1. Opening Hook
Eternal just rebranded from Zomato, Blinkit hit breakeven, and competition apparently went “irrational”—again.
If you listened to this concall expecting linear answers, you clearly haven’t tracked Indian quick commerce lately.
Margins went up when throughput went down. Growth stayed strong while management complained about freebies. And despite claiming zero visibility, the team sounded very confident about long-term economics.
This wasn’t a “beat-and-raise” call. This was more like: “We’re winning, but please don’t ask us how smooth the road ahead is.”
Read on, because behind the cautious language, Eternal quietly laid out why Blinkit may already be past the most dangerous phase—and why the next fight is about discipline, not scale.
2. At a Glance
- Blinkit EBITDA breakeven – Quick commerce finally paid its own bills. Historic, no fireworks.
- Contribution margin +90 bps QoQ – Throughput fell, but math still worked. Annoying for skeptics.
- EBITDA margin +130 bps – Operating leverage showed up uninvited.
- Store throughput -6% QoQ – Assortment expansion slowed velocity, not demand.
- Food delivery growth trending to ~20% YoY – Not sexy, but stable beats chaos.
3. Management’s Key Commentary
“It’s a multi-variable problem with no linear correlation.”
(Translation: Stop asking us to model margins quarter-on-quarter 😏)
“Competitive intensity is not steady.”
(Translation: Rivals keep changing the rules mid-game.)
“Directionally, margins should expand.”
(Translation: Long-term thesis intact, short-term headache remains.)
“We did drop delivery charges in some markets.”
(Translation: Yes, competition forced our hand 😏)
“We have extremely high confidence in the business model.”
(Translation: Blinkit economics are no longer theoretical.)
“ROCE north of 40% is what we’re solving for.”
(Translation: Scale without returns is not the goal anymore.)
“We don’t have a playbook yet.”
(Translation: This industry is being invented in real time.)
4. Numbers Decoded
| Metric | Q3FY26 Read |
|---|---|
| Blinkit Contribution Margin | +90 bps QoQ |
| Blinkit EBITDA | Breakeven |
| Store Additions | +211 net |
| Store Throughput | -6% QoQ |
| Capex per Store | Rising |
| Target ROCE | 40%+ |
What this means:
Margins improved despite slower throughput because cost efficiency, automation, and mix mattered more than raw order velocity.
