Blinkit turns adjusted-EBITDA positive for the first time, but inventory spoilage costs Eternal nearly three times that profit

Fact

Consolidated revenue of ₹20,211 Cr for Q1 FY27, up 182% YoY from ₹7,167 Cr, was reported by Eternal (Zomato and Blinkit’s parent), alongside net profit of ₹92 Cr, up 268% YoY from ₹25 Cr a year earlier though down 47% sequentially from ₹174 Cr in Q4 FY26, per Entrackr, Inc42 and Business Standard. Blinkit turned adjusted-EBITDA positive for the first time, posting ₹102 Cr on revenue of ₹15,664 Cr (up 552% YoY, now 77.5% of Eternal’s operating revenue), with 200 new dark stores added in the quarter. Per Eternal’s own shareholder letter, however, Blinkit lost roughly ₹308 Cr to expired food, damaged goods and theft this quarter, about 1.8% of its ₹17,132 Cr net order value and nearly three times the adjusted EBITDA that survived it. Founder Deepinder Goyal said Eternal remains willing to spend margin to grow “without hesitation,” adding that competitor traction has come largely from lower prices.

Interpretation

Two numbers here work against each other if you only read the headline. Blinkit hitting adjusted-EBITDA profitability for the first time is what most coverage led with, but it’s a profit that inventory spoilage alone outweighs three to one, meaning the operating discipline behind quick commerce unit economics is still shakier than the profit line suggests. The sequential 47% profit decline on top of a 268% YoY gain echoes the exact pattern BlueStone posted this week, strong demand, thin and volatile bottom line. And Goyal’s own comments cut against the discounting-wars-are-ending framing some coverage led with, he is explicitly saying Eternal will keep spending margin to grow if it needs to, which reads like discounting pressure is still live, not resolved.

Action

D2C brands with SKUs stocked in Blinkit dark stores, especially in categories with shelf life such as fresh food, dairy and skincare with expiry dates, should ask their Blinkit category managers directly what share of that ₹308 Cr spoilage figure sits on brand-funded inventory versus Blinkit-owned stock, platforms squeezed on margin have historically pushed spoilage costs back onto supplier terms through listing fees or stricter minimum order quantities. If you are benchmarking quick-commerce distribution economics for a board deck, do not cite Blinkit as EBITDA positive without the spoilage caveat, investors doing basic diligence will ask about it.

Watch next

Whether Blinkit’s inventory spoilage rate improves next quarter as a share of net order value, whether Zepto and Instamart’s upcoming results show comparable spoilage-to-profit ratios, and whether Goyal’s margin-to-grow comment translates into renewed discount-funding pressure on brand partners.

Fact

AJIO Beauty went live on July 22 from Reliance Retail, an omnichannel beauty and personal care platform spanning skincare, makeup, haircare, fragrance, bath and body, and beauty accessories across value, premium and luxury tiers, per Mint and Hindu BusinessLine. More than 1,500 Indian and global brands are already onboarded at launch, with delivery to over 19,000 pin codes and AJIO Rush fast delivery available in eligible cities. The platform combines AJIO’s fashion shopper base with the beauty expertise of Tira, Reliance’s existing omnichannel beauty platform.

Interpretation

Most platform launches build brand count and pin-code reach slowly. AJIO Beauty is starting with both already in place, borrowed from Tira’s existing beauty operation and AJIO’s fashion distribution, which makes this look less like a new platform and more like Reliance repositioning an existing beauty business under a bigger-audience storefront. That is a materially different competitive threat to Nykaa and Purplle than a typical new entrant, since day-one reach is already close to marketplace scale.

Action

D2C beauty and personal care brands not yet listed on Tira should request AJIO Beauty’s commission structure and MOQ terms specifically, rather than assuming they mirror Tira’s existing terms, since the audience AJIO Beauty inherits from AJIO’s fashion shoppers is a different buyer profile than Tira’s standalone beauty audience, and platforms often price new storefronts differently in year one to seed brand adoption.

Watch next

Which D2C beauty brands announce AJIO Beauty listings first, whether Nykaa or Purplle respond with new brand-acquisition or exclusivity pushes, and whether AJIO Rush delivery speed for beauty actually matches Blinkit-style quick commerce timing.

Fact

As much as 8% was wiped off IndiaMART Intermesh shares on July 22, hitting a 52-week low of ₹1,773 before closing 5.25% lower at ₹1,817.40, even as Q1 FY27 net profit rose 12% YoY and revenue from operations climbed 11% YoY to ₹414 Cr, per Inc42 and market reports. Behind the selloff: a third consecutive quarterly decline in paid suppliers, IndiaMART’s core monetisation base, alongside falling unique business inquiries and analyst downgrades from Nomura and Nuvama.

Interpretation

This is the marketplace-platform version of the same story BlueStone and Eternal both told this week, the headline financials look fine, but the number investors actually priced in was a leading indicator buried below the topline. For IndiaMART that is paid supplier count, not revenue or profit, because it predicts next year’s revenue, not this year’s. Three straight quarters of decline there means the market is betting growth has structurally slowed, regardless of what this quarter’s P&L shows.

Action

If you are a D2C brand or supplier using IndiaMART for B2B lead generation or wholesale discovery, treat declining paid-supplier growth as a signal that competitor density on the platform may be easing, worth testing whether cost-per-lead has improved even as the stock narrative turns negative, since those two things can move in opposite directions.

Watch next

Whether paid supplier count stabilises in Q2, further analyst rating changes, and whether IndiaMART’s management commentary on quality-over-volume supplier additions shows up as improved lead conversion for buyers.

Fact

Q1 FY27 revenue of ₹74 Cr, up 58% YoY, was reported by DSM Fresh Foods, parent of D2C meat and seafood brand Zappfresh, per Entrackr and EquityBulls. With the Meevaa Foods acquisition completed in the first week of July now folded in, the combined business runs at a pro forma quarterly revenue rate of ₹85 Cr. Its co-branded retail footprint expanded to nearly 200 outlets, ahead of the FY27 target of 150, with more than 70 enterprise customers added across domestic and export markets during the quarter. A target of ₹600 Cr revenue by FY28 at 18-20% EBITDA margin was reiterated by Zappfresh.

Interpretation

The acquisition-plus-organic-growth combination is doing real work here, 58% organic growth would already be a strong D2C quarter on its own, but the Meevaa Foods deal adds roughly ₹11 Cr a quarter on top of that without needing to build it organically. Hitting a physical retail target of 200 outlets against a 150 plan ahead of schedule also suggests Zappfresh’s omnichannel bet, not a pure online D2C play, is the actual growth engine, worth noting for founders still treating offline expansion as a later-stage move.

Action

D2C founders in perishables or meat and seafood specifically should benchmark against Zappfresh’s ₹600 Cr FY28 target at 18-20% EBITDA margin as the category’s public reference point for what good looks like at scale, there are few other organised D2C meat brands publishing margin targets this specific.

Watch next

Integration progress on the Meevaa Foods acquisition, whether the 200-outlet footprint holds margin as it scales, and whether Zappfresh raises further funding to hit the ₹600 Cr FY28 target.

Fact

94% of mobile shoppers visiting India D2C brand websites leave without making a purchase, according to a report from AppMaker, which recently joined StarApps, even as mobile now accounts for 78% of D2C traffic, per Tribune India and ANI. Roughly 750 million smartphone users exist in India, the report notes, with shopping app sessions growing 20% YoY, and its sharper finding is that app users make up just 1-2% of a brand’s total customer base yet generate an average of 28% of total digital revenue across categories.

Interpretation

The gap between where D2C traffic actually lives, mobile web at 78%, and where D2C revenue actually concentrates, a small app-user base generating 28% of revenue, is the real story here, not the 94% abandonment number on its own, which is a fairly ordinary ecommerce bounce rate globally. Brands pouring budget into mobile web checkout conversion while their highest-value customers already sit in the app are solving the wrong problem.

Action

Pull your own app-versus-mobile-web revenue split before assuming this report’s 28% app-revenue figure applies to your brand, then decide whether checkout-flow investment goes into mobile web conversion or into app install and retention campaigns, the two require entirely different budget allocations and this report suggests most brands are defaulting to the wrong one by traffic share alone.

Watch next

Whether more brands publish their own app-versus-web revenue splits following this report, whether checkout and UX vendors respond with mobile-web-specific conversion tools, and whether AppMaker/StarApps turns this into a recurring category benchmark.

Fact

A strong Q1 FY27 was posted by Nestlé India, though the company flagged commodity cost risks going forward, per Mint. Separately, Hindu BusinessLine reported that the broader FMCG sector is facing a margin squeeze as input costs spike even as demand stays strong and companies push through price hikes.

Interpretation

This is the same shape of story as BlueStone’s gold customs duty problem and Wipro Consumer Care’s palm oil cost pressure, both covered this week, now showing up in packaged food specifically. Demand is not the constraint for FMCG right now, input costs are, and it is becoming a category-wide pattern rather than an isolated company problem.

Action

D2C food and FMCG brands should model commodity cost pass-through into pricing now rather than waiting for margin compression to show up in a quarterly close, the pattern across jewellery, hair care and packaged food this week suggests input costs are the shared risk factor to underwrite for, not demand.

Watch next

Which specific commodities Nestlé flags on its next earnings call, whether other listed FMCG majors such as HUL, Dabur and Marico echo the same margin commentary, and whether price hikes hold up demand through Q2.