Zomato to use new 'large order fleet' to deliver food for groups of up to 50 people

The food delivery company's stock price has been surging on the back of rising profitability in its core business and the fast growth of its quick commerce arm, Blinkit.

Zomato is adding the capability of delivering large orders, which could be for a group of up to 50 people, for events and parties, the company's chief executive officer said on X on April 16.

"Such large orders were earlier served by multiple regular fleet delivery partners, and the customer experience wasn’t what we really aspired for. These new vehicles should solve most of the problems our customers face while placing large orders on Zomato," Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal posted on X.

"Having said that, these vehicles are still “work in progress”, and we are in the process of adding important enhancements to them – like cooling compartments, and hot boxes with temperature control – to ensure everything arrives just the way you like," he added.

This comes at a time when the food delivery company's stock price has been surging on the back of rising profitability in its core business and the fast growth of its quick commerce arm, Blinkit.

In the December quarter, Zomato's food delivery business reported a 30 percent on-year increase in adjusted revenue, reaching Rs 2,025 crore on a consolidated basis. Blinkit doubled its revenue to Rs 644 crore during the period.

Zomato reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 138 crore against a net loss of Rs 347 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue surged to Rs 3,288 crore from Rs 1,948 crore in the previous year.

The company's stock is trading at 115 times forward earnings, well above multiples for global peers including Uber, Deliveroo and Meituan.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects profit forecasts to increase for Zomato’s “quick commerce” business Blinkit, analyst Manish Adukia wrote in a recent note. While “earlier investor conversations suggested skepticism around profitability of this business model,” concerns should ease as more results are reported, he said.

The rich valuations for Zomato looked justified given “significantly higher” projected revenue and profits for the company, according to ICICI Securities Ltd. analyst Abhisek Banerjee. The broker adds that the stock has basically moved in line with Doordash Inc. over the past six months amid improving sentiment on tech stocks around the world.