Hey everyone, welcome to my blog! today we will discuss Zomato Earnings. If you’re into the world of food delivery, quick commerce, and how big companies like Zomato (now known as Eternal Limited) are shaping the future, you’re in the right place. Today, we’re diving deep into the latest Zomato earnings call – specifically, the Q2 FY26 earnings conference call held on October 16, 2025. This call was packed with insights from the top brass, and I’ll break it down in easy language so anyone can follow along. We’ll focus on key quotes about Blinkit growth, food delivery margins, and future plans, just like the title says.
First off, a quick note: Zomato rebranded to Eternal Limited, but people still refer to it as Zomato, especially for its core food delivery business. Blinkit is their super-fast delivery arm for groceries and essentials. The earnings call was all about how these businesses are performing in India, where competition is fierce with players like Swiggy and others. The call was in Q&A format, with analysts asking questions to leaders like Akshant Goyal (CFO), Albinder Singh Dhindsa (Blinkit CEO), and Kunal Swarup (Head of Corporate Development).
Why does this matter? Zomato earnings calls give us a peek into the company’s health, strategies, and predictions. For investors, it’s gold. For everyday folks like us, it explains why your food might arrive faster or why groceries cost less (or more).
Zomato Earnings: A Quick Background
Before we jump into the quotes, let’s set the stage. Zomato started as a restaurant discovery app but exploded into food delivery and quick commerce. In 2021, it went public, and by 2025, it acquired Blinkit to enter the 10-minute delivery game. Now, as Eternal Limited, it’s a giant with businesses like Zomato (food), Blinkit (quick commerce), District (maybe events or dining out?), Hyperpure (B2B supplies), and more.
The Q2 FY26 period covers July to September 2025. In Zomato earnings reports, they talk about metrics like GOV (Gross Order Value – total value of orders), NOV (Net Order Value – after discounts), MTU (Monthly Transacting Users), and EBITDA (a measure of profitability). In easy terms, GOV is like the full bill, NOV is what the company keeps after offers, and EBITDA tells if they’re making money after costs.
This earnings call was unique because it skipped opening remarks and went straight to Q&A. Analysts from firms like Kotak, Axis, Nuvama, and CLSA grilled the team on growth, competition, and profits. The tone was optimistic but cautious – they’re growing fast but watching rivals closely.
In the world of Zomato earnings, Blinkit has been the star lately. It grew from a small player to challenging Amazon and Flipkart in quick delivery. Food delivery, the original business, is steady but facing margin pressures. Future plans involve expanding stores, tweaking prices, and investing in marketing. Let’s break it down by topic.
Blinkit Growth: The Rocket Ship of Zomato Earnings
Blinkit is Eternal’s quick commerce biz, delivering everything from milk to mobiles in minutes. In recent Zomato earnings, Blinkit has stolen the show with massive growth. During the call, analysts asked a ton about user additions, marketing spends, and how they’re scaling.
One key quote came from Albinder Singh Dhindsa when asked about increased monthly transacting users (MTU) and ad spends: “What we are seeing right now is that there are new consumers out there in the market, and if we are targeting them, we are able to onboard them at a reasonable marketing cost which is why we spent more on marketing this quarter as well. So, till the point that we keep seeing this trend, we will keep investing however much that we can to basically power more growth. So, you should expect this to continue in the next quarter as well.”
What does this mean? Blinkit added a bunch of new users this quarter by spending more on ads (think Instagram promos or Google ads). The cost to get each new customer (CAC – Customer Acquisition Cost) is still low, so they’re pouring money in. For Zomato earnings watchers, this signals aggressive growth. In simple terms, if it costs $5 to get a customer who spends $50 over time, it’s a win. They’re betting on that math.
Akshant Goyal added: “As long as we see a healthy CAC and a healthy LTV, we won’t shy away from spending more on marketing because we’re actually acquiring good quality customer base.” LTV is Lifetime Value – how much a customer spends over years. This shows they’re data-driven, not just splashing cash.
Context: Blinkit had about 1,800 stores by Q2 FY26. That’s up from earlier quarters. Growth isn’t just users; it’s geographic too. Goyal said: “Now that we are at about 1,800 stores, it’s a much wider geographical footprint. So, our addressable market has also expanded in the last few months and quarters. As a result, the CACs are not going up when we spend more because there is sort of operating leverage on the marketing costs now.”
In easy language, more stores mean they cover more areas, so ads reach more people without costing extra per person. It’s like buying in bulk – cheaper per unit.
Analysts worried about competition. Is this spend because rivals are heating up? Goyal said no: “Not really. It’s also a function of scale of the business.” But later, he noted competition could change things.
On product mix affecting growth: Dhindsa explained NOV vs GOV dip: “Gaurav, it’s mostly because of the change in mix of products. So, JAS quarter has a couple of festivals, Rakhi being a big one. That is one of the reasons that you will see the difference being there.” Festivals boost orders, but mix (more gifts, less groceries?) tweaks metrics.
Goyal added: “And Gaurav, just to add directionally, as the share of general merchandise and non-branded products on the platform grows, we are likely to continue to see this trend and therefore you can see in our data that we have shared over the past four quarters, this metric has sort of consistently come down which means NOV is a smaller and smaller percentage of GOV, which is also why we highlighted that we believe NOV is a more relevant metric to track versus GOV.”
Why care? GOV looks big, but NOV shows real revenue after cuts. Blinkit’s shifting to more everyday items, which might have lower margins but higher volume.
Marketing skew: Dhindsa said spends are mostly in big cities: “Marketing spend is still skewed towards the larger cities because we also have a significant amount of non-serviceability in the existing larger cities, and that’s where the larger volume of the business is. But we are also spending significantly now in the emerging cities as well.” Non-serviceability means areas not covered yet – so even in Mumbai or Delhi, there’s room to grow.
CAC in new vs old markets? “It’s not significantly different.” Good news – expanding to smaller towns isn’t costlier.
On ploughing profits back: Aditya Soman asked if extra margins went to prices or marketing. Dhindsa: “Yes, that was the first point in one of the answers.” They’re lowering prices to attract more users.
EBITDA per order: “It is an interplay between some gains in operating leverage and increased marketing expenses, yes.” Profits per order aren’t jumping because of spends, but efficiency is improving.
Overall, Blinkit growth is on fire. From Zomato earnings perspective, it’s the growth engine. They’re aiming for 3,000 stores (mentioned in shareholder letter, alluded in call). This section alone shows why investors are excited – sustainable, scalable growth.
Food Delivery Margins: Steady Ship in Zomato Earnings
Food delivery is Zomato’s bread and butter (pun intended). Margins mean how much profit they make after costs like delivery fees, commissions, and ads. In past Zomato earnings, margins have improved, but growth slowed.
An analyst noted margins improved despite guidance for flat: Nikhil Choudhary asked why. Akshant Goyal: “Hi, Nikhil. So, the main delta here is increase in platform fee that happened in the middle of the quarter, which we did not anticipate or estimate at the beginning of the quarter, when we declared the last quarter’s result. And our increase in platform fee was more of a reaction to what our competitor did. So, that’s why you see the growth in margin versus our earlier guidance of margin perhaps remaining flat.”
Platform fee is that extra Rs 5-10 you pay per order. They hiked it because Swiggy did, boosting margins. But growth didn’t spike as expected.
Nikhil pushed: Could they invest extra profits in growth? Goyal: “So, the decision on how much to invest for growth is a function of what kind of customer acquisition cost or reactivation cost for dormant users that we see. So, it’s more driven by that rather than a specific P&L budget and till the time these costs are reasonable, and they make sense from a long-term LTV return perspective, payback perspective, we would naturally prefer to spend and grow the business, but we have to stop at a point where these numbers don’t make any sense anymore. And typically, that’s the zone, that’s the sort of threshold line that we operate with irrespective of how much budget or P&L room we have to spend on growth.”
Translation: They won’t spend just because they have money. If getting new users costs too much, they pocket the profits. Smart, avoids wasteful spending.
On higher marketing: “Yes, at least likely in the near term, and that’s what Albinder mentioned in response to a previous question that we do expect these levels to continue at least for now.” This was for Blinkit, but similar logic for food.
Competition’s role: “Yeah, that’s another variable and we’re assuming that to remain constant when we give this guidance. If that changes meaningfully in one way or the other, then this outlook can change.”
Food margins are solid, around 3% in mature areas (from Blinkit context, but similar). In Zomato earnings, food is profitable, funding Blinkit’s growth. It’s like the reliable older sibling.
What does this mean for you? Stable prices, maybe fewer discounts if margins hold. But if competition heats, fees could rise.
Future Plans: What’s Next in Zomato Earnings?
Future plans were sprinkled throughout. Key is expansion and profitability.
On Blinkit break-even: Garima Mishra asked about EBITDA break-even. Akshant Goyal: “Garima, that’s not really a milestone we are focused on. For us, the way we look at the business is that there are parts of the business which are more mature, which are already EBITDA positive, and we’ve shared that in the past. We mentioned that there are cities already north of 3% Adjusted EBITDA margin. So, there is, therefore, a reasonable size of our business today which is already reasonably profitable, and then there is cost of expansion, opening new cities, new stores, acquiring new customers. Eventually the Adjusted EBITDA that we report is a weighted average of these two parts of the business. This can keep changing depending on what kind of growth we see, what quality of growth we see, and how much we invest. It’s also linked to how competitive the market is and what the competition is doing. So, we see Adjusted EBITDA margin or break even more of an outcome of all of these things and not really something that we are chasing as a goal right now.”
They’re not rushing to “break even” company-wide. Mature cities profit, new ones invest. Future plans prioritize growth over quick profits.
On inventory model: They’re shifting more to owning stock (80% now, up to 90%). Kunal Swarup: “Gaurav, because of the step change of 80%, you saw the revenue growth meaningfully increase. So, that one step change has happened. Now it should be incremental from here because 80% to 90% will result in some more dissonance in the comparable revenue, versus the past, but that step jump is behind us.”
This means better control over products, potentially higher margins.
Remaining 10%: Dhindsa: “We still have sellers on the platform who are selling different products for which we feel that the seller-driven model is better. The sellers also prefer that they stay on that model.” Mix of own stock and third-party.
On District (dining/entertainment?): Aditya Soman asked trajectory. Goyal: “So, Aditya, we should expect growth to be around the current level of ~30% year-on-year. That is what we are expecting right now and profitability in percentage terms should improve. But as we mentioned also in question 11, we expect the absolute losses to” (cut off, but implies improving).
Future: 3,000 stores by ? (letter says by March 2026?). More cities, better tech, perhaps AI for deliveries.
In Zomato earnings, future is about balancing growth and profits. They’re investing in Blinkit to dominate quick commerce, keeping food steady.
Other Highlights from the Zomato Earnings Call
The call started with: “Ladies and gentlemen, a very good evening, and welcome to Eternal Limited’s Q2FY26 earnings conference call.” Forward-looking statements warning.
No big surprises, but emphasis on data: CAC, LTV, mix changes.
For investors: Stock might react to growth numbers. Revenue up big due to inventory shift.
Industry context: Quick commerce in India is booming, expected to hit $10B by 2030. Zomato earnings show they’re leading.
Wrapping Up: What Zomato Earnings Tell Us About the Future
This Zomato earnings call was a treasure trove. Blinkit is growing like crazy, with smart spends on marketing and expansion. Food delivery margins are better thanks to fee hikes, but growth is measured. Future plans focus on scaling sustainably, not chasing break-even dates.
In easy terms, Eternal (Zomato) is building an empire: Fast food, faster groceries, and more. For users, expect better service; for investors, watch competition.
Thanks for reading! Drop comments if you have questions. Stay tuned for more on tech and biz!
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