Ixigo Shares Surge 6% After Q4 Results: But How? Is It Outgrowing MakeMyTrip?

The share of Ixigo, also known as Le Travenues Technology Ltd, jumped around 6% on May 22, 2026, a day after the company reported its Q4 FY26 results. Revenue crossed ₹308 crore, profit nearly doubled, and flights became its biggest segment by booking value.

Interestingly, MakeMyTrip had reported its March 2026 quarter just two days earlier. And when you place both companies side by side, the story looks very different from what most headlines are suggesting.

Why Ixigo’s Share Surged After Q4 Results?

Ixigo reported:

• Revenue of ₹308 crore, up 8.4% year-on-year
• Gross Transaction Value (GTV, meaning the total value of all bookings made on the platform) of ₹4,797.7 crore, up 9%
• Profit of ₹32 crore, almost double last year’s ₹16.8 crore

For the full FY26 year, operating cash flow rose 60.16% to ₹195.7 crore. That matters because cash flow shows the actual cash coming into the business, not just accounting profit on paper. Still, one thing stands out: growth has slowed sharply.

Last year’s Q4 revenue had grown 72%. This quarter, it was just 8.4%. The company blamed the high base created by the Maha Kumbh period and disruptions linked to the Middle East crisis. Those are reasonable explanations, but the bigger picture is clear too: as companies become larger, maintaining ultra-fast growth becomes harder.

But Is Ixigo Really Outgrowing MakeMyTrip?

The short answer: partly yes, partly no.

The Revenue Story Looks Bigger Than It Really Is

Ixigo’s Q4 revenue grew 8.4% year-on-year to ₹308 crore. MakeMyTrip reported quarterly revenue of $250 million, roughly ₹2,400 crore, with reported growth of 1.9%. At first glance, Ixigo looks much faster. But there are a few important things most people miss.

MakeMyTrip reports numbers in US dollars. Because the rupee weakened during the year, the comparison gets distorted.

In constant currency terms, which basically means measuring real business growth without currency fluctuations affecting the numbers, MakeMyTrip actually grew 6.7%. So the real comparison becomes:

• Ixigo: 8.4% growth
• MakeMyTrip: 6.7% growth

That gap suddenly doesn’t look huge anymore.

So while Ixigo is growing faster in percentage terms, the absolute scale gap is still massive. Ixigo did ₹308 crore in quarterly revenue. MakeMyTrip did roughly ₹2,400 crore. That's nearly an 8x difference. And when the base itself is 8x larger, even a slower growth rate adds far more rupees to the business.

One thing worth noting on Ixigo's side: its contribution margin percentage, which shows how much the company keeps from each rupee of revenue after paying direct costs, dropped from 42.5% to 39.4% over the past year. This means Ixigo is generating more bookings, but keeping slightly less from each transaction as its business mix shifts toward flights, which carry thinner margins than trains and buses.

Where the Money Really Comes From

Here’s where the business models start looking completely different.

Source: Company filings

Nearly half of MakeMyTrip’s business comes from hotels and holiday packages, while Ixigo still depends heavily on trains, buses, and flights.

Why does this matter? Because hotels are the highest-margin part of online travel. Hotel bookings usually earn much higher commissions and bring repeat customers. Ixigo entered hotel bookings only in late 2023, so this segment is still very small. Until hotels become a meaningful part of its business, Ixigo will naturally earn less per customer compared to MakeMyTrip.

Two Different Indias, Two Different Customers

Ixigo and MakeMyTrip are also targeting very different types of travellers. 93.85% of Ixigo’s bookings involve non-metro cities. The company has 82.98 million monthly active users, but only 4 million monthly transacting users. That means its conversion rate is just 4.9%.

The average paying Ixigo customer spends around ₹9,854 annually, ~₹821 monthly. That makes sense because much of its business comes from train tickets and affordable domestic travel. MakeMyTrip, on the other hand, caters more heavily to metro users, hotel travellers, and international tourists.

So in reality, these companies are serving different wallets, different cities, and very different travel habits.

Profit: Fast Growth vs Big Scale

Ixigo’s Q4 profit after tax stood at ₹32 crore, up 91% year-on-year. MakeMyTrip reported a profit of around ₹233 crore, but this number is lower than what the business actually earned. That's because it includes heavy interest costs on money MMT borrowed through convertible notes (a type of loan that can later be converted into company shares) and losses from the rupee weakening against the dollar. After removing all such items that don't reflect day-to-day business performance, the adjusted net profit stood at roughly ₹324 crore.

So here’s the real picture:

• Ixigo’s profits are growing very fast, but from a smaller base
• MakeMyTrip’s profits are much larger, though growth slowed this quarter

Both statements can be true at the same time.

So, Is Ixigo Really Outgrowing MakeMyTrip?

If you only look at percentage growth, then yes, Ixigo appears to be growing faster. But if you look at actual earnings and scale, MakeMyTrip is still far ahead. Its business is larger, more profitable, and heavily driven by hotels, which remain the most lucrative part of online travel.

That doesn’t mean Ixigo is weak. It simply means the company is building a different kind of travel business, one focused more on small-town India, trains, buses, and value-conscious users. So the real investor question is not: “Who is winning?”

It’s this: Which India do you think will spend more on travel over the next five years? That question is now becoming important not just for travellers, but also for investors tracking travel stocks across the Indian market and US market.

Valuations also show how the market sees both companies today.

Ixigo currently trades at around 96x earnings, while MakeMyTrip trades near 119x earnings. In simple words, investors are willing to pay a much higher premium for MakeMyTrip because its business is larger, more profitable, and driven heavily by hotels, which earn better margins.

At the same time, Ixigo’s valuation shows the market still expects strong future growth, especially if it can scale its hotel business and convert more users into paying customers. So the market is pricing MakeMyTrip as the established leader, while Ixigo is still being valued more like a long-term growth story.

What Investors Should Watch Next

• 1. Ixigo’s Hotel Business: This is probably the single biggest thing to watch. If hotel bookings start becoming meaningful in Q1 or Q2 FY27, the profitability gap between Ixigo and MakeMyTrip could begin narrowing.
• 2. Ixigo’s Conversion Rate: Ixigo has massive traffic, but very few users actually pay. Out of 82.98 million users, only 4 million transact monthly. Even a small improvement here could unlock millions of new customers. The challenge is whether free users checking train PNR status will eventually become paying travel customers. That part is still unproven.
• 3. MakeMyTrip’s Push Into Smaller Cities: MakeMyTrip added 9 million new users last year, many from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. If it aggressively targets the same users Ixigo focuses on today, competition could become much tougher.

Right now, both companies are benefiting from India’s growing travel market. The opportunity is large enough for both to grow. But they are growing in very different ways, and investors should understand exactly which story they are betting on.