Eternal , formerly known as Zomato Ltd., the popular food delivery and restaurant discovery platform, witnessed a significant block trade on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) recently. The transaction involved approximately 1,694,177 shares changing hands at a price of Rs. 327.60 per share.

Transaction Details

The block trade, which took place on the NSE, had a total transaction value of Rs. 55.50 crores. This substantial trade highlights the continued interest in Eternal's shares among institutional investors.

Market Impact

While block trades are typically pre-arranged transactions between two parties, they can sometimes influence market sentiment. However, it's important to note that this particular trade represents only a fraction of Eternal's total outstanding shares.

Company Overview

Eternal, previously known as Zomato, has been a key player in India's rapidly growing food delivery and restaurant discovery market. The company has been focusing on expanding its quick commerce business, Blinkit, alongside its core food delivery operations.

Investor Considerations

Investors should keep in mind that block trades don't necessarily indicate a change in the company's fundamentals. However, they may reflect institutional investors' views on the stock's valuation and future prospects.

As always, it's crucial for investors to conduct their own research and consider their investment goals before making any decisions based on market movements or block trades.

Eternal Limited (formerly Zomato Limited) has reported impressive growth in its quick commerce business, Blinkit, for Q2FY26. The company's earnings conference call on October 16, 2025, revealed significant developments and strategic initiatives across its various business segments.

Quick Commerce Surge

Blinkit, Eternal's quick commerce arm, witnessed a remarkable 137% year-over-year growth in Net Order Value (NOV). This surge in growth has prompted the company to accelerate its expansion plans. Eternal aims to increase its store count from the current 1,800 to 2,100 by December 2025, with a longer-term goal of reaching 3,000 stores by March 2027.

Marketing Spend and Customer Acquisition

To fuel this growth, Eternal has significantly ramped up its marketing efforts. The company reported a 4x year-over-year increase in marketing spend for Blinkit, with a 40% quarter-over-quarter rise. This aggressive strategy is aimed at acquiring new customers at what the company considers to be reasonable costs.

Albinder Singh Dhindsa, Founder and CEO of Blinkit, stated, "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."

Inventory Model Transition

Eternal has made significant progress in transitioning Blinkit to an inventory-led model, with 80% of the quick commerce business now operating under this approach. The company plans to increase this to 90% in the near future. This shift has already yielded positive results, with gross margins expanding by 300 basis points.

Akshant Goyal, Chief Financial Officer of Eternal Limited, explained, "The overall margin expansion is not just on account of this business model change. There is actually a meaningful margin expansion outside of that also."

Food Delivery Business

While the quick commerce segment showed robust growth, the food delivery business experienced more modest expansion. Eternal reported a 14% growth in this segment, with the company expecting a slow uptick in growth rates in the near term.

Financial Performance Overview

Here's a summary of Eternal Limited's key financial metrics for Q2FY26:

Future Outlook

Eternal Limited remains optimistic about its growth trajectory, particularly in the quick commerce sector. The company plans to maintain elevated marketing spend in the near term, seeing opportunities to onboard new customers cost-effectively.

Akshant Goyal commented on the future outlook, stating, "FY27 should be better than FY26, in terms of losses in the business. That's how I would put it without really pinpointing a particular quarter, but it should happen in the next few quarters."

As Eternal Limited continues to navigate the dynamic e-commerce landscape, its focus on expanding its quick commerce footprint and optimizing its business model positions the company for potential continued growth in the coming quarters.