Sector Update | Technology
Sector Update | 14 May 2025
Internet: Eternal Vs. Swiggy
Strategies diverge as growth converges in 4Q
Near-term profitability to be tested though amid increased rivalry
In this note, we compare the relative performance of Swiggy and Eternal in the recently
reported 4Q results. While numbers largely followed a similar trend, we saw divergent
commentaries and strategic shifts for both players this time. A common thread was a
noticeable slowdown in food delivery (down 1.2% QoQ for Swiggy and down 1.4% for
Eternal). However, Swiggy doubled down on its 10-minute food delivery offering, Swiggy
Bolt, whereas Eternal exited the space completely. This has opened up room for
differentiation in an otherwise stable duopoly. On quick commerce (QC), profitability
remained under the pump, though commentaries here too were different: Blinkit cited
heightened competitive intensity and guided for elevated investments, whereas Swiggy
indicated that peak cash burn was behind and contribution margins should improve
sequentially. We note that Blinkit currently tops Instamart on key throughput
parameters (GOV per dark store, orders/day/dark store): possibly because Instamart’s
recently opened dark stores are yet to ramp up to full capacity.
We believe discussions around market share are premature, as there is still a
significant runway to expand the gross order value (GOV) over the next years as QC
penetrates mom-and-pop retail in India. We retain a BUY rating on Eternal, given its
stable food delivery operations and Blinkit’s long-term growth potential. Despite near-
term profitability challenges, we expect operational leverage to improve as Blinkit
scales. For Swiggy, we are monitoring key metrics like average order value (AOV)
growth and dark store throughput. If these metrics improve, Swiggy could see a
material jump in profitability, prompting us to reassess our stance on Swiggy.
Food delivery: Room opening up for differentiation, but slowdown visible
While growth is slowing down for both Eternal and Swiggy, over the past 3-4
quarters Swiggy has marginally had the upper hand here.
Eternal’s withdrawal from 10-minute food delivery opens up room for Swiggy to
differentiate in this space: Swiggy has pursued a clear strategy of scaling up its
10-minute delivery through Bolt, which makes up 12% of the total food delivery
orders now and is now ramped up to 500 cities.
After gaining steady market share through FY24 (Exhibit 4), Eternal’s
momentum appears to have plateaued—its market share slipped marginally
from 57.6% in 1QFY25 to 57.1% in 4QFY25, while Swiggy stabilized and slightly
gained share from 42.4% to 42.9% over the same period.
(Note: we assume this
is a duopoly and calculate market share accordingly.)
That said, the slowdown in food delivery is hitting both; even if we assume a
strong sequential pick-up over the next couple of quarters, the YoY growth is
expected to track below the companies' guidance
(20% by Eternal and 18-22%
by Swiggy). While both companies have so far maintained their guidance, it
could be a while before we start hitting 20% growth rates.
Abhishek Pathak - Research analyst
(Abhishek.Pathak@MotilalOswal.com)
Research analyst: Keval Bhagat
(Keval.Bhagat@MotilalOswal.com) |
Tushar Dhonde
(Tushar.Dhonde@MotilalOswal.com)
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
Motilal Oswal research is available on www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.