- Profit up 157% YoY to ₹68 cr; EBITDA climbs 63% to ₹230 cr.
- Beauty GMV +27% to ₹4,302 cr; fashion GMV +31% to ₹1,476 cr.
- EBITDA margin expands 180 bps to 8%; B2B margin improves 574 bps.
- Unique transacting customers hit 18.7 m (beauty) and 4.1 m (fashion).
- New brand partnerships with Nike and L’Oréal‑owned labels signal premium‑tier upside.
You missed Nykaa’s earnings breakout – that’s a costly mistake for any growth‑focused investor.
Why Nykaa's Q3 Profit Surge Matters for Your Portfolio
Nykaa’s third‑quarter consolidated net profit jumped 157% year‑on‑year, reaching ₹68 crore, while revenue from core operations rose 27% to ₹2,873 crore. The headline figures alone are impressive, but the underlying drivers reveal a business that is scaling profitably across multiple fronts. The EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) climbed to ₹230 crore, a 63% increase, pushing the margin to 8%—a level rarely seen in Indian online beauty retail.
How Nykaa's Beauty Vertical is Redefining Margin Benchmarks
The beauty segment remains the engine of growth. Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) from beauty rose 27% YoY to ₹4,302 crore, supported by a 27% jump in beauty revenue to ₹2,622 crore. Private‑label powerhouse Kay Beauty alone generated ₹500 crore in annual GMV, expanding beyond India into the UK and the Middle East. Margin pressure is easing because the company’s house‑of‑brands model, which cuts out intermediaries, adds a premium of roughly 180 basis points (0.18%) to overall EBITDA. This is a clear sign that the company’s mix is shifting toward higher‑margin owned products.
Nykaa Fashion’s Comeback: What the Numbers Reveal
After a sluggish 2023, Nykaa Fashion posted a 31% YoY increase in GMV to ₹1,476 crore, driven by expanded assortments, strategic brand partnerships (including a new Nike footwear tie‑up), and deeper engagement with premium skincare names like La Roche‑Posay, NYX Professional Makeup and Kiehl’s. The fashion vertical’s contribution to total orders rose to 39% YoY, pushing overall orders to 3 million. This diversification reduces reliance on a single category and improves resilience against sector‑specific headwinds.
Competitive Landscape: Nykaa vs. Tata & Adani in Indian E‑Commerce
While Tata‑Digital and Adani Enterprises are accelerating their e‑commerce footprints, Nykaa’s niche focus on beauty and fashion gives it a defensible moat. Tata’s e‑commerce push leans heavily on groceries and electronics, where margins are thin, whereas Adani’s platform is still in a build‑out phase. Nykaa’s EBITDA margin of 8% outpaces the broader Indian e‑commerce average of roughly 3‑4%, underscoring its superior cost structure and brand‑centric strategy.
Historical Parallel: Past Earnings Waves and Stock Reaction
Looking back to FY2023 Q3, Nykaa posted a 92% profit jump after launching its first private‑label line. The stock rallied over 12% in the following week, before settling into a steady uptrend. The current earnings beat mirrors that pattern but on a larger scale, suggesting that the market may again reward the stock with a double‑digit move, provided macro conditions stay supportive.
Investor Playbook: Bull and Bear Scenarios for Nykaa
Bull Case: Continued expansion of house‑of‑brands, higher‑margin private labels, and deeper penetration of fashion partnerships push EBITDA margin above 10% by FY27. International sales from Kay Beauty and other owned brands add a new revenue stream, lifting revenue CAGR to 25% over the next three years. Stock could trade at 30‑35× FY27 EBITDA, delivering >40% upside.
Bear Case: A slowdown in discretionary spend, supply‑chain bottlenecks, or aggressive pricing wars erode margins. If fashion GMV growth stalls below 15% YoY and beauty GMV falls back to 15% YoY, EBITDA could compress back to 6%, pressuring the valuation to sub‑20× FY27 EBITDA, resulting in a 15‑20% downside.
Bottom line: Nykaa’s Q3 numbers provide a compelling narrative of margin‑driven growth across beauty and fashion. Investors who align their thesis with the bull scenario stand to capture meaningful upside, while those wary of macro‑risk should size down exposure and monitor margin trends closely.