Eternal Q2 Results Highlights: Zomato stock crashes 4% as profit tanks 63% YoY to ₹65 crore

Company expects Hyperpure business to become profitable over the next two quarters with steadily improving profitability from thereon.

We have been maintaining our quarterly rate of net store additions consistently for the last few quarters, and given what we know today, we think we should be able to get to 3,000 stores by Mar 2027, says Albinder Dhindsa, CEO of Blinkit.

As an outcome of the shift of 80% of NOV to own inventory, net working capital (NWC) in our quick commerce business increased to ~12 days of annualized NOV in Q2FY26. Even as the share of our own inventory increases further, we expect to stay below our estimate of 18 days or 5% of NOV, shared in our last letter.

This increase was partly offset by a decrease in NWC in Hyperpure’s non-restaurant business, leading to a net QoQ increase of INR 482 crore in consolidated NWC (see table below).

The consolidated NWC balance is now about INR 2,000 crore (as at the end of Q2FY26), with a majority of it being attributable to the quick commerce business.

As far as capex is concerned, 90%+ of the capex in Q2FY26 was incurred in the quick commerce business. Over the longer term, capex per store (including apportioned backend warehousing cost) remains in the range of INR 1 crore per store.

– Akshant Goyal, CFO, Eternal

Albinder Dhindsa, CEO of Blinkit, explained that while absolute losses decreased (in line with what we mentioned in our last letter), the reduction in loss/margin expansion was below expectations. This was largely driven by investments to drive higher growth and (NOV) market share opportunistically in the quarter through:

1. Passing on efficiency gains in our business to our customers so they build higher confidence with us that Blinkit provides the best value in addition to our 10-minute delivery promise.

2. Investment in higher marketing spends to acquire new customers (our marketing spends in Q2FY26 were up ~4x YoY and 1.4x QoQ).

3. Accelerated store network expansion — we now expect to get to 2,100 stores by Dec 2025 vs our earlier guidance of 2,000 stores.

4. Building capacity (warehousing and supply chain) to fulfill the higher demand we generated as a result of these actions.

This does not change our long-term outlook on margins, and we continue to build with a long-term view of the business. If we have to choose between high-quality sustainable growth and a short-term sacrifice of margins, we are in a position to choose the former, given our strong balance sheet.

Eternal share price closed 4% lower on the BSE today at ₹340.05 as the profit missed Street estimates. Analysts were expecting the company to post a profit of over ₹100 crore.

Moreover, the company flagged slower-than-expected growth in food delivery NOV, which it believes might remain slow in the near term.

Moreover, the reduction in loss/ margin expansion was below expectations. This was largely driven by investments to drive higher growth and (NOV) market share opportunistically in the quarter.

Deepinder Goyal said that it appears that these apps are specifically targeting budget-conscious customers. At our end, we believe that the Zomato app should be able to solve for these use cases without needing a new app, which is why we lowered the minimum order value for free delivery from INR 199 to INR 99 for Gold members.

We believe that launching another food delivery (aggregation) app to differentiate between target audiences has to be a carefully thought-out decision, since it significantly increases organisational complexity. We will wait and watch, and are okay being the last mover if, over time, it becomes clear that introducing a new app is the right long-term approach for targeting budget-conscious customers.

In line with our expectation (as mentioned in the last letter), NOV growth rate (YoY) did go up in Q2FY26 after declining consistently for the last five quarters. Having said that, the recovery in growth has been slower than expected and we only expect a slow uptick in growth rate in the near term.

While we continue to work on inputs to the business (making restaurant food more accessible and affordable for customers), we are also constantly fighting multiple headwinds including soft discretionary consumption in general in India, the impact of quick commerce growth, and increasingly volatile weather (extreme heat, extended rains), which continue to weigh on near-term growth.

Food delivery

Food delivery NOV grew 14% YoY, improving (slightly) from 13% YoY NOV growth in the previous quarter. The growth rate seems to have bottomed out in Q1FY26 and is starting to recover, albeit slowly.

On the margin front, Adjusted EBITDA margin (as a % of NOV) reached an all-time high of 5.3%, and the business delivered an absolute Adjusted EBITDA of over INR 500 crore for the quarter (vs INR 451 crore in Q1FY26).

Quick commerce

Quick commerce NOV growth accelerated to 137% YoY (27% QoQ) — its highest in the last ten quarters. Network expansion continued with 272 net new stores added, taking the total store count to 1,816 stores as of the end of the quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA margin (as a % of NOV) continued to improve QoQ to -1.3% from -1.8% in Q1FY26. The pace of margin improvement was slower than anticipated at the beginning of the quarter, due to additional investments in market share growth (more on that later).

Going-out

Going-out NOV grew 32% YoY, whereas Adjusted EBITDA margin (as a % of NOV) declined to -3.1%, resulting in an Adjusted EBITDA loss of INR 63 crore in the quarter (vs INR 54 crore in Q1FY26), driven by continued investments in category creation.

Hyperpure

In Hyperpure, the restaurant business continued to grow steadily at 42% YoY (15% QoQ), with Adjusted EBITDA margin improving to -0.9% from -2.2% (in Q1FY26), resulting in an Adjusted EBITDA loss of just INR 8 crore in the quarter.

At a consolidated level, B2C NOV grew 57% YoY (15% QoQ) to ₹23,164 crore. Adjusted revenue grew 172% YoY (85% QoQ) to Rs13,968 crore but this is not a like to like comparison since the business model in quick commerce has now moved to largely inventory ownership (vs marketplace earlier) where revenue now also includes the full monetary value of goods sold as per Ind AS (and not just the marketplace commission). Like-for-like Adjusted Revenue growth was 65% YoY (22% QoQ) after deducting cost of goods sold in case of own inventory sales in quick commerce and excluding the Revenue from Hyperpure’s non-restaurant business.

Adjusted EBITDA declined 32% YoY to ₹224 crore during the second quarter of the fiscal year, as per the company's exchange filing.

The revenue from operations witnessed a 183% YoY rise to ₹13,590 crore in Q2 FY26, compared with ₹4,799 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Consolidated profit after tax for Eternal stood at ₹65 crore for the second quarter of the financial year 2025-26 (FY26) as against ₹176 crore in the same period a year ago, recording a 63% plunge.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Eternal share price came under heavy selling pressure after hitting a 52-week high ahead of the Q2 results today. Eternal shares fell as much as 2.45% to ₹354.55 apiece on the BSE. From the high, the stock slipped as much as 4.11%.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Saurabh Jain, the head of fundamental research at SMC Global Securities, believes Eternal’s top line will likely expand on the back of continued momentum in its core food delivery, Hyperpure, and Blinkit segments. According to Jain, the food delivery business is expected to maintain steady demand, supported by higher platform fees and improving unit economics. Hyperpure, which supplies restaurants, continues to scale rapidly as more partners are added to the network, said Jain.

Blinkit, the quick-commerce arm, remains the key growth driver, said Jain, with robust expansion in order volumes and store additions, aided by its transition to an inventory-led model that enhances efficiency and customer experience. “Despite solid operational growth, margins and profitability may come under pressure due to rising costs and a high base from the previous year. Key aspects to watch include the company’s focus on improving take rates, optimising delivery costs, and scaling profitable verticals,” said Jain.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Eternal share price has shown superior relative strength, strong price action, and firm momentum on the charts. Eternal stock price recently broke out above the ₹300 mark on the weekly timeframe, confirming a bullish setup that projects a potential move toward ₹500 — a target yet to be tested. Eternal’s technical structure looks strong. For traders looking to position ahead of Q2 results, Eternal remains the stock to buy, said Anshul Jain, Head of Research at Lakshmishree Investments.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: MOFSL expects Food Delivery segment’s adjusted EBITDA as % of GOV margin may inch up 10 bps QoQ to 4.3%, while Blinkit is estimated to post a contribution margin of 3.2% and adj. EBITDA margin of -0.6% in Q2FY26. Blinkit GOV is projected to sustain its growth momentum with 26% and 142% QoQ and YoY growth. Hyperpure should also continue its upward trajectory.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Gross Order Value (GOV) for Food Delivery and Quick Commerce business is expected to grow 19% and 142% YoY, with take rates of 21.5% and 18.7%, driving an overall revenue increase of 68% YoY, according to Motilal Oswal. It expects overall revenue of Eternal to grow 68% to ₹8,064 crore from ₹4,799 crore, YoY.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Blinkit is expected to report sequential NOV growth of ~28% (139% YoY). However, take-rates (as % of NOV) is expected to see a significant improvement due to change to inventory led model to 56% in Q2 from 23.5% in Q2FY25. JM Financial sees contribution margin expanding to 4.4% (as % of NOV) versus 3.9% in Q1, primarily due to slower store and warehouse expansion and benign competitive intensity in the space. Adjusted EBITDA margin (as % of NOV) can improve to -0.8%.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: The consolidated revenue of Eternal in Q2FY26 is expected to jump 112.3% to ₹10,189 crore from ₹4,799 crore in the year-ago quarter,. On a sequential basis, revenue is estimated to grow 42.2% from ₹7,167 crore in the June quarter, as per JM Financial expectations.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Kotak Institutional Equities expects Eternal to post 16% year-on-year (YoY) growth in food delivery GMV (gross merchandise value), 76% YoY growth in Hyperpure revenues and a solid 136% YoY growth in Blinkit GMV, driven by rapid store addition. Eternal’s revenue growth may be higher than usual Q2FY26 onward and will not be comparable YoY as Blinkit shifts to the 1P (first-party) model.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Eternal share price rallied over a percent to hit a 52-week high on Thursday ahead of the announcement of Q2 results today. Eternal shares gained opened higher at ₹357.25 apiece as against its previous close of ₹354.55 apiece on the BSE. The stock gained as much as 1.73% to touch a fresh high of ₹360.70 apiece. It hit an intraday low of ₹355.95 per share.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Eternal is estimated to report a sharp revenue growth in the quarter ended September 2025, led by strong momentum in its Quick Commerce business Blinkit, and steady food delivery operations under Zomato. However, the company’s net profit during the quarter is expected to fall due to elevated costs and higher marketing spends.

Eternal Q2 Results LIVE: Food delivery and Quick Commerce giant Eternal is set to report its Q2 results today. The board of directors of the company is scheduled to meet today, 16 October 2025, to consider and approve the financial results for the second quarter of FY26.