Eternal Q3 Results: Profit surges 73% YoY to ₹102 crore; revenue jumps 3-fold

Bengaluru: Eternal Ltd, the parent company of food delivery service Zomato and instant commerce service Blinkit, reported 73% growth in consolidated net profit on a year-on-year basis (y-o-y). ₹102 crore for the December quarter. Consolidated revenue from operations more than tripled in the quarter ₹16,315 crore ₹5,405 crore in the same quarter last year. However, Blinkit failed to meet its dark store expansion goals.

Managing director and CEO Deepinder Goyal has resigned. Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa will take over from him from February 1, while Goyal will be appointed vice president.

Blinkit achieved adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) profitability in the December 2025 quarter, underlining that unit economics are improving even as fast-paced business competition intensifies. However, Blinkit missed its dark store expansion target by around 70 stores due to pollution restrictions in Delhi NCR and a surge in orders during Diwali.

“Extended pollution-related restrictions slowed construction and retail regulations in our largest city for several weeks (which remain in place),” Dhindsa said in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday. “During Diwali and the weeks that followed, we had to refocus our operations team’s bandwidth on managing record order volumes rather than opening new stores. It’s a matter of timing.” However, Dhindsa added that the company is on track to achieve its target of 3,000 stores by March 2027.

Adjusted EBITDA positive

Blinkit’s adjusted EBITDA turned positive on: ₹4 billion for the first time quarterly, compared to the loss ₹156 crore in the previous quarter. Blinkit’s net order value (the combined value of all orders, including discounts and other charges) was: ₹13,300 crore.

Eternal management said that competition in flash trading is heating up, which may force Blinkit to respond and maintain its leadership in the flash trading market. Rivals Swiggy Instamart and IPO-affiliated Zepto are jockeying for market share by eliminating surcharges for delivery, surge and fulfillment.

“Competitive intensity tends to increase over time, and we need to be able to respond to a highly volatile environment,” Dhindsa added during Wednesday’s earnings call. “Our current target of 3,000 stores by March 2027 assumes continued irrational competitive intensity. However, if competition eases in the near term, we would like to target 3,500-4,000 stores by March 2027.”

‘Not sustainable profitability’

“The rapid trading marked a significant milestone in Blinkit’s journey by achieving consolidated segment-level adjusted EBITDA breakeven for the first time,” said Sandeep Abhange, consumer and staples equity research analyst at brokerage firm LKP Securities. Mint. “However, we do not yet view this as sustainable profitability as aggressive store expansion and associated costs continue to put pressure on margins. Blinkit’s path to profitability will depend on store maturity, higher production volume per store and moderation of the pace of expansion.”

“Blinkit missed its store addition target by around 70-75 stores, but this is not a significant shortfall and is not reflected in growth numbers, which remain strong,” said Satish Meena, founder of Datum Intelligence. Mint. “Despite the lack of store additions, Blinkit reported NOV (net order value) growth of close to 120%, indicating that demand momentum remains intact.”

However, Meena added that competition in fast trade has increased as the number of companies increased from 2-3 to 5-6. “The struggle is no longer just about infrastructure; it is also about customer acquisition and retention within a limited delivery radius.” He also said dark stores will become more expensive to open and maintain, especially in the top 30 cities where rents are already high.

Last week, Reliance Industries said JioMart’s hyperlocal delivery business is supported by a network of 3,000 stores, including existing supermarkets and new dark stores, and handles 1.6 million orders per day. Blinkit said it fulfilled 243.3 million orders last quarter, or about 2.7 million orders per day.

Food delivery on course

NOVEMBER of the food delivery segment increased by 16.6% year-on-year, driven by a decrease in minimum order value ( ₹from 99 ₹199) for free delivery on Gold orders, which has led to higher order frequency from more budget-conscious customers.

In the shareholder letter, Goyal said the growth rate in food distribution is expected to gradually increase to 20 percent over time. “This will come from two things: modest market share gains and the combined effect of a continued focus on affordability and selection. Nothing dramatic – just the addition of consistent execution,” he added.

Some of Eternal’s smaller ventures, such as Blinkit’s 10-minute snack delivery service Bistro and restaurant supplies business Hyperpure, grew during the quarter. While signs of product-market fit are emerging for Bistro, finance chief Akshant Goyal said in a shareholder letter that the Hyperpure business has the potential to reach $1 billion with adjusted EBITDA profits of $50 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 4-5%. “More importantly, more than the size of the opportunity, it fulfills a core capability for each of our B2C businesses,” he added.