Zomato shares spurt 10% ahead of Q3 results; brokerages see up to 75% upside potential

Zomato share price jumped more than 10 per cent on Wednesday on expectations of better earnings in the December quarter. The company is scheduled to declare its Q3 numbers on Thursday. 

On NSE, the stock opened at Rs 51.20 apiece and zoomed 10 per cent to touch day's high of Rs 55.30. It quoted Rs 54.30 apiece around 3 PM. The stock had closed at Rs 49.55 during Monday's trade. The stock has rallied 13 per cent in the last two trading sessions.

Watch: Zomato Founder Deepinder Goyal Congratulates Paytm & Vijay Shekhar Sharma On Being Profitable! 

Global brokerage firm CLSA expects the food delivery aggregator to march towards profitability in Q3 with 260 basis points quarter-on-quarter improvement in overall EBITDA margins.

CLSA in its research report maintained ‘buy’ rating with a target of Rs 70 apiece, implying over 41 per cent upside. However, it said the question could emerge on growth sustainability.

Slow industry and aggressive competition may impact growth in Q3, but profitability on Zomato should continue to improve, HSBC said in its report while maintaining a ‘buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 87 apiece, which translates to a 75 per cent upside from Tuesday’s closing price.

Also Read: From Paytm to Zomato to Nykaa: Should investors grab new-age stocks on steep falls?

The brokerage added that highly competitive intensity may restrict further profitability gains in 2023; growth acceleration is more critical anyway and believes Blinkit's business will continue to contribute more to the Zomato valuation in this year.

In the last one year, Zomato shares have slumped more than 43 per cent against a nearly 4 per cent rise in Nifty50.