Zomato Stock Soars To 52-Week High Following IRCTC Partnership

Foodtech giant Zomato’s share price reached a 52-week peak at INR 115 during the morning of October 18, following its strategic partnership with the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp (IRCTC).

Zomato’s shares concluded Tuesday’s trading session at INR 113.90 and started Wednesday’s trading at INR 114.25. The shares were trading down at INR 111.45, at 12:20 pm.

In a significant move, Zomato has entered into an agreement with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide pre-ordered meal supply and delivery on an experimental basis.

Initially, this project will enter a pilot phase to demonstrate its feasibility, offering rail passengers the option to book meals through the IRCTC e-catering platform. During the kick-off phase, this amenity will be available at five major train stations: New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Varanasi.

“… IRCTC has tied up with M/s. Zomato Limited for supply and delivery of preordered meals through IRCTC’s E-catering portal as a Proof of Concept (PoC) in the first phase at five Railway stations i.e. New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi,” said IRCTC in a regulatory filing with the BSE.

During intraday trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday, after the IRCTC announcement, Zomato reached a new 52-week high of INR 114.10.

In Q1 FY24, Zomato reported its maiden profitable quarter. It posted a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 2 Cr, against a net loss of INR 186 Cr in Q1 FY23. Meanwhile, revenues from operations jumped to INR 2,416 Cr in the quarter ended June 2023 compared to INR 1,413.9 Cr in Q1 FY23.

While in Q2, Zomato is under the pressure of sustaining profitability, macroeconomic factors continued to impact demand for online food delivery during this period, as per JM Financial’s recent report.

“We expect Zomato’s sequential food delivery GOV (gross order value) growth in Sep- Q to be closer to mid-single digit (mid-teens growth on a YoY basis, broadly in-line 1Q). Blinkit, on the other hand, could report very strong high-teens sequential GOV growth led by a robust increase in order volume,” the brokerage said.