🧠 At a Glance
Ola Electric — India’s largest E2W manufacturer by volume — is also India’s largest E2W loser by money. It sells scooters like vada pavs (3.3 lakh units in FY24), yet managed to burn ₹2,276 Cr in FY25. With negative ROE of -108%, it’s not just disrupting the EV sector — it’s disrupting accounting books.
1. 🚀 Intro: The “Tesla of Tumkur” or the “Theranos on Two Wheels”?
Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola Electric wants to be India’s EV messiah. It raised ₹3,200 Cr in IPO hype, sells the most scooters in the country, and flexes its “Futurefactory” like it’s the SpaceX of Krishnagiri.
But here’s the twist — despite ₹4,514 Cr in FY25 revenue, it lost more money than most Series A startups ever raise. Is this the price of growth… or just a really expensive science experiment?
2. 🛵 WTF Do They Even Do?
- Largest electric scooter manufacturer in India
- Assembles batteries, motors, frames in-house at “Ola Futurefactory”
- Direct-to-consumer online sales (no dealers, just drama)
- Plans to enter electric motorcycles and gigafactory-level battery manufacturing
So basically: they want to be Bajaj, Tesla, Exide, and Amazon — all in one. Wish them luck.
3. 💸 Financials: Profit? Bhai Kya Hota Hai Woh?
| Metric | FY25 | FY24 | FY23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹4,514 Cr | ₹5,010 Cr | ₹2,631 Cr |
| Net Profit | ₹-2,276 Cr | ₹-1,584 Cr | ₹-1,472 Cr |
| OPM % | -39% | -25% | -48% |
| ROCE | -28% | -32% | -30% |
🧨 Despite doubling revenue in 2 years, losses doubled too. If scale is supposed to bring operating leverage, Ola seems to have found reverse leverage.
4. 📉 Valuation: Is It Cheap, Meh, or Crack?
- Market Cap: ₹18,958 Cr
- Price to Book: 3.7x
- PE: N/A (Negative earnings)
- Revenue multiple: ~4.2x (on FY25 PAT of -₹2,276 Cr)
Valuation is not cheap. It’s pure faith-based investing. Like buying a ₹500 protein shake hoping it’ll give you abs… eventually.
5. 🔥 What’s Cooking: IPOs, Layoffs & Production Cuts
- IPO at ₹108 → Stock now at ₹43 😵💫 (60% down)
- IPO raised ₹3,200 Cr but ₹2,391 Cr already gone in operating cash burn
- Factory downtime reported in multiple quarters
- Gigafactory delayed, motorcycle still in R&D
Bhavish is promising AI scooters and space-age batteries. But burn rate is faster than the scooters they sell.
6. 📉 Balance Sheet: How Much Debt, How Many Dreams?
| Item | FY25 |
|---|---|
| Equity Capital | ₹4,411 Cr |
| Reserves | ₹732 Cr |
| Debt | ₹3,556 Cr |
| Total Assets | ₹11,075 Cr |
Despite IPO cash, borrowings still high, and reserves only recently turned positive thanks to equity dilution. Asset base inflated from future capex dreams.
7. 💀 Cash Flow: Sab Number Game Hai
| FY25 |
|---|
| CFO |
| CFI |
| CFF |
| Net Cash Flow |
Literally running on fundraising fumes. This is not “business cash flow”, it’s “bhai aur paisa do” flow.
8. 📊 Ratios – Sexy or Stressy?
| Ratio | Value |
|---|---|
| ROCE | -28% |
| ROE | -108% |
| OPM | -39% |
| Debt/Equity | 0.8x |
| Working Capital Days | 90 |
| Cash Conversion Cycle | -16 days |
If Ola were in a relationship, these ratios would be 🚩🚩🚩.
9. 📈 P&L Breakdown: Show Me the (Lack of) Money
- FY25 sales fell 10% YoY despite volume leadership
- Expenses flat YoY → No cost cuts
- ₹395 Cr “Other Income” helped reduce net loss
- Depreciation + Interest = ₹932 Cr – sunk cost or sunk ship?
They should sell carbon credits from this much value destruction.
10. 🏍️ Peer Comparison – Who’s the Real Hero?
| Company | ROE | OPM | Net Profit FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero MotoCorp | 23.7% | 14.1% | ₹4,375 Cr |
| TVS Motors | 28.8% | 14.9% | ₹2,207 Cr |
| Bajaj Auto | 22.8% | 18.7% | ₹7,324 Cr |
| Ola Electric | -107% | -39% | ₹-2,276 Cr |
Verdict: Ola wins the race to the bottom. Fastest loser in the EV sector.
11. 🤹 Misc – Shareholding, Promoters, Public Hope
- Promoter holding: 36.78%
- Public holding: 52.14% → Retail bag holders galore
- FIIs: 2.89% and dropping each quarter
- Number of shareholders doubled since listing 😬
At this point, even Nykaa investors are sending “stay strong” messages.
12. 🧾 IPO Investors: From Unicorn to Unicon
- Issue Price: ₹108
- Current Price: ₹43
- Return: -60%
- Promoters sold nothing — Retail held the bag
- No dividends, no profits, no roadmap clarity
And yet the marketing continues: “Reimagining Mobility.” Bro, first reimagine profitability.
13. 🧠 EduInvesting Verdict™
Ola Electric is a masterclass in how market leadership ≠ financial leadership. With perpetual losses, low operating leverage, and high capex needs, this scooter startup is riding downhill — with no brakes.
Fair Value Range (Speculative): ₹18–₹30
(Assuming eventual EBITDA breakeven by FY27 and assigning 1.5x FY25 revenue)
Until then, it’s more PowerPoint than powertrain.
✍️ Written by Prashant | 📅 July 1, 2025
Tags: Ola Electric, EV stocks India, IPO crash, Bhavish Aggarwal, e-scooter, EV bubble, loss-making unicorns, Nifty Midcap EV, Ola IPO review, auto sector India
