Mumbai and Bengaluru: Eternal is entering its first major post-founder leadership test after Deepinder Goyal stepped down as chief executive officer, a shift that has prompted caution among analysts about its impact on stock performance.
Mumbai and Bengaluru: Eternal is entering its first major post-founder leadership test after Deepinder Goyal stepped down as chief executive officer, a shift that has prompted caution among analysts about its impact on stock performance.
Eternal’s shares, after touching a high of 7% in early trade, on the back of a good performance in the October-December quarter, slipped 2% to ₹278 apiece later in the day, even as the benchmark index Sensex rose 0.8%.
Eternal’s shares, after touching a high of 7% in early trade, on the back of a good performance in the October-December quarter, slipped 2% to ₹278 apiece later in the day, even as the benchmark index Sensex rose 0.8%.
The parent company of food delivery platform Zomato and quick commerce service Blinkit, which went public in July 2021, announced on Wednesday that Goyal would step down as CEO and take up the role of vice chairman, starting 1 February. Albinder Singh Dhindsa will succeed Goyal as the CEO.
The transition creates Goyal only the second founder and CEO of an internet startup that went public to relinquish his role from overseeing daily business operations. Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham stepped aside as CEO in May 2024 to become chairman and exited the Nasdaq-listed firm in December last year.
“This transition allows Eternal to remain sharply focapplyd, while giving me the space to explore ideas that do not fit Eternal’s risk profile,” declared Goyal in his letter to shareholders. As of the finish of December, Goyal owned 3.83% of Eternal, which has no promoter shareholding.
Over the last three years, more than three dozen technology and consumer-focapplyd startups, including Ola Electric Mobility, Nykaa, Paytm and Swiggy, have gone public. However, not many have built money for investors.
Unlike Freshworks, whose shares are down over 76.2% since going public, Goyal has built money for his investors: Eternal’s shares are up 125%.
BSE-30 or Sensex has returned 55% between 23 July 2021, when Eternal went public, and 21 January 2026.
Why brokerages are cautious
At least two brokerages are cautious on the road ahead for the quick commerce and food delivery company.
“Leadership transitions are almost always a hotly debated topic. More so in the case of a startup as visible and vocal as Eternal. And even more so when its largest business is in a highly competitive and turbulent indusattempt,” Bernstein analysts Jignanshu Gor, Parth Shah and Dhruv Luthra wrote in a note dated 21 January.
“In this specific case, one can argue that the current CEO, Deepinder Goyal was already visibly and publicly engaged (and excited) in business pursuits outside of Eternal for a while. Hence, this title modify is not really a new practical reality. And also argue that the new Group CEO (Albi) has the credentials of building the most valuable asset from scratch and that this transition is a just reward,” the analysts wrote.
Nevertheless, this is expected to be a divisive issue for the stock and is considered a net-negative in the short to medium term, they declared.
“Any potential stock liquidation from the outgoing founder will be very closely watched and evaluated. At the least, we expect this transition to reshift the ‘narrative halo’ that surrounded Eternal given the successes that the company achieved in both Food Delivery and Quick Commerce verticals so far (and sort of automatically extfinished to the emerging businesses).”
The CEO transition appears orderly, but the division of responsibilities between Eternal’s management and the board remains unclear as of now, wrote analysts at Motilal Oswal in a note dated 21 January adding that “the modify does introduce some uncertainty to the business.”
To the credit of Goyal, who founded Zomato as a restaurant discovery and menu‑listing platform in 2010, he has expanded his company into newer areas even as he has cut down its losses since taking his firm public.
Sample this: In the April-June quarter of 2021, Zomato’s three business segments — food delivery, transporting food and goods to restaurants and dining out services — generated ₹844.4 crore in revenue. All three were loss-creating, and the company finished with ₹360.7 crore in losses.
In the last four and a half years, Zomato expanded into the quick commerce business and movie and event ticket booking business. Eleven months after it went public, Eternal bought Blinkit in June 2022. Eternal was included in the Sensex in December 2024.
In the October-December 2025 period, Eternal’s revenue jumped 18 times to ₹16,315 crore, while it posted a profit of ₹102 crore. Blinkit, or the quick commerce business, accounted for three-fourths of its total business, food delivery for 16% and the remaining segments 9%.
With the quick commerce business emerging as the largest segment of Eternal, at least one brokerage believes Eternal’s choice of the new CEO is a good decision.
“Given Blinkit’s position as Eternal’s largest growth opportunity and key valuation driver, Albinder Singh Dhindsa’s elevation augurs well for sustained execution intensity, capital discipline, and profitability-led growth, while preserving the decentralized structure and strategic continuity,” Karan Taurani of Elara Capital wrote in a note dated 22 January.
The leadership modify comes amid heightened scrutiny of the quick commerce business. Over the past week, policycreaters and indusattempt bodies have debated the sustainability of 10-minute delivery models, worker safety and the pay structure for gig workers.
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