Brainbees Solutions Ltd (FirstCry) Q2FY26 – The Baby Billion-Dollar Bazaar That Still Can’t Crawl to Profitability

1. At a Glance

Once upon a diaper, a startup calledFirstCrypromised to make parenting easier — and 15 years later, it’s still trying to make investors feel the same way.Brainbees Solutions Ltd, the parent company of FirstCry, reportedQ2FY26 revenue of ₹2,099 crore(up 10.2% QoQ) and aloss of ₹33.2 crore(down 33.1% QoQ). Market cap? A chunky₹16,543 crore. Current price? ₹317 — down from ₹665 highs, which means this baby stock has slipped harder than a toddler on polished tiles.

Return over one year?-41.9%. ROE?-4.07%. ROCE?-0.4%. And yet, it’s valued at3.47x bookand anEV/EBITDA of 43.1x— because apparently, Indian investors adore companies that sell nappies but still burn cash like matchsticks in a nursery.

The sales momentum remains impressive, though —GMV rose 16% YoYto ₹10,585 crore in FY25. But the bottom line? Still a diaper fire. Grab your baby wipes, dear investor. This one’s going to be a long, messy ride.

2. Introduction – When Startups Grow Up, But the Profits Don’t

If Amazon had a baby and Nykaa was the godmother, that baby would probably look like FirstCry — adorable, ambitious, and occasionally throwing tantrums when profits don’t arrive.

Founded in2010bySupam Maheshwari, Brainbees built its empire around moms, babies, and toddlers — the kind of audience that never stops consuming. From baby lotions to school bags, they sell everything except the sleep parents lose while shopping online.

The platform boasts1.82 million SKUsfrom over8,000 brands, and operates in533+ citieswith1,156 stores. Nearly78%of its GMV comes online, and the rest from offline retail — a hybrid model India loves to over-celebrate as “omnichannel” (read: still figuring out logistics).

But the real twist? Despite beingIndia’s largest mother-and-baby marketplace, the company continues to report losses year after year. In FY25 alone,losses stood at ₹265 crore— smaller than earlier years but still too big to ignore.

Still, FirstCry has become more than a store; it’s a social network for sleepless parents. Its content-led strategy — via parenting blogs and communities — is the company’s not-so-secret weapon to hook customers before their first delivery. Smart. Sinister. Slightly adorable.

3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?

Brainbees Solutions Ltd (FirstCry) isn’t your average e-commerce play. It’s amulti-channel retail platformfor mothers, babies, and kids. Think of it as the Big Bazaar of Babyland, where half the customers come for diapers and stay for designer rompers.

Here’s how the business breaks down:

• Online (78% of GMV)– The e-commerce site and app, powered by data, content, and digital ads.
• Offline (22% of GMV)– 1,156 stores across India:527 COCO (Company-Owned)and629 FOFO (Franchise-Owned).
• Home Brands (55%+ of India GMV)– BabyHug, Pine Kids, Cute Walk, and Babyoy. These private labels are the secret sauce — higher margins, better brand control, and parental loyalty that’s borderline obsessive.
• Globalbees (21% of total revenue)– The D2C roll-up arm, investing in brands like HealthyHey and Butternut Ventures. Because apparently, if you can’t make money yourself, just buy others who might someday.
• International Business (11% of revenue)– Mainly UAE and KSA, growing 15% YoY. AOV abroad is 4.1x India — proof that Gulf parents spend more on bibs than most Indians on broadband.

The model banks onnetwork effects— pull in new parents via content, convert them to shoppers, and retain them through product breadth. It’s basically a SaaS play disguised as a toy store.

4. Financials Overview

Commentary:The baby giant’s revenue keeps crawling up, but profits still refuse to walk. QoQ improvement is visible — losses halved — but EBITDA margin at~3%still screams “teething stage.” The only thing