Jefferies Adds Lenskart to Its India Long-Only Portfolio

Jefferies added eyewear retailer Lenskart and MCX to its India long-only portfolio, increased Eternal’s weighting by one percentage point, and removed HDFC Bank, PolicyBazaar and REC. Bajaj Finance was also added.

— Source publishedSun, 9 Aug, 2026, 11:56 IST·First seen Sun, 9 Aug, 2026, 13:12 IST·Source NDTV Profit

What happened

Jefferies added eyewear retailer Lenskart and MCX to its India long-only portfolio, while raising Eternal’s weighting by one percentage point. HDFC Bank,

Key facts

  • Lenskart and MCX added to Jefferies' India long-only portfolio
  • Eternal weighting increased by 1 percentage point
  • India portfolio weighting: 12% versus 11.4% benchmark
  • Foreign investors bought $2.45 billion of Indian equities in July
  • Year-to-date foreign equity outflows: $25.4 billion

Why this matters

The portfolio addition strengthens Lenskart’s strategic credibility and could support partnership, acquisition and capital-market conversations across India’s consumer-health and eyewear ecosystem.

What to watch

  • Jefferies research updates, target-price commentary or changes to the India long-only portfolio weighting.
  • Any Lenskart fundraising, IPO filing, governance appointment or expanded financial disclosure.
  • Quarterly indicators for revenue growth, store additions, same-store sales and profitability.
  • Evidence of higher promotional intensity or expansion announcements from Titan Eye+, Specsmakers, GKB and online optical competitors.
  • International expansion performance and supply-chain/capacity investments.
  • Emphasize comparable-store growth, EBITDA progression and unit economics in investor communications.
  • Accelerate selective store expansion in underserved Indian cities while protecting store-level payback periods.
  • Use heightened visibility to support IPO-readiness, governance upgrades and potential pre-IPO capital discussions.
  • Defend category leadership through exclusive frames, eye-testing access, loyalty and omnichannel fulfillment rather than broad discounting.