Swiggy vs Eternal: Who fared better in Q1FY26 earnings?

Shares of Swiggy, one leading food delivery platforms, traded 2% lower on Friday. The company reported its Q1FY26 results. The company reported weak numbers across the board as the net loss for the quarter almost doubled in the Q1FY26. The shares are currently trading 36% lower than the 52-week high levels last touched in December last year. The shares were in focus after its rival platform Zomato’s parent company, Eternal, reported a net profit of 25%. In addition, the company posted a positive commentary. Although Swiggy’s results failed to impress investors.

Topline remains strong

Both the platforms' robust turnover growth for the quarter, as their B2C segment platforms like Zomato, Swiggy and quick commerce platforms like Blinkit and Instamart continued to gain traction in new markets. Eternal’s net order value of the B2C business grew by 55% YoY to ₹20,183 crore. Consequently, Eterna’s consolidated revenue jumped 70% YoY to ₹7,167 crore, whereas Swiggy’s gross order value for the B2C grew by 45% YoY to ₹14,797 crore for the Q1FY26, and total revenue jumped 54% YoY to ₹4,961 crore.

Quick commerce key growth driver

The quick commerce segment of Eternal and Swiggy continued to grow exponentially, with a strong more than 100% jump in order value during the quarter. Eternal’s Blinkit witnessed a 127% YoY jump in the net order value to ₹9,203 crore, surpassing the food delivery’s quarterly NOV for the first time. Similarly, Swiggy’s Instamart a growth was 108% YoY and 26% QoQ to ₹5,655 crore, led by a 16% jump in the average order value (AOV). Both the platforms. Eternal Blinkit surpassed the rival Swiggy in dark store additions, as Blinkit added 243 dark stores as compared to Swiggy Instamart at 45 new additions. The total dark stores for Blinkit and Instamart now stand at 1544 and 1062, respectively. In summary, Blinkit continued its outperformance over Swiggy’s Instamart on the major front in the quick commerce segment.

Operational efficiency

On the operating profit front, Eternal continues to remain in a dominant position despite a drop in adjusted EBITDA for the quarter. Meanwhile, Swiggy’s operating loss continued to rise in Q1FY26. Eternal’s adjusted EBITDA for the quarter dropped by 42% YoY to ₹172 crore. The drop is primarily due to continued investments in quick commerce and going out segment growth. Swiggy at a consolidated level reported a loss of ₹813 crore as compared to ₹348 crore in the previous year’s similar quarter.

Profitability

Eternal stood out as a clear winner in terms of profitability despite a drop in net profit to ₹25 crore as compared to ₹253 crore in the previous year’s same quarter. The company expects the expenses to rationalise by the end of FY26 as it currently aims to increase the dark store count to 2000 by December 2025. Swiggy’s net loss for the quarter almost doubled to ₹1197 crore as compared to ₹611 crore. The loss was largely swelled by the quick commerce segment’s loss at ₹896 crore.