day’s trade, reflecting strong investor appetite. The stock debuted at ₹143.10 on the BSE and NSE, a 31.28% premium to the issue price, and rallied as much as 48.66% to an intraday high of ₹162.05.

“The upbeat listing underscores investor confidence in PW’s solid brand recall, affordable test-prep offerings, and its fast-scaling hybrid model across digital platforms and PW Pathshala centres,” said Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika Investmart. She highlighted the company’s loyal student base, expanding offline footprint, and diversified exam portfolio spanning JEE, NEET, UPSC, and state-level tests. However, she cautioned about rising competition, regulatory uncertainties, and the challenge of maintaining profitability amid expansion.

Nyati suggested that allotted investors may book partial profits and hold the balance for medium-term gains, keeping a stop loss at ₹130.

The blockbuster debut also positioned PhysicsWallah among the top-performing new-age listings of 2025, second only to Urban Company, which recorded a 57.5% listing gain in September. PW outshone several high-profile digital and consumer-tech IPOs this year, including Pine Labs, Groww, Lenskart Solutions, and Ather Energy.

The listing was better than Street expectations, as the stock was commanding a grey market premium (GMP) of ₹14 in the unlisted market, indicating an estimated listing price of around ₹123 per share, up 12.84%. The GMP had dropped to zero during the IPO, given the relatively muted investor response.

The PhysicsWallah IPO was subscribed 1.8 times, receiving bids for 33.62 crore shares against 18.62 crore on offer. The issue included a fresh issue of ₹3,100 crore and an OFS of ₹380 crore. Ahead of the IPO, the company raised ₹1,562.85 crore from 57 anchor investors, allocating 14.33 crore shares at ₹109 each, with strong participation from both domestic and global institutions.

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