Shares of Eternal, the parent of Zomato and Blinkit, witnessed choppy trade on Thursday, tracking weakness in the broader market as investors assessed the company’s September-quarter earnings. The Deepinder Goyal-led foodtech stock swung between gains and losses despite strong revenue growth and improving profitability at Blinkit.
Eternal share price declined as much as 1.53% to hit an intraday low of ₹306.95 on the BSE. The stock opened marginally higher at ₹312, against the previous close of ₹311.75, before rising 2.32% to touch an intraday high of ₹319.
At the time of reporting, Eternal shares were trading 0.64% higher at ₹313.75, with a market capitalisation of over ₹3 lakh crore.
While Eternal reported strong revenue growth and a sharp improvement in operating profitability in Q2 FY27, its net profit fell short of analyst expectations. Consolidated net profit rose 92.3% year-on-year to ₹125 crore, compared with ₹65 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from operations surged 77.6% to ₹24,138 crore from ₹13,590 crore.
Total expenses, however, increased 74.9% to ₹24,166 crore. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to ₹752 crore from ₹239 crore, while the EBITDA margin improved to 3.1% from 1.8%. Net profit missed the average analyst estimate of ₹271 crore.
Blinkit expansion gathers pace
Blinkit remained a key growth driver, with net order value (NOV) rising 79.3% year-on-year to ₹20,940 crore. The quick-commerce platform added 308 stores during the quarter, taking its total network to 2,751.
Eternal raised its store-count target to more than 3,500 by March 2027, from 3,000 earlier, and 5,000 by March 2028. The faster rollout is expected to strengthen Blinkit’s position in the quick-commerce market, although higher expansion spending could weigh on near-term earnings.
Blinkit’s adjusted EBITDA improved to ₹184 crore, compared with a loss of ₹156 crore a year earlier and a profit of ₹102 crore in the June quarter. Its adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 0.9% of NOV.
Eternal’s food-delivery business continued to gain momentum, with NOV rising 21.5% year-on-year to ₹11,445 crore. Adjusted EBITDA increased 24.7% to ₹627 crore, although the margin edged down to 5.5% of NOV.
The going-out business, District, reported 58% growth in NOV to ₹3,259 crore. However, its adjusted EBITDA loss remained broadly unchanged sequentially at ₹64 crore.
What brokerages say
Emkay Global retained its ‘Buy’ rating on Eternal and raised its target price by 5% to ₹420. However, it cut its FY27 and FY28 EBITDA estimates by around 10% each, factoring in the faster Blinkit store rollout. It raised its FY29 and FY30 estimates by 1% and 10%, respectively, citing the potential benefits of greater scale and improving unit economics.
Eternal also announced Dark.ai, a privacy-focused AI assistant built using open-weight models on its own infrastructure. Emkay Global adopted a neutral stance on the initiative pending greater clarity on its monetisation and cost structure.
Motilal Oswal also reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of ₹420, implying an upside of around 35% from its reference price. The brokerage said Blinkit offered a long runway for growth as consumer spending shifts towards quick commerce, while Eternal’s food-delivery business remained stable. It trimmed its FY27 earnings estimate, citing a higher tax rate following the exhaustion of carried-forward tax losses at the standalone parent level.
ICICI Securities maintained its ‘Buy’ rating, viewing the higher store-count guidance as a sign of management’s confidence in the convergence of e-commerce and quick commerce. The brokerage expects smaller cities to account for much of the expansion and sees potential for higher advertising revenue as Blinkit broadens its product assortment.
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