Top 5 Performing Unlisted Shares of August 2026

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The Indian Unlisted market had an eventful year, and the month gone by was no different either. SEBI's efforts to legitimize pre-IPO trading, a steady flow of DRHPs, and retail channels making transactions in such names very easy are leading to better volume in the secondary. In light of all this, here are the five names that caught my eye because of their price action during the last month. These are a combination of true pre-IPO stories, speculative plays around exchange infrastructure, and one compounder with a solid fundamentals story.

1. Matrix Gas & Renewables - Up 57.9%

This month's leader, Matrix Gas & Renewables, holds a sizable edge over others. Formed in 2022 and incorporated in Ahmedabad, Matrix functions as a natural gas aggregator, supplying and marketing natural gas, regasified LNG, and LNG cargoes to industries and commercial clients in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. Besides this core business, Matrix has been expanding into a parallel growth opportunity in green hydrogen and green ammonia, including manufacture of electrolysers and EPC/BOO projects.

Rallying in price this month, the stock follows in line with a renewed pre-IPO buzz – it has already filed draft documents for a listing on the NSE Emerge and has earlier secured funding from a range of investors including Ashneer Grover (co-founder, BharatPe) and other venture and family office funds. However, there is a history of sharp corrections here too – the stock has declined over 50% from its all-time high seen in April 2025 on account of IPO pricing being lower than expected in the grey markets. Promoter linkages to the Gensol Group are another key element to keep in mind.

2. Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) - Up 40.8%

​ICEX is the derivatives exchange for commodities and the direct competitor of the publicly listed Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). It provides for futures trading in the sphere of bullion, energy, metals, and agri-commodities. The shareholders include prominent institutional entities like MMTC, Indian Potash, and Kribhco, along with private investors, which adds some credibility to ICEX as an exchange, a quality that is somewhat uncommon for small unlisted exchanges. ICEX has experienced some problems in its business operations, including multi-year trading suspensions in the past. However, it has been trying lately to position itself as an IPO candidate due to increased interest in exchanges as infrastructure from retail clients (the same trend has fueled NSE and MSEI unlisted stocks this year).

The 40.8% increase this month seems to be primarily driven by the aforementioned IPO speculation rather than any particular financial event — financials of ICEX have been little known to date, which should be noted. Furthermore, commodity exchanges are essentially volume-dependent, and there cannot be any simple transfer from NSE and MCX performance to ICEX. It is a company for investors who can support the IPO hypothesis with no clear financial visibility.

3. API Holdings (PharmEasy) - Up 34.6%

​PharmEasy, which owns one of India's largest digital pharmacies and health tech platforms, is showing another step in its comeback story. This company had to face a big decrease in its valuation several years ago because of a tough financing environment and the negative effect of the Thyrocare acquisition, but since then, the firm has been slowly recovering through better margin control and reduction in losses. This month's development looks like it is connected with growing expectations about the IPO attempt and investors' preparation for a potential filing.

The business model is strong enough from a structural point of view – there are a lot of opportunities for PharmEasy as the penetration level of organized pharmacies and the diagnostics market in India is still relatively low despite the country's population and the way healthcare expenditure will evolve. However, the re-rating of this stock looks like it is happening way faster than any IPO filing, and the history of high expenses of the company makes IPO price one of the most important factors here.

4. Frick India - Up 24.5%

In terms of the fundamentals story, there is one name which stands out: Frick India. This firm is India's largest producer of industrial refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment and traces its roots back to a technical cooperation from 1962 between Frick Company, USA, and itself. It provides a complete range of services from design, production, installation, and after-sales servicing. The main market for the firm lies in dairy and food industries, as well as cold chain logistics. Given the fact that India is the largest producer of milk and a significant exporter of fruits and vegetables, it representsa very good business opportunity.

While the other stocks mentioned above are largely a product of speculative activities of their owners, the growth in Frick India shares is based on actual positive results in revenues and profits of the company, along with rising EPS and dividends paid regularly. Thus, for those who are afraid of pure IPO speculation, this company can be seen as the best alternative among the firms listed here.

5. Sunday Proptech - Up 23.4%

Coming up fifth place on our list is the relatively small-cap Sunday Proptech, which has been seeing some pickup in activity on the secondary market this month. It’s certainly part of a trend toward growing interest in real-estate technology and fractional-ownership platforms, a sector which has gained increasing traction among Indian retail and HNI investors as SEBI seeks to regulate fractional real estate ownership. On the other hand, when compared with the other companies mentioned on this list, information available on Sunday Proptech is relatively scarce.

This may be considered a blessing and a curse. While it certainly could suggest undervaluation in this case if the company is performing well, it does leave investors with much less to go on when valuing the stock’s current price action.

The Takeaway

The leaderboard for the month gives a decent idea of the current state of sentiment in the Indian private equity market: real IPO stories backed by filings (Matrix Gas, PharmEasy), an overvalued infrastructure-for-exchange concept without any known fundamentals (ICEX), an earnings-backed compounding story (Frick India), and a niche player that fits into a wider market theme (Sunday Proptech). The key thing to keep in mind is that private shares are priced through low-volume negotiated trades in secondary markets, not via ongoing price discovery on exchanges, which means that any monthly change in prices, positive or negative, is usually more pronounced than what one might see in a listed security. Any potential investor interested in any of these companies should take their performance in the month as a directional hint, at best, and dig deeper into the financials and backgrounds of these companies before committing any money.