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ICICI Securities keeps Buy on Eternal with Rs 425 target as Blinkit nears 3,000 dark stores
ICICI Securities maintained Buy on Eternal with a Rs 425 target in its 07 October 2026 report, saying Blinkit's dark-store count is nearing ~3,000 and it remains the only major quick commerce player with EBITDA profitability.
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The numbers
Figures from Moneycontrol
| Rating: | Buy |
|---|
Why it matters to operators and investors
With Blinkit near ~3,000 dark stores and the only major quick commerce player with EBITDA profitability, according to ICICI Securities, it sets the scale and profitability benchmark for any partnership, supply or competitive-response decision in the category.
What to watch next
- Eternal's next quarterly result: does Blinkit stay EBITDA-positive as stores are added?
- Official confirmation that Blinkit's dark-store count has crossed ~3,000
- Rivals announcing profitability milestones, fresh funding or aggressive discounting
- Other brokerages revising ratings or targets relative to the Rs 425 mark
- Eternal's share price moving toward or away from the Rs 425 target after the results
Likely next moves
Our read of what comes next — analysis, not reported by the source.
- Eternal is likely to keep adding Blinkit dark stores past the ~3,000 mark while presenting its EBITDA profitability as proof that the model scales.
- Rival quick commerce players are likely to point to their own progress toward profitability and to expand their networks, trying to close the gap with Blinkit.
- Other brokerages may follow ICICI Securities by keeping positive views on Eternal, with debate centred on how durable Blinkit's profitability is as competition intensifies.
- Eternal management may use the next results commentary to link store density with profitability and defend its position as the only major profitable quick commerce player.
- Regulators and local authorities may pay more attention to dark-store operations as the network grows, though a formal move is not the base case.
The counter-case
The case against this reading — not reported by the source.
This is a reiteration, not new information. Buy and Rs 425 were maintained, so the only fresh datapoint is that the dark-store count is nearing ~3,000. Store count measures expansion, not returns. Fast rollout can dilute per-store throughput, because new stores take time to mature and cannibalise nearby ones. 'Only major quick commerce player with EBITDA profitability' is also a narrow claim. It depends on how EBITDA is defined (adjusted or reported, treatment of lease costs and stock-based pay) and on how the other players' losses are measured. Competition from Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and the e-commerce majors' fast-delivery units could force more discounting, higher delivery and rider costs, and heavier marketing spend. Any of these would erode the margin lead that the Buy case rests on. A maintained rating also says little about how much upside is left at the current price.