Nykaa shares surge over 4% as retailer expands into men's innerwear and athleisure category

Shares of FSN E-Commerce — parent company of Nykaa — surged as much as 4.88 percent at Rs 1,470 on the BSE on Thursday after the company said it has expanded into men’s innerwear and athleisure category with GLOOT.

While announcing its entry into the men’s innerwear category, Nykaa Fashion on July 6 (Wednesday), said that the new multi-brand e-commerce fashion offering was “inspired by the needs of health-conscious individuals”.

Experts also have high hopes. Analyst Mitessh Thakkar of Earningwaves said that investors should stay positive on Nykaa's stocks.

"The stock has been doing a broad consolidation between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,320 and now it is showing signs of breaking up. Once it starts getting past Rs 1,400-1,500, you will see the stock possibly give you a rally till about Rs 1,620-1,650 to begin with and maybe even higher levels. " he said.

The positive outlook towards Nykaa comes out as a relief for the firm after it made a rocky start to 2022. At the end of January this year, shares of Nykaa declined over 35 percent from its all-time high of Rs 2,574 made on the BSE on November 26, 2021.

Despite this and the market volatility, global brokerage firms were bullish on the company. Brokerage house BofA Securities last month said that it “sees a 30 percent upside in Nykaa".

Edelweiss also initiated coverage on the online beauty marketplace in March with a ‘buy’ rating. The brokerage firm said that Nykaa is India's largest online beauty and cosmetics retailer where the market opportunity remains significant with nearly Rs 2.5 lakh crore by FY26 or CY25 (the calendar year 2025), which should be more than 2.5 times what it currently stands at as well.

Here’s why Nykaa’s products are a hit but its stock is not

Nykaa Fashion noted that most men's underwear options cause discomfort in a number of ways, including odour, and lack of active underwear options. In addition, the firm found a lack of understanding of the difference between trunks, boxer briefs, briefs, etc., which Nykaa's new product GLOOT hopes to solve.

GLOOT will offer a wide range of underwear across all categories and the prices start from Rs 499. For garments under the athleisure category, the price range will start from Rs 899.

Also read: Surprised at the size and scale Nykaa has reached, says CEO Falguni Nayar

The company said in a statement that with this launch it “aims to redefine an often-ignored space when it comes to men’s requirements by combining comfort and technology in a way that is kind to the planet.”

Nykaa also mentioned that to make it easy for users, GLOOT will offer online interactive services with an algorithm. This will help consumers select the right product and the right size depending on body type, a service that has till now been restricted to the women's innerwear marketplace.