According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, Eternal shares rose 4.28% to ₹295.55 on BSE and 3.88% to ₹295.45 on NSE on Thursday, July 23, 2026, reaching an intraday high as investors focused on the company's strong Q1 performance. The stock opened at ₹284.40 and recovered from a low of ₹282.70 before settling higher. As reported by ET Now, Eternal (Zomato) has scheduled its Board of Directors meeting for Wednesday, July 22, 2026, to consider and approve unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. The company announced its Q1FY27 results after market hours on July 22. The stock has gained over 13% in the last one-month period and over 133% returns to investors in the last five years, though it has lost 3% in the past one-year period. The company currently enjoys a market capitalisation of over ₹2.78 lakh crore and is a constituent of BSE Sensex.
According to The Economic Times, Eternal Ltd reported consolidated net profit of ₹92 crore for Q1 FY27, which registered a 268% year-on-year jump from ₹25 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations surged 182% YoY to ₹20,211 crore from ₹7,167 crore in the year-ago period, driven by strong growth across its businesses. On a sequential basis, net profit declined 47% from ₹174 crore in the previous quarter, while revenue rose 17% from ₹17,292 crore. The company's Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at ₹594 crore, sharply higher than ₹115 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. However, consolidated net profit of ₹92 crore missed analysts' estimates of ₹258 crore, as reported by LSEG data, indicating that intense competition and continued investments in quick-commerce business Blinkit weighed on profitability. Speaking during the earnings call, Chief Executive Officer of Blinkit Albinder Singh Dhindsa said the June quarter marked the highest level of competition the company has experienced. As per The Economic Times, Dhindsa stated that "So far, it was the peak of competitive intensity that we have seen till date, both because number of players are higher and everybody was more aggressive." He noted that the competitive environment has become more predictable because most rivals are competing through grocery subsidies and lower delivery fees, with limited room for deeper promotions as it would balloon losses significantly. Motilal Oswal noted that competitive intensity in quick commerce remains high, but management believes the competitive environment has now become more stable, with Q1 experiencing 'peak intensity' to date.
According to The Economic Times, Blinkit is now the centre of the growth story and has transformed from a heavy cash-burning growth business to a profitable venture. Blinkit's adjusted EBITDA improved for the fifth straight quarter to 0.6% of NOV, giving it adjusted EBITDA of ₹102 crore, a significant improvement from the ₹162 crore loss reported a year earlier. The growth was supported by seasonality, assortment expansion in the top eight cities and geographic expansion in the next 30 cities. Management highlighted that gourmet stores in select locations will add curated premium brands and support assortment expansion. The company provided a sharper framework for Blinkit's return on capital, now assuming capex of ₹2.5 crore per store, including warehousing, against ₹1 crore earlier. Net working capital is estimated at 12 days of NOV, or 3.3%, compared with 18 days earlier, while average NOV per day per store is estimated at ₹11 lakh, higher than the earlier assumption of ₹7 lakh. Based on these assumptions, the company said a 4% EBIT margin can imply a pre-tax ROCE of 41.7%, justifying continued investment in Blinkit's dark stores, warehousing and inventory. Blinkit's NOV rose 86.2% to ₹17,132 crore from ₹9,203 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, while revenue, on the back of the transition to an inventory-led model, rose 552.7% to ₹15,664 crore. The company added a net 200 new stores, taking the total count to 2,443, and expects to reach 3,000 stores by March 2027. Elara Capital noted that Blinkit's ad revenue is highest among peers and may incrementally contribute ₹20 billion alone to Ebitda by FY28E, highlighting the significant monetization potential of the quick commerce platform.
According to The Economic Times, food delivery remains the profit anchor and has become the most mature business in the portfolio. The company reported 54% year-on-year growth in B2C net order value to ₹31,120 crore in Q1FY27, with adjusted revenue rising 173% to ₹20,648 crore. However, the reported growth was boosted by Blinkit's shift to an inventory-led model, with like-for-like growth at 66%. Management emphasized that food delivery margins are now close to the upper end of its steady-state guidance of 5-6% of NOV. Founder Deepinder Goyal stated that the company does not see a trade-off between growth and margin at this stage, noting that food delivery is growing because the product is getting better, not because the company is buying growth through spending. He added that if the company has to spend margin to grow in the future, it will do so. The average monthly transacting customers stood at 27.2 million, up from 25.4 million in the previous quarter. NOV increased 20% YoY to ₹10,769 crore from ₹8,967 crore a year earlier, while adjusted revenue grew 33% YoY to ₹3,537 crore from ₹2,657 crore in the corresponding quarter last financial year. The segment also remained the company's biggest contributor to operating profitability, supported by higher order volumes and improved operating efficiencies. Motilal Oswal noted that food delivery recovery remains steady despite new competition, with the brokerage adding that Blinkit's capital expenditure remained higher than expected during the quarter as the company continued investing in new warehouses and store expansion.
According to Moneycontrol, ICICI Securities has issued a buy rating on Eternal with a target price of ₹360, maintaining its bullish stance on the stock following the strong Q1 performance. The brokerage highlighted that 20% YoY NOV growth in FD is a positive surprise, and sustained improvement in profitability despite growth investments underlines the health of the business. Going out also accelerated (up 60% YoY vs. trend of 30–40% YoY) in Q1 with sequential reduction in burn. QC accelerated (86.2% YoY) in Q1 led by assortment expansion in top 8 cities and store addition in next 30 cities (~200 QoQ net store additions overall). Management indicated that tight inventory control has yielded significantly lower NWC requirement, post transition to 1P model, in addition to scale benefits and supply chain optimisation. ICICI Securities maintains BUY with a three-stage DCF-based unchanged target price of ₹360, endorsing the view that discount-driven customer additions in a grocery-heavy format like QC are unlikely to drive customer loyalty. The brokerage believes the revised guidance on steady-state EBITDA margin in QC is a consequence of these operational savings and efficiency improvements. Eternal is guiding for a 40% return on capital employed (ROCE) for the QCom business at steady state, despite the ₹2.5 crore capex per store and 12 days of working capital. The long-term guidance of $3 billion in NOV and $150 million in Ebitda by FY30 was reiterated, with the company prepared to further accelerate capex intensity as capex per store targets rise to ₹2.5 crore from an earlier ₹1 crore per store.
