Eternal Q3 FY26: Profit up 73% as Blinkit turns EBITDA+

Why Eternal’s quarter matters now

Eternal Limited, formerly Zomato, is increasingly being valued as a multi-business lifestyle commerce platform rather than only a food delivery company. The company reported a sharp improvement in profitability in Q3 FY26, helped by operating leverage and a step-change in quick commerce execution at Blinkit. The quarter also stood out because Blinkit posted its first-ever positive adjusted EBITDA, a key test for quick commerce unit economics amid high competitive intensity.

The near-term setup includes two operational triggers highlighted by the company’s trajectory. Blinkit achieved adjusted EBITDA breakeven in Q3 FY26, and management’s shift from a marketplace approach to an inventory ownership model has begun contributing to margin expansion and enabling more direct brand partnerships. These developments come alongside a strong liquidity position, with Eternal reporting cash of ₹17,820 crore in Q3 FY26, following an ₹8,500 crore QIP raise in FY25.

A business profile that has widened beyond food delivery

Eternal has positioned itself as India’s largest lifestyle commerce company, with FY25 annual revenue at ₹20,000 crore. Its growth narrative increasingly rests on quick commerce, alongside food delivery and adjacent businesses such as Hyperpure. The company has also been incubating newer offerings including Bistro and District Pass.

Management has been focusing on expanding the store network in quick commerce while working to improve profitability. A central change has been the transition to an inventory ownership model in quick commerce, which changes how revenue is recognised and also affects gross margin mechanics. The company has framed this model change as margin accretive.

Q3 FY26 headline numbers: profit jumps, revenue more than doubles

For Q3 FY26, Eternal reported a 72.8% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to ₹102 crore versus ₹59 crore in Q3 FY25. Sequentially, profit increased 56.9% from ₹65 crore in Q2 FY26. Revenue from operations more than doubled year-on-year to ₹16,315 crore from ₹5,405 crore in Q3 FY25, and was ₹13,590 crore in Q2 FY26.

Operating profitability also improved. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA rose 28% year-on-year to ₹364 crore and grew 63% quarter-on-quarter from ₹224 crore in Q2 FY26. The company also reported profit before tax of ₹170 crore, up 37.1% year-on-year, and cited an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 2.2% of revenue from operations.

Blinkit: the standout driver in the quarter

Blinkit’s scale-up was central to the quarter’s narrative. Blinkit NOV rose to ₹13,300 crore in Q3 FY26, up 120.9% from ₹6,020 crore in Q3 FY25. Blinkit’s adjusted revenue surged 776.1% year-on-year to ₹12,256 crore from ₹1,399 crore, with the company explicitly attributing this jump to its transition to an inventory-led model and the resulting accounting change that recognises the full value of goods sold.

Crucially, Blinkit reported its first-ever adjusted EBITDA profit in Q3 FY26 at ₹4 crore, a turnaround from an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹156 crore in Q2 FY26 and a loss of ₹103 crore in Q3 FY25. Eternal’s shareholders also had visibility into operating signals around retention and usage: Blinkit’s dark store count increased year-on-year from 1,007 to 2,027 in Q3 FY26, while average monthly transacting users rose to 23.6 million from 10.6 million in Q3 FY25.

Food delivery and other operating notes

Eternal’s food delivery business continued to grow, with the company citing GOV trends of 27% to 28% year-on-year in the period discussed in its materials. In Q3 FY26, food delivery adjusted revenue increased 27% year-on-year to ₹3,053 crore from ₹2,413 crore, and rose sequentially from ₹2,863 crore. The company also indicated that margin expansion in food delivery continues, with a target range of 4% to 5% within a few quarters, while maintaining investments in growth and platform health.

The company noted some near-term factors affecting contribution margins, including elections and heat waves, and said these were expected to normalise. Capex increased during the period discussed, driven mainly by Blinkit store expansion and some warehousing for Hyperpure. Eternal also reported a working capital release of ₹175 crore, attributed to calendar effects and Hyperpure business growth.

Leadership transition: Blinkit’s CEO named Group CEO

Alongside the Q3 FY26 performance update, Eternal announced a leadership transition. Founder Deepinder Goyal stepped down as Group CEO and Managing Director, and Albinder Dhindsa, the CEO of Blinkit, was named the new Group CEO of Eternal Limited.

The company indicated that its decentralised structure remains unchanged, with each business continuing to have a CEO with full ownership. Management commentary positioned Blinkit as the largest growth opportunity for the group.

Expansion plans and store rollout targets

Eternal has communicated aggressive expansion plans for Blinkit’s physical network. One stated plan was to reach 2,000 dark stores by March 2026. Separately, the company reaffirmed a goal of reaching 3,000 stores by March 2027, while also noting that it fell short of a Q3 rollout target due to pollution-related restrictions.

These targets matter because dark store density and throughput influence delivery times, order batching, and fixed-cost absorption. The quarter’s adjusted EBITDA milestone in Blinkit has increased investor focus on whether unit economics can remain stable as the network scales.

Key figures snapshot

Market impact: what moved the stock and why

Investors reacted positively to the earnings update in at least one session cited, with Eternal’s stock rallying 4.98% to close at ₹283.40 on the BSE. Separately, the stock was also reported to have closed 4.90% higher at ₹282.80 versus a prior close of ₹269.60, according to NSE data points referenced.

The market attention has largely centered on two issues. First, the durability of Blinkit’s profitability improvement after the adjusted EBITDA milestone. Second, the implications of the inventory ownership model, which inflates reported revenue by including the full value of goods sold rather than only commissions, making like-for-like growth disclosures important for comparability.

Analysis: the inventory-led shift and unit economics are the core story

The quarter reinforced that Eternal’s quick commerce strategy is now a primary driver of consolidated reported revenue, particularly after the accounting shift tied to inventory ownership. Management has stated that the shift is margin accretive and that it has already achieved more than half of the 1 percentage point margin accretion expected from this change.

Blinkit’s move to positive adjusted EBITDA, even at a small ₹4 crore profit, is significant because it provides evidence that a scaled dark-store model can cover fixed costs at current throughput levels. But the company also acknowledged elevated competitive intensity in recent months, which will keep investor focus on whether margins can expand while the store footprint and order volumes grow.

Conclusion

Eternal’s Q3 FY26 results showed faster profit growth alongside a step-up in quick commerce execution, with Blinkit reaching positive adjusted EBITDA and driving a sharp increase in reported revenue. The leadership transition that elevates Blinkit’s CEO to Group CEO further ties the company’s strategy to quick commerce scaling. Near-term attention is likely to remain on store rollout progress toward the company’s March 2026 and March 2027 targets, and on how the inventory-led model affects margins and comparability in upcoming quarters.