BlackBuck Q2 FY27: Revenue +56% YoY, but margin compression slows PAT growth to 42%

BlackBuck Limited (formerly Zinka Logistics Solutions; consolidated figures are the primary basis here) reported Q2 FY27 (quarter ended September 30, 2026) consolidated revenue from operations of ₹235.33 Cr, up 55.7% YoY from ₹151.14 Cr and up 15.3% QoQ from ₹204.17 Cr. Consolidated PAT was ₹41.40 Cr, up 41.8% YoY from ₹29.20 Cr but down 1.8% QoQ from ₹42.17 Cr — profit growth trailed revenue growth both against the year-ago base and sequentially. Basic EPS was ₹2.27 versus ₹2.31 in Q1 and ₹1.60 a year ago. No exceptional items were booked in the current or either comparison period, so these are clean, unadjusted growth rates. Standalone PAT of ₹43.72 Cr runs ahead of the consolidated ₹41.40 Cr, the gap reflecting the lending subsidiary's losses consolidating in. Operating EBITDA margin (PBT plus finance costs and depreciation, net of other income, over revenue from operations) came in at 21.50%, down from 24.35% in Q1 FY27 and 24.17% a year ago — compression of roughly 270-285 basis points on both counts. Net profit margin fell to 16.35% from 19.13% (QoQ) and 17.46% (YoY). The squeeze is visible in the core truck-operator segment's incremental economics: segment revenue grew ₹30.8 Cr QoQ but segment profit grew only ₹2.2 Cr, an incremental margin of roughly 7% — well short of management's guided 60-85% revenue-to-EBITDA leverage on the core business flagged on the Q1 FY27 call. Employee benefits expense (₹44.72 Cr) and depreciation (₹24.49 Cr) both rose faster than revenue sequentially, and the lending business, run through NBFC subsidiary BlackBuck Finserve, swung to a ₹1.69 Cr segment loss in Q2 from a ₹0.14 Cr profit in Q1 and a wider loss than the ₹0.78 Cr seen a year ago — a step back against management's guidance that vehicle finance would reach profitability by end-FY27. Against our pre-result preview, which flagged revenue of ₹210-220 Cr, PAT of ₹40-45 Cr and an EBITDA margin band of 23-26%, the quarter beat on revenue, landed inline on profit (near the low end of the range), and missed on margin — bearing out the preview's central tension between topline momentum and margin durability, the same tension JM Financial (Buy, target ₹570) and Morgan Stanley (Equal-Weight, target ₹650-653) had debated ahead of the print. Management has given no formal quarterly numeric guidance beyond the qualitative framework from the Q1 FY27 call (60-85% core leverage, vehicle-finance profitability by end-FY27, super loads expansion to 14 cities); neither commitment was evidenced in this quarter's segment data, and no fresh press release or management commentary accompanying this filing was available to cross-check. The quarter also carried structural corporate actions outside the P&L: the Board approved a slump sale of the Loads business to wholly owned subsidiary BlackBuck Transport Services Private Limited (agreement executed October 12, 2026, after the reporting period), a ₹40 Cr corporate guarantee to Axis Bank for BlackBuck Finserve's term loan, a ₹21.99 Cr investment in subsidiary TZF Logistics, and investor Accel trimming a 1.48% stake in September. None of these affect the reported P&L this quarter, but the Loads slump sale will reshape the truck-operator segment's reported revenue base from Q3 FY27 onward.