Swiggy’s Q3 Focuses More On Direction Than Losses

At first glance, Swiggy’s Q3 FY26 earnings look uncomfortable. A consolidated net loss of ₹1,065 crore, wider than last year’s ₹799 crore, immediately draws attention, especially as this marks the second straight quarter with losses above ₹1,000 crore.

But a closer reading of the numbers reveals something more nuanced: Swiggy is no longer a single-narrative company. It is now a portfolio of businesses moving at very different speeds, margins, and maturity curves, and Q3 shows the tension between those trajectories.

Revenue grew 54% year-on-year to ₹6,148 crore, while losses narrowed sequentially from Q2. The real story, however, lies in how Swiggy is reallocating capital, absorbing losses, and quietly improving unit economics in parts of the business that were once considered structurally unprofitable.

Food Delivery: Margin Expansion Takes Center Stage

Swiggy’s food delivery business delivered its strongest operating signal in two years.

Gross Order Value (GOV) grew 20.5% YoY to ₹8,959 crore, while Monthly Transacting Users (MTUs) increased 22% YoY to 18.1 million. More importantly, adjusted EBITDA rose 1.5x YoY to ₹272 crore, with margins improving to 3.0% of GOV, the highest in the past eight quarters.

This improvement suggests a shift in how Swiggy is driving growth, relying less on deep discounting and more on frequency, new use cases, and affordability without sacrificing margins.

In practical terms, food delivery is no longer the drag on the P&L it once was. It is increasingly acting as the margin stabiliser for the broader platform.

Quick Commerce: Growth At Scale Comes With A Cost Curve

If food delivery shows maturity, Instamart reflects controlled aggression.

Quick commerce GOV doubled 103% YoY to ₹7,938 crore, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of triple-digit growth. Average Order Value climbed nearly 40% YoY to ₹746, driven by larger baskets and expanding non-grocery assortments.

At the same time, losses widened. Instamart posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹908 crore, with margins improving sequentially to -11.4%, even as absolute losses increased quarter-on-quarter.

This is where Swiggy’s strategy becomes clearer. The company added 34 dark stores, taking the total to 1,136 across 131 cities, expanding physical capacity ahead of demand rather than reacting to it.

Contribution margins improved to -2.5%, indicating better incentive optimisation and operating leverage, but scale is still expensive.

In effect, Swiggy is choosing speed over short-term profitability in quick commerce, while ensuring the loss curve is at least bending in the right direction.

Out-Of-Home And Multi-Service Users: The Quiet Signal

One of the less discussed but structurally important signals this quarter is platform behaviour.

Average monthly transacting users rose 37% YoY to 24.3 million, and over 36% of users now use more than one Swiggy service. This cross-service adoption is critical; it lowers customer acquisition costs over time and increases lifetime value without proportional marketing spend.

Meanwhile, the out-of-home consumption segment remained profitable, with 49% YoY GOV growth and positive EBITDA margins at 0.7% of GOV.

These smaller segments may not yet move topline headlines, but they indicate a platform that is gradually diversifying revenue quality, not just revenue volume.

Cash Position Changes The Risk Equation

Perhaps the most underappreciated element of Swiggy’s Q3 story is liquidity.

As of December 31, 2025, Swiggy reported ₹13,512 crore in cash and equivalents, including ₹9,931 crore from QIP proceeds. An additional ₹2,400 crore from the Rapido stake sale takes the proforma cash base to approximately ₹15,900 crore.

This capital cushion fundamentally alters how losses should be interpreted. Swiggy is not operating under balance-sheet pressure. It is deliberately funding expansion while its core food business generates around ₹280 crore in quarterly adjusted EBITDA, a figure that continues to rise.

As Sriharsha Majety, MD & Group CEO, Swiggy, noted: "Swiggy continues to accelerate user growth and gross order value in food delivery, defying broader scepticism around a sector slowdown while significantly improving our operating margins."

He added that confidence in the roadmap is reinforced by long-term capital, allowing sustained investment while maintaining fiscal discipline.

What Q3 Really Tells Us About Swiggy

Q3 FY26 does not present a company in distress. It presents a company mid-rebalancing.

• Food delivery is stabilising margins.
• Quick commerce is scaling aggressively with improving efficiency signals.
• Platform behaviour shows increasing user depth.
• And the balance sheet provides room to absorb volatility.

The widening net loss is real, but so is the structural shift underneath it.

For Swiggy, the next inflection will not come from cutting losses overnight. It will come from how quickly margin-positive businesses can outpace capital-intensive growth engines, and Q3 suggests that transition is already underway.