This Firm Delivered 46% Revenue Growth and Its Best Margins

Volume and ASP both rising, store densification working without cannibalisation, AI glasses launched, 25% margin target on track 

There are not many consumer businesses in India that can grow revenue 46% year-on-year, expand domestic same-store sales by 24%, improve margins by over 600 basis points and simultaneously launch an AI-powered smart glasses product — all in the same quarter. Lenskart did all of that in the fourth quarter of FY26. Antique Stock Broking assumes coverage with a HOLD rating and a revised target of Rs 525

The India Business Is Firing 

Domestic revenue grew 44% year-on-year to Rs 14.8 billion — driven by a combination of volume growth of 24.3% and average selling price improvement of 16% year-on-year to Rs 1,865. Same-store sales growth came in at 24.2%. But the number that Antique highlights as particularly meaningful is same-pincode sales growth of 31.1% — which measures performance within the same micro-markets rather than simply tracking new store openings.

“Store densification continues to generate incremental demand rather than cannibalising existing stores within the same micro-markets,” the report notes. For a retailer adding stores at the pace Lenskart is — 542 net new stores in FY26, taking India’s total to 2,609 — that is a crucial proof point.

EBITDA margins in India expanded 630 basis points year-on-year to 15.3%, driven by operating leverage across employee costs, marketing and rent. The low base of the prior year — when the lower-ticket New Lens Replacement campaign weighed on profitability — provided an additional tailwind, but the underlying margin improvement is structural rather than base-effect-driven.

International Is Building Quietly

The international business grew 35.4% year-on-year to Rs 10.5 billion — with constant currency growth of 25%, stripping out the tailwind from favourable exchange rates. Volume growth from existing stores was 29% year-on-year, suggesting the international store base is maturing and generating productivity gains without needing aggressive new openings. The company added just 13 net new international stores in the quarter — a measured expansion pace that is keeping rental costs in check and allowing segmental EBITDA margins to expand 110 basis points year-on-year to 9.2%.

The West Asia portfolio — approximately 41 stores in the Middle East — saw brief disruption from the ongoing regional crisis but recovered quickly. Antique’s note points to this resilience as evidence of “the relatively non-discretionary nature of the eyewear category.” Eyewear, unlike most consumer discretionary spending, sits closer to a necessity — people need glasses regardless of the macro environment, and often cannot defer the purchase indefinitely.

New Bets Worth Watching

Two developments from the quarter deserve particular attention as signals of where Lenskart is heading. First, the Meller brand — acquired to accelerate the sunglasses category internationally — has been launched across 1,000 stores in India and expanded into the Middle East, Japan and Southeast Asia. The sunglasses segment is higher-margin and less cyclical than prescription eyewear, and Meller gives Lenskart a credible brand to compete in that space.

Second, and more intriguing, is the debut of “B by Lenskart” — an AI-powered smart glasses product with prescription lens capability. A waitlist of approximately 30,000 customers has already formed before the product has formally launched at scale. It is early days, and Antique is appropriately measured in its projections for this segment. But for a company with Lenskart’s distribution network and optometry infrastructure, a smart glasses product is a natural extension rather than a speculative pivot.

The Margin Journey 

The long-term margin story is what makes Lenskart genuinely interesting for patient investors. Pre-Ind AS EBITDA margins have improved from 9.1% in Q4FY25 to 12.8% in Q4FY26 — a meaningful step. But management’s long-term steady-state guidance is approximately 25% — nearly double where margins sit today. The path there runs through three levers: operating leverage from continued store expansion, vertical integration through the Hyderabad manufacturing facility coming online in the next 18 months and the 50% joint venture with Sunrise — a Thailand-based frame manufacturer — and a continued shift toward premium products in the mix.

The eye testing initiative adds a fourth dimension. Lenskart currently conducts approximately 30 million eye tests annually and is targeting 100 million — a threefold increase that would fundamentally expand the funnel of customers entering the prescription eyewear purchase journey. “Eye testing remains a key volume driver,” Antique’s report states — and at 100 million tests annually, Lenskart would be operating the largest optometry network in the country by a considerable margin.

The Scorecard

Antique raises its FY27 and FY28 EBITDA estimates by 5.5% and 4% respectively following the quarter, and revises the target price to Rs 525. The 48x FY28E EV/EBITDA multiple reflects the premium warranted by Lenskart’s category leadership, long margin runway and the optionality in AI glasses and international expansion — but also explains why upside from the current price is measured at 8% rather than dramatic.