This year, SME IPOs have raised ₹7171.18 crore. Out of 161 SME IPO launched this year, 81 are trading below their IPO price, and 24 IPO have lost 50% of their value.
The median return for SME IPO is -0.2% as opposed to Mainboard IPOs, which give 24% listing gains. About 50% of the SME IPOs launched this year have fallen below their issue price, while only 32% of the Mainboard IPOs are trading below their issue price.
According to the source, SME IPOs listing during July-September have offered a median return of -0.7%. Of these, 52% of the IPOs have fallen below their issue price.
The same pattern is also seen during the January-June months, where 49% of the 76 SME IPOs have fallen below their offer price, with a median return of 0.9%.
SME vs Mainboard IPOs 2026 Performance Report
| IPOs in 2026 | SME | Mainboard |
| Listed IPOs | 161 | 92 |
| Below IPO price | 81 | 29 |
| Below IPO price (%) | 50 | 32 |
| Lost half of their value | 24 | 6 |
| Median return (%) | -0.2 | 24 |
Investors mostly prefer to invest in larger Mainboard IPOs, which are considered more profitable and trustworthy than SME IPOs. Some investors also said that, due to investing a large amount of capital in Mainboard IPOs like NSE, less money remained available to invest in SME IPOs. Moreover, when the overall market is bullish, the SME IPOs usually perform better.
Abhay Agarwal, the founder of Piper Serica, said that SME companies are now asking for higher valuations, which is also putting pressure on them to perform better. Many investors may not want to pay a higher price for small companies when there are plenty of attractive large companies available in the market.
One person is saying that nowadays merchant bankers of SME IPOs are just trying to make the IPO fully subscribed and leave after making some money, as the cost of launching an SME IPO has also increased from 7% 12 months ago to 12% now.
However, this isn’t stopping the surge of SME IPOs yet. In September, about 52 SME IPOs launched, raising ₹2,078.55 crore, resulting in the second busiest month since January 2020, after September 2025.
During September, many SME IPOs launched due to the September 30 deadline. The companies had no choice but to rush to launch their IPOs before Sep 30. Abhay Agarwal also said that in October, we may not see much IPO activity as investors may not have enough capital from investing in so many back-to-back IPOs.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only. It is based on publicly available information and should not be considered investment advice, a recommendation, or a guarantee of future returns. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
