Tag: Zomato

Zomato Share Price: HSBC sees 30% upside in the stock with a focus on Blinkit. Should you buy?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Zomato shares recovered from the day’s low to trade in the green territory but the share price remained volatile as was the rest of the stock market on March 12.

The swing in the Zomato share price comes at a time when brokerage firm HSBC has raised its target price on the food tech stock to ₹200 from ₹163 earlier. This means the analyst expects the stock to rally almost 30% from the closing price of March 11.

With a buy call on the stock, HSBC argues that advertising revenues will be the backbone of quick commerce Blinkit business in the long term.

“Over a long-term horizon, we believe it’s quite likely that nearly the entire EBITDA margin (EBITDA to GMV ratio) for Blinkit will be driven by advertising revenues, while the core business revenues (take-rate) will compensate for the costs,” it said.

Also Read: Ant Fin Singapore sells 2% stake in Zomato for ₹2,827 crore

The brokerage note points out that advertising revenues are 3-4% of gross merchandise value (GMV) and HSBC expects this to rise to 5-6% in the next three to five years, similar to the EBITDA margin that it has in its model currently.

HSBC also expects Zomato’s digital spend share to increase in India and, within that, platforms to gain share thereby helping Blinkit. Within this spend, the brokerage expects the share of digital to increase from 38% currently to 44% by FY27e. Many digital marketers believe this share could go up even higher, it said citing an IPSOS State of Marketing report.

It explained that the majority of digital spending (80%+) is distributed across search platforms (like Google), videos (YouTube) and social media (eg, Facebook, Instagram). Other platforms (like e-commerce in particular) attract a 15% share of digital spend.

Also Read: Zomato, Apollo Hospitals among companies with higher number of women on board

“We believe this share will rise from 15% to 18% in FY27. Digital ads on e-commerce or QC platforms like Blinkit are a lot more easily tracked compared with other platforms, like social media, and hence spenders will continue to shift their spending in favour of these platforms,” it said.

HSBC has also increased its order growth rate estimates for Blinkit to 25.4% from 21.4% for FY24-27e and GOV growth to 27.3% from 23.2% FY24-37e.

Zomato shares traded 0.26% higher at ₹155.20 on BSE at 1:30 pm.

Track the latest stock market developments on CNBCTV18.com’s blog

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International Women’s Day: Zomato introduces kurtas for female delivery partners

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Food delivery giant Zomato has introduced kurtas as a new uniform option, besides the traditional T-shirts, for its women workforce. The company unveiled the new outfit option for female delivery partners on the occasion of International Women’s Day on Friday, March 8. Aimed at offering greater freedom and comfort to female employees, the initiative is a significant step towards enhancing their work experience,  according to reports.

Many of Zomato’s female delivery partners have found it difficult to navigate the busy Indian roads while donning Western-style T-shirts. Some delivery partners felt uncomfortable with their regular outfits and wore them over traditional sarees or suits, leading to discomfort throughout their workday, Moneycontrol reported.

Prioritising the comfort and practicality of its female delivery partners, Zomato has redesigning the delivery fleet attire to solve the challenges faced by them.

“Starting today, Zomato women delivery partners can choose to wear a kurta,” read a post on Zomato’s official handle on Instagram.

Zomato’s all-new red-coloured kurtas are designed with deep pockets on both sides and also feature intricate embroidery, ensuring both style and functionality for its female delivery partners.

With the introduction of the new outfit, the female delivery agents of the company will now have the option to choose between a T-shirt and a kurta depending on their comfort and style.

In the comment section, netizens have praised the food delivery giant for this initiative.

“Zomato, you nailed the marketing game. you touch hearts like no one else,” one user wrote. Another one added, “Even @zomato knows that nothing celebrates a woman better than a Kurta!”

A third one added, “Dekho zomato, aapne pocket de di, mujhe fan bana liya. Abhi main apke app se hi order karungi.”

Meanwhile, Zomato has collaborated with Blinkit partners Mamaearth, Aqualogica, L’Oréal Paris, and Pee Safe to curate Women’s Day self-care packages, a company press release said.

These packages feature beauty, skincare and female hygiene products. With this initiative, the company aims to support the overall well-being of its female delivery partners.

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Ant Fin Singapore sells 2% stake in Zomato for ₹2,827 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Antfin Singapore Holding on Wednesday pared a 2% stake in online food delivery firm Zomato for ₹2,827 crore through open market transactions.

Antfin Singapore Holding Pte is an affiliate of Ant Financial Group, while the latter is a part of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

According to the bulk deal data available on the BSE, Antfin Singapore Holding Pte offloaded more than 17,63,95,675 shares in two tranches, representing a 2.02% stake in Zomato.

The shares were sold within the price range of ₹160.11-160.40 apiece, taking the deal size to ₹2,827.08 crore.

After the latest transaction, Antfin Singapore Holding Pte’s shareholding has reduced to a 4.3% stake in Zomato from a 6.32% stake (as of December 2023) in the company.

Source: BSE

Concurrently, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) acquired a 0.65% stake in Zomato, purchasing 5.68 crore shares for ₹909.55 crore. Following the transactions, Zomato’s stock witnessed a 2.68% decline to ₹161.60 apiece on the BSE.

This move follows Zomato’s recent positive financial performance, with a consolidated net profit of ₹138 crore in the third quarter, largely attributed to the rapid growth of quick commerce.

Based on the December quarter shareholding pattern, Antfin Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd. held a 6.42% stake in Zomato.

In November last year, 3.4% of Zomato’s equity had changed hands in a block deal worth ₹3,326.4 crore, where another Alibaba unit, Alipay Singapore Holding Pte had a cleanout trade.

Zomato’s shares have more than doubled from their IPO price of ₹76 after the street rewarded the food delivery company after it turned profitable. It has now delivered a positive bottomline for three quarters in a row. Zomato also received multiple brokerage upgrades after turning profitable.

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Antfin Singapore set to sell 2% stake in Zomato for ₹2811.82 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Antfin Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd is set to sell 2% stake in Zomato for ₹2811.82 crore, sources told CNBC-TV18.

Antfin Singapore, which is an affiliate of Alibaba is expected to sell 17.64 crore shares which is equivalent to 2 % stake in the company.

The floor price of the block deal has been set at ₹159.4 per share which is equivalent to 3.9% discount of the closing price. A lock in period of 90 days has been fixed for Antfin Singapore.

Zomato closed at ₹165.85 on BSE on Tuesday. The multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company has a market capitalisation of ₹1.44 lakh crore.

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Zomato, Apollo Hospitals among companies with higher number of women on board

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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At a time when women constitute just a fifth of the total directorships in India Inc, there are some outliers with a higher number of female representations on their boards. While women directors outnumber men in eight companies, there are another 15 firms in which they have an equal say as their male counterparts. To be sure, the study includes companies with a minimum revenue of ₹100 crore.

The list includes a diverse range of companies, from the food delivery platform Zomato to Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Godrej Consumer Products, Hindustan Zinc, and Cummins India, among others. While the state-owned HMT tops the list with three out of the four directors being from the female category, Brightcom Group and SBC Exports have 60% and 71% women participation on their boards.

With a total directorship of 3,608, women currently account for 20.2% of all independent directors in India. As of February end, the country’s 2,278 listed companies had a total of 17,853 independent directors, according to the latest available data from tracker primeinfobase.com.

Interestingly, more than half, or 1,187 companies in India, are essentially complying with the rule by having just one woman director, whereas another 771 companies have two women directors on their board. Furthermore, four to six women are designated as directors in 58 companies, and the remaining 209 companies each have three women directors.

Surprisingly, a decade after the Companies Act 2013, which made it mandatory for all companies to have at least one-woman director on their boards, there are still 43 companies that have yet to comply with the regulation.

Obviously, the list features many state-owned companies as they lead the unenviable list of diversity stragglers. The names like UCO Bank, BEML, Bank of Maharashtra, Bharat Dynamics, and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers are some of them with zero women participation on the board.

However, the initiative that came with the Companies Act has somewhat helped narrow the gap in gender participation. About 10 years ago, women occupied just 6% of boardroom seats in NSE500 companies.

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Zomato, BHEL, PNB, others may see inflows up to $1.2 billion as part of MSCI adjustments

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Stocks like Zomato, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Punjab National Bank, DLF and others are likely to see inflows towards the close of Thursday’s trading session as part of the MSCI adjustments.

Brokerage firm Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research mentioned that pre-positioning in most of these stocks has already taken place, therefore, these stocks could see a significant spike in volumes towards the last 30 minutes of trade.

Nuvama Alternative is estimating that India can witness passive FII inflows worth $1.2 billion, which includes names in the Standard and Small Cap indices.

Post these adjustments, India’s weightage in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index will reach close to its historical high of 18.2%, from the current 17.8%.

While shares of PNB may receive inflows worth up to $187 million, according to Nuvama Alternative, BHEL and NMDC are likely to see inflows worth $165 million and $161 million respectively.

While the five names mentioned above will be included in the MSCI Global Standard Index and hence the inflows, stocks like Zomato, DLF, MRF and others will see inflows courtesy an increase of their weightage on the index.

Dr Reddy’s, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC AMC, Lupin, Astral, Paytm and Bandhan Bank are some of the other names which will see some inflows in the final 30 minutes of Thursday’s trading session.

On the flip side, Jio Financial Services and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) will see outflows worth $81 million and $24 million respectively, due to a reduction of their weightage in the index.

Other names like Balmer Lawrie, Cello World, Cyient DLM, Honasa Consumer, IREDA, Netweb Technologies and others will be included in the MSCI Smallcap Index. On the other hand, Torrent Power, RVNL, Barbeque Nation will be excluded from that index.

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From downbeat Grofers to thriving Blinkit: Inside Zomato’s brahmastra

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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When Zomato announced Blinkit’s acquisition in June 2022, it was seen as a rescue act to save the sinking startup.

For one, Blinkit and Zomato co-founders Albinder Dhindsa and Deepinder Goyal, respectively, were known to be close friends from their younger days. Some even questioned whether Zomato should have explicitly disclosed to investors that Dhindsa’s wife was a top executive at the food delivery company.

Meanwhile, both the companies found themselves in different spots of bother.

Zomato’s multiple efforts at grocery delivery had failed, while its archrival Swiggy was doing well in quick commerce. Its stock was taking a beating as pre-IPO investors were selling shares like there was no tomorrow. The core food delivery business was showing early signs of sputtering growth. And, the public market was demanding a quick path to profitability.

At the same time, Blinkit (previously Grofers) was cash-strapped and feeling the heat in the intensely competitive quick commerce space. It had laid off employees, shuttered dark stores, and even delayed vendor payments. The acquisition came months after Zomato extended a $150 million loan to keep Blinkit on life support. While the share swap deal’s value was earlier estimated to be upwards of $700 million, the drop in Zomato’s stock price had reduced it to $568 million.

For Zomato, Blinkit was a last-ditch effort to enter into the grocery space after it retreated twice from the segment – in 2020 and 2021.

Things change 

Nearly two years later, Goyal and Dhindsa appear to have proved their sceptics wrong.

Take for instance, Jefferies, after meeting with Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal and CFO Akshant Goyal around September 2022, asked if quick commerce was for real considering that “…scepticism is high on quick commerce, given no proof of concept yet in any large market in the world.”

The note to clients added that a lot of investors expressed a fundamental question on Blinkit’s existence, with people asking ‘why someone wants grocery delivery in 10-min?’

Cut to February 2024, the same brokerage house said Q3FY24 “…was another strong quarter with exceptional performance in quick commerce (Q/C)…” which in a way underscored Blinkit’s turnaround.

From being an albatross around Zomato’s neck, Blinkit has transformed into a thriving player in the express delivery space, taking on rivals such as Swiggy’s Instamart, Tata group’s BB Now, Zepto, Amazon and Flipkart among others. From delivering groceries and vegetables, Blinkit has expanded to deliver just about anything – iPhones, condoms, personal massagers, sundry items for local festivals, and even running printing services.

Management gurus who value focus in a business might baulk at Blinkit’s approach, but the numbers tell a different story.

Blinkit incurred a net loss of Rs 1,440 crore in FY22 but its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) loss reduced to Rs 89 crore as of Q3FY24 and is months away from profitability.

The company said it is on track to meet its guidance of adjusted EBITDA break-even on or before Q1FY25.

What gives? 

Blinkit’s execution, working capital discipline, and cataloguing give the Gurugram-based company an edge over its peers.

For instance, Blinkit is the only quick-commerce company that generates a purchase order (PO) daily whereas Swiggy Instamart and Zepto do it every week, as per Sreejith Moolayil, founder of True Elements, a functional foods brand, that sells across the quick grocery platforms.

“Blinkit does daily POs because of which their working capital requirement is the lowest. They don’t keep too much inventory. They’re probably losing some opportunities which I don’t think they mind, seeing their bottom line and growth,” Moolayil explained.

While shipping supplies to warehouses across the country on a daily basis can be a pain for brands, it helps Blinkit be nimble in stocking up inventory in lockstep with demand patterns and have better control over its finances which is crucial as quick commerce companies work on take rates from each consumer order.

Take rate is the commission paid to an e-commerce player for facilitating a transaction on its platform.

Quick commerce platforms earn take rates between 15 and 35 percent depending on the pull of a consumer brand and the category it operates in. The take rate could include a listing fee, advertising revenue and shipping charges that brands pay. Companies in the sector also earn from advertisements, which in Blinkit’s case is growing faster than order value as of Q3FY24.

That’s an arrangement different from what other e-commerce companies follow. Amazon and Flipkart for instance run a marketplace model where sellers list their products on the platform and ship to buyers.

While some items are stocked in company warehouses, most sellers merely list products on these apps/websites and dispatch them once an order is placed. In contrast, quick commerce companies stock up the products that are listed on the apps in neighbourhood ‘dark stores’ which helps in more localised forecasting, cataloguing and minutes-long delivery timelines.

Quick commerce companies, especially Blinkit, are however expanding stock keeping units (SKUs) to graduate from selling daily essentials to selling reading glasses, electronics,  and several other products which helps them compete with established e-commerce players.

For quick commerce companies, having a wider assortment essentially means the firm has more products to offer consumers, which bulks up the cart’s value in each purchase.

Experts say that more SKUs also translate to a higher ordering frequency for an app, which is vital for them to grow their user base. Thereon, an expanding user pool builds a habit and trust which leads to a better brand recall.

Along with efforts to widen its assortment, Blinkit has also cracked the code on establishing a rapport with its top sellers which is giving the company an edge over others, say industry executives.

“What we know for sure is that Blinkit always took a wider assortment approach when compared to Swiggy Instamart or Zepto and now everyone is following this approach as it seems to have worked in Blinkit’s favour,” said Sachin Dixit, lead analyst, internet, at JM Financial.

However, Dixit is quick to add a disclaimer, saying: “See, it’s also a cause and effect thing— because Blinkit is doing well now, in retrospect people are saying this worked for the company and this did not. In reality, we do not know for certain what clicked.”

Deploying the charm offensive

A founder, who is a top seller on Amazon and Blinkit, said there is a remarkable difference in the way the two companies treat their sellers. He said that the engagement with the Amazon account management team is purely formal where the two parties mostly meet when something needs to be addressed and the meeting ends after.

“But Blinkit has broken that in its typical flamboyant Delhi style of doing things. Blinkit has already called its sellers twice for a dinner party with Mr Dhindsa (referring to Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa) in the past year. At the party in Delhi, Mr Dhindsa asked his sellers what the problems were and how Blinkit could solve them. Overall, they’re more accessible to us sellers,” the founder said, requesting anonymity as he does not want to burn bridges with other companies.

While Blinkit has been doing this since at least January or February 2023, competitors like Swiggy Instamart hosted a similar gathering only around November or December last year. The founder said he can’t recall a similar arrangement from Zepto’s side, at least for him.

Another differentiator that has helped Blinkit is the company’s practice of providing sellers with early intelligence on what things will sell better on certain festive days.

“Last month, during Sankranti/Lohri, Blinkit had informed us much earlier that sesame-based products would go through the roof so we were able to manage inventory and demand very well. Not that others aren’t planning engagement well, but as of now, in our category, Blinkit has an edge and probably the first-mover advantage,” a founder of a snacks company said while underlining Blinkit’s control over hyperlocal events.

The founder added that the company will do the same for Holi, slated for the second half of March.

The Z factor

Zomato’s acquisition of Blinkit is also a key reason why the company has been able to steady the ship.

“After Zomato bought a 10 percent stake in Blinkit in March 2022, Deepinder Goyal spent six months diving deep into the inner workings of the company to understand if it could be turned around. Only when he was convinced did Zomato move to acquire the company,” said an industry executive in the know.

“What makes Deepinder different from other founders is that he is a lot quicker in making decisions. He is very focussed,” the executive said. CEO Goyal is also known to be aggressive when it comes to controlling costs, as witnessed by the surprise turnaround in Zomato, which has been profitable for three consecutive quarters.

If not for Zomato, Blinkit’s fortunes could have turned out to be very different.

“In quick commerce, it’s all about razor sharp delivery execution capability and inventory management, which I am sure the Zomato leadership has instilled into Blinkit,” said Sreedhar Prasad, Internet business expert and former partner with KPMG & Kalaari Capital while adding that with Hyperpure, Zomato’s wholesale arm, also being a strong node in the ecosystem, the inventory layer gets a strong back end platform.

“Further, the ‘data’ focus of Zomato would be helping the Blinkit team in being sharp in being predictive on inventory management which will result in lesser stockouts,” Prasad said.

Zomato’s shares traded at Rs 66 apiece around the beginning of June 2022, and later dropped to a low of Rs 42 a month later when Blinkit’s acquisition deal was met with scepticism. The company’s shares have however rallied over 280 percent, comfortably outperforming the Nifty, from its low to change hands at around Rs 160 apiece now.

Also, the Blinkit app being housed separately from that of the parent brand also helps the company as it draws a more loyal quick-commerce shopper base, according to Rahul Jain, vice president, Dolat Capital, which tracks internet companies.

Jain added that Zomato, and Blinkit, being in better financial health than Swiggy allows the Gurugram-based company to take risks and be more competitive.

For comparison, Swiggy had a revenue of Rs 8,625 crore and incurred a loss of Rs 4,179 crore in FY23. Arch rival Zomato on the other hand registered a revenue of Rs 7,761 crore and recorded a net loss of Rs 971 crore in the same year. Zomato has been profitable so far in FY24.

However, another industry executive also pointed out that Zomato and Blinkit are yet to find operational synergies on the ground.

For instance, they have kept their delivery fleets separate as food and quick commerce deliveries are different in terms of distance covered. In food delivery, a rider may need to cover a distance of 5-8 kilometres in 15-20 minutes. In quick commerce, the expectation is to cover 2 kilometres in 5 minutes.

Moreover, given the smaller radius of a quick commerce rider, they tend to develop more familiarity with particular neighbourhoods or housing societies which increases their efficiency in reaching the customer’s doorstep quicker and without calling up the consumer for directions.

Future tense

Where does Blinkit go from here?

Zomato thinks the quick commerce app can become bigger than the food delivery app in the future. Deepinder Goyal said last year that Blinkit will deliver more value to shareholders than the core business of food delivery in the next 10 years.

“I can proudly say that Blinkit’s GOV (gross order value) is very close to Zomato’s GOV in some of the large cities where we have an overlapping presence. This is just the start, and I believe that 10 years from now, Blinkit will drive more value for our shareholders than Zomato,” Goyal wrote in a letter to shareholders in August 2023.

This was right after Blinkit recorded its highest-ever GOV and transacting customers in the months of June and July, after recovering from the business disruption caused by a delivery workers’ strike in its biggest market, Delhi-NCR.

However, one thing that might constrain Blinkit’s rise is the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals.

Sure, Blinkit and its quick commerce peers have demonstrated growth in the top eight cities. But, can they go beyond?

If we go by the trajectory of food delivery, around 50 percent of Zomato’s sales still come from around 5 percent of its users, who expected. The case will not be very different for Swiggy. And this after the two have poured billions of dollars to grow the market.

To be sure, experts are of the opinion that the days of heady growth for food delivery are over as it has almost fully penetrated the top layer of India’s tech-savvy and prosperous urban population. Swiggy boss Sriharsha Majety and Zomato CEO have both concurred with that view.

Quick commerce is not a very different value proposition in the consumer’s mind, compared to food delivery. Will the Indian consumer in Tier 2 and 3 cities pay up a bit extra for quick doorstep deliveries of fruits, vegetables, cereals, packaged snacks and the like? Or, will they be prosperous enough to do so?

As Blinkit grows bigger, it will need to find answers to such questions. For now, it can take heart from a job well done in staging a turnaround that many believed was not possible.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

This stock made investors 200% richer in a year, CLSA expects over 45% more rally

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A week after food delivery platform Zomato delivered its third quarter result, global brokerage CLSA raised its target price on the stock to ₹227, which is the highest target set by any analyst so far.

Zomato shares will be in focus on February 15 as the brokerage expects the stock to increase investors’ wealth by more than 46% (from the closing price on February 14). The food tech stock has given a return of more than 200% in the past year, as against the benchmark Sensex which has risen 17% during the period.

CLSA believes that Zomato is a small company but an increasingly indispensable part of the profit pool. It says that the third quarter results show a path to stable profitability. The analyst has also said it sees a significant upside even if the base case for food delivery does not play out.

The brokerage commentary comes as the company’s profit for the October to December 2023 quarter came in at ₹138 crore, as against a loss of ₹347 crore in the same quarter last year.

Zomato’s contribution margin – a key profit metric – expanded to 7.1% from 6.6% in the quarter due to the introduction of a fee for customers to use the food delivery platform. Zomato’s gross order value (GOV) – the total value of all orders placed – at Blinkit, its grocery delivery business, more than doubled, while its mainstay food delivery business grew 27% for the quarter.

The online food delivery platform had turned profitable for the first time during the June quarter of this fiscal. The profitability was aided largely by operational improvement in the company’s food business. Zomato’s consolidated net profit then was ₹2 crore for the June quarter against a net loss of ₹186 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Also Read: As Zomato ‘raises the bar’, analysts raise target price on stock and expect over 40% upside

Following the Q3 results last week, brokerages including HSBC, Jefferies and Bernstein also raised their target prices on the stock. Most of them expect Zomato’s quick commerce to continue to perform both in terms of growth and profitability.

Zomato shares traded more than 2% higher at ₹155.45 at 9:21 am on BSE.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Valentine’s Day: From Blinkit to Swiggy, brands get witty with love on social media

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Valentine’s Day is dedicated to celebrating love and companionship with your special someone. To commemorate the day of love, various brands embraced social media to celebrate the day. Whether through funny content or engaging banter. brands took the opportunity to share love and connect with their customers.

Blinkit

Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa in a humorous post, shared a screenshot from a purported chat between a customer named Manoj and Blinkit support. The conversation revealed the user’s unconventional request for the delivery executive to include him in the delivery, as his girlfriend’s parents wouldn’t allow her to step out on Valentine’s Day. Blinkit amusingly declined the request, responding with a straightforward “sorry, we can’t” in a post on the microblogging site X.

India is clearly not for beginners 🤦‍♂️ https://t.co/JIqwpls2pN

— Albinder Dhindsa (@albinder) February 14, 2024

In another witty response to a Blinkit user who posted two videos showing the ‘singles mode’ and ‘couples’ mode on the delivery app, Dhindsa said, “Fun fact – the person who came up with the idea for Single mode is actually not single.”

Fun fact – the person who thought about Single mode is actually not single 😂 https://t.co/kR6TjjjpAb

— Albinder Dhindsa (@albinder) February 14, 2024

Zomato

In a playful post on X, food delivery platform Zomato extended wishes to a man in Delhi who had sent cakes to 16 different addresses.

happy valentine’s day to Tarun from Delhi who has sent cakes to 16 different addresses today

— zomato (@zomato) February 14, 2024

Swiggy

When a Swiggy user, feeling disheartened, posted a screenshot of Swiggy’s Valentine’s Day notification with the caption “I don’t even have a Valentine, why do you keep sending these to me,” Swiggy responded with warmth, saying, “We’ll be your Valentine if you want.”

we’ll be your Valentine if you want 🥰 https://t.co/H8v5M5ynnV

— Swiggy (@Swiggy) February 14, 2024

Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio picked a playful battle with Airtel on social media asking the customers of the rival telco not to ignore “red” flags in their relationship, dishing out the flirtatious ‘call me’ pick up line.

Dear @airtelindia users,
This Valentine’s, don’t ignore the ‘RED’ flags 🚩 in your relationship.
It’s time to move on from your ‘Ex’-stream.

Here’s my number 📞60008-60008. Call me maybe. 😉#HappyValentinesDay #WithLoveFromJio 💙

— Reliance Jio (@reliancejio) February 13, 2024

In reply, Airtel shared its campaign “Sab Kuch Try Karo, Fir Sahi Chuno”.

Airtel customers took the opportunity and posted their complaints like the network issue they are facing, PTI reported. Reliance Jio replied to most of the customers who posted complaints against Airtel. “What better day than Valentine’s to find your true love?” Jio tweeted when a customer posted that he wants to port out of Airtel to Jio.

Social media users claiming to be Jio customers also posted about the network issues they experienced. “Dear @reliancejio … your network is so slow …I can’t even send a message in WhatsApp… forget about using social media apps…I am thinking of switching to @airtelindia …Even after raising complaints there is no improvement…very bad service in Kendrapada, Odisha,” a person posted on X and got a reply from Airtel to join its network.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow