Eternal Q2 Profit Nearly Doubles to Rs 125 Crore but Misses Estimates; Blinkit Posts Rs 184 Crore Ebitda

Eternal, the parent of food delivery app Zomato and quick commerce platform Blinkit, reported on Wednesday that its consolidated net profit for the July-September quarter rose 92% to Rs 125 crore from Rs 65 crore a year earlier. Profit was also up about 36% from Rs 92 crore in the June quarter.

The growth is real, but it fell short of what the market wanted. Analysts had pencilled in a profit of around Rs 250 crore, roughly double what the company delivered. The shares had already slipped about 4.5% to Rs 305.65 during Wednesday's session as traders positioned ahead of the numbers.

Revenue Is Running Far Ahead of Profit

Consolidated revenue rose 77.6% to Rs 24,138 crore from Rs 13,590 crore a year ago, and climbed from Rs 20,211 crore in the previous quarter. Adjusted Ebitda nearly tripled, up 197% to Rs 666 crore.

Put those figures side by side and the central tension in Eternal's story is clear. On Rs 24,138 crore of revenue, a Rs 125 crore profit works out to a net margin of roughly half a percent. Much of the revenue jump comes from Blinkit's shift to owning inventory, which books the full value of goods sold as revenue, so the top line now grows much faster than the money the business keeps.

Cash also dipped. Eternal's cash balance fell to Rs 16,475 crore from Rs 18,288 crore a quarter earlier, which the company attributed to a seasonal build-up of working capital ahead of the festive season.

Blinkit Is Now the Core of the Company

Blinkit generated Rs 19,152 crore of revenue in the quarter, up 93.6% and close to four-fifths of the group total. Its net order value, the value of orders after discounts, grew 79.3% to Rs 20,940 crore.

The bigger change is profitability. Blinkit's adjusted Ebitda came in at Rs 184 crore, against a loss of Rs 156 crore in the same quarter last year. That equals about 0.9% of order value and marks the sixth straight quarter of improvement. The unit only crossed into positive adjusted Ebitda for the first time in the December 2025 quarter, with a modest Rs 4 crore.

Expansion continues at pace. Blinkit added 308 dark stores in the quarter to reach 2,751. Management now expects to cross 3,500 stores by March 2027 and reach about 5,000 by March 2028, funded by existing cash and profits from both food and quick commerce. Group CEO Albinder Dhindsa said the company is deliberately avoiding growth bought through deep discounts, arguing that discount-driven customers tend to leave once offers end.

Food Delivery Is Back Above 20%

Zomato's food delivery order value grew 21.5% to Rs 11,445 crore, and adjusted revenue in the segment rose 35.5% to Rs 3,879 crore. Average monthly transacting customers rose to 28 million from 27.2 million in the June quarter. Founder Deepinder Goyal said the company's long-term expectation has always been growth above 20% a year, and that the last two quarters have returned the business to that range.

The going-out business, which covers dining reservations and events, grew order value 58% to Rs 3,259 crore, ahead of the 30%-plus annual growth built into its plan for FY30. B2B supplies arm Hyperpure grew revenue 12.8% to Rs 1,154 crore and lifted adjusted Ebitda to Rs 10 crore.

What Investors Will Weigh

The quarter confirms that Eternal's two main engines are growing and both are now profitable at the operating level. What it does not yet show is meaningful earnings on the scale of its revenue. With a heavy store rollout planned through 2028, the key question for shareholders is how quickly Blinkit's thin margins can widen as new stores mature.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.