AI-assisted research analysis by FutureKnowledge. Sources checked 21 October 2026. This is not investment advice.
Reviewed by FutureKnowledge: figures, dates and attributions were checked against the linked sources before publication.
Eternal, the owner of Zomato and Blinkit, reported a 92% rise in September-quarter net profit to ₹125 crore on 21 October, as revenue from operations climbed 78% to ₹24,138 crore. The headline growth was strong, but profit fell well short of what analysts had pencilled in, and the shares slipped on the day.
Eternal Q2 results: what the company reported
For the July–September quarter (Q2 FY27), consolidated net profit rose to ₹125 crore from ₹65 crore a year earlier and from ₹92 crore in the June quarter, according to the filing figures reported by Inc42 and Whalesbook. Revenue from operations rose to ₹24,138 crore from ₹13,590 crore, and was about 19% higher than the previous quarter. Total expenses rose about 75% to ₹24,166 crore, so the company still made a small operating loss before ₹351 crore of other income, per Entrackr.
The company’s own Q2FY27 shareholders’ letter page gives its preferred operating measures: consolidated adjusted revenue of ₹24,621 crore (up 76% year on year and 19% quarter on quarter, or 58% on a like-for-like basis), business-to-consumer net order value (NOV) of ₹35,644 crore (up 54%), and consolidated adjusted EBITDA of ₹666 crore, up 197% from a year earlier and 20% from the June quarter.
One early report, from Upstox, printed revenue as ₹23,138 crore, which does not match its own 77.6% growth rate; we use ₹24,138 crore.
Blinkit now drives the numbers
- Revenue: Blinkit’s segment revenue was ₹19,152 crore, up 93% year on year, or roughly four-fifths of the group total, per Entrackr.
- Orders: Blinkit’s NOV grew 79.3% year on year, and it added 308 dark stores to reach 2,751, per YourStory.
- Profitability: Blinkit’s adjusted EBITDA was 0.9% of NOV, or ₹184 crore, against a loss of ₹156 crore a year earlier, which YourStory describes as the sixth straight quarter of improvement.
- Targets: the company is aiming for more than 3,500 stores by March 2027 and potentially 5,000 by March 2028.
Food delivery and the smaller units
Zomato food delivery’s NOV grew 21.5% year on year, per YourStory, the fifth consecutive quarter of faster growth. Founder Deepinder Goyal reiterated a long-term expectation of 20%-plus annual growth for the business. Segment revenue was ₹3,396 crore (up 37%), Hyperpure’s was ₹1,154 crore (up 13%), and the going-out app District reported ₹304 crore of revenue (up 61%) with a ₹55 crore segment loss, according to Entrackr.
Why the shares fell despite 92% profit growth
The gap is about expectations rather than direction. Ahead of the results, brokerage previews compiled by NiftyTrader put Q2 profit at roughly ₹228–293 crore, with Kotak Institutional Equities modelling adjusted profit of ₹293 crore and EBITDA of about ₹854 crore. YourStory cited a consensus profit estimate of ₹250 crore. Reported profit of ₹125 crore was about half that.
Revenue, by contrast, came in above most estimates (Kotak had modelled about ₹23,729 crore), and Blinkit’s 308 store additions beat the roughly 250 that HDFC Securities had expected. In other words, Eternal grew faster than forecast but converted less of that growth into profit. Eternal shares ended the day roughly 3–4% lower, around ₹307–310 on the BSE, according to Whalesbook and Entrackr, after closing at ₹320.20 on 19 October. The fall came on a day when the broader Indian market was rebounding from Monday’s sharp drop, which we covered in our report on the Sensex’s 876-point fall.
Group chief executive Albinder Singh Dhindsa framed the trade-off directly, saying “how we grow matters as much as how fast,” and argued that customers attracted only by deep discounts tend to leave when discounts end. That points to a choice to keep investing in stores and service rather than chase share on price.
What it means for India’s consumer and quick-commerce businesses
Eternal’s results are a useful read on urban Indian consumption. Blinkit’s near-80% NOV growth suggests that spending on fast delivery of groceries and household goods in large cities remains strong even as rising fuel costs and a weak rupee squeeze household budgets.
For brands, a quick-commerce channel with more than 2,700 dark stores is now a major route to market, shifting bargaining power over margins and placement; for kirana stores and supermarkets, faster store expansion extends competition into more neighbourhoods. For investors in India’s listed consumer-internet companies, the quarter shows that very high growth is still coming with thin margins, and that the market is pricing these companies on profit delivery, not just order growth. Foreign investors have already been net sellers of Indian equities this year, as covered in our analysis of record foreign outflows, which can make richly valued growth stocks more sensitive to earnings misses.
Who is more or less exposed
- More exposed: businesses that depend on quick-commerce shelf space and promotions, small neighbourhood retailers in metros, and dark-store landlords and logistics suppliers whose volumes depend on Blinkit’s expansion pace.
- Less exposed: companies selling mainly through general trade in smaller towns, where quick commerce is still thin, and businesses with little reliance on urban discretionary spending.
Scenarios to watch
The table below sets out conditional scenarios, not predictions.
| If… | Then a plausible effect is… | Signal to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Blinkit keeps adding about 300 stores a quarter | Revenue growth stays high but margin gains come slowly as new stores take time to mature | Store count against the 3,500 target for March 2027 |
| Competition in quick commerce eases | Blinkit’s adjusted EBITDA margin could widen from 0.9% of NOV | Discounting and delivery-fee changes across apps |
| Fuel and delivery costs keep rising | Delivery costs, already up 62% year on year, could pressure margins further | Delivery and related costs as a share of revenue |
| Food delivery holds 20%-plus NOV growth | The cash-generating segment can keep funding Blinkit’s expansion | Quarterly food-delivery NOV growth |
What to watch next
- Analyst revisions over the next few days, as brokerages update profit estimates after the shortfall.
- Whether District narrows its ₹55 crore segment loss as it scales.
- Rival quick-commerce results and funding announcements, which shape the discounting environment.
- Eternal’s December-quarter results, the first to include the festive season, which will show whether Blinkit’s margin improvement continues.
Bottom line
Eternal’s Q2 results show a company growing very fast, led by Blinkit, with profit nearly doubling from a low base. But profit came in at about half of analysts’ estimates, because the company is still spending heavily on stores and delivery. The market response suggests investors now want growth and profit together; the coming quarters will show whether Blinkit’s slowly widening margins can deliver that.
Method note
We compared Eternal’s own Q2FY27 results page with reports from Inc42, Entrackr, YourStory, Whalesbook and Upstox, and pre-result estimates compiled by NiftyTrader. Where reports gave different revenue figures, we used the figure consistent with the company’s adjusted revenue and the reported growth rates. Share-price figures differed slightly between sources, so we give a range.