Ixigo's Q1 FY26 Results Show Strong Growth and AI Integration in Travel Sector

Ixigo shares jumps 12%, hits 52-week high after strong Q1 results

Ixigo Share Price: Shares of Le Travenues Technology (Ixigo) jumped nearly 12% to a 52-week high after reporting robust Q1FY26 earnings. Revenue surged 73% YoY to Rs 314.5 crore, while net profit rose 27% to Rs 19 crore. Strong growth in flight, bus, and train bookings pushed GTV up 55% YoY. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 54% to Rs 31.4 crore. Shares of Le Travenues Technology (Ixigo) surged nearly 12% to hit a 52-week high of Rs 200 on BSE on Thursday after the company posted strong Q1FY26 results. Revenue from operations rose 73% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 314.5 crore, while net profit increased 27% YoY to Rs 19 crore. Gross transaction value (GTV) for the quarter stood at Rs 4,644.7 crore, up 55% YoY, driven by an 81% rise in flight and bus GTV and a 30% increase in train GTV. EBITDA rose 69% YoY to Rs 32.5 crore. Adjusted EBITDA (EBITDA plus ESOP expenses less other income) grew 54% to Rs 31.4 crore from Rs 20.3 crore a year ago. Also Read: 9 undervalued mid-cap stocks with upside potential of up to 23% Rajnish Kumar, Group Co-CEO of ixigo, and Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO of ixigo, said the company continues to witness rapid growth and has achieved new all-time highs. They attributed the growth in categories such as buses and flights to a customer-centric approach, the ability to cross-sell and up-sell to a captive user base, AI-driven efficiencies, and enhanced brand awareness. Saurabh Devendra Singh, Group CFO of ixigo, said the first quarter of FY26 was another strong period, delivering record revenue and profits across all key verticals. "The 54% increase in adjusted EBITDA and 76% growth in PBT (excluding exceptional items) demonstrate the strength of our operating model and disciplined execution. We remain committed to driving sustainable growth," he added. The company said it crossed 10,000 daily meal deliveries via Zoop, with over 20 lakh meals served across 200+ stations since October 2024. ixigo's bus business, AbhiBus, partnered with global travel platform CheckMyBus to expand the reach of its bus inventory to international travellers. The company added that its bus and train segments continue to gain traction. In Q1 FY26, train bookings by Gen Z travellers (aged 18-30) rose 45% year-on-year, with Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, and Pune emerging as the fastest-growing markets. Bus bookings from this cohort surged 56% YoY, led by Indore, Lucknow, and Nagpur. Train bookings by solo female travellers grew 123% YoY. ixigo said it is deepening investment in agentic AI and automation to drive scalable, customer-first innovation. Key AI-led initiatives for the quarter included voice-based customer support, enhanced AI-driven personalisation, and expanded bundled offerings like travel insurance and visa rejection protection. ixigo also noted that its Q1 flash sales for flights and hotels were powered by AI-generated videos and creatives, cutting production costs to just 0.1% of traditional budgets. Also Read: SBI, Federal Bank among 11 banks that saw NPA improvement in Q4 (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Ixigo shares slide 6% after hitting record high post Q1 FY26 results

Ixigo shares: Ixigo recorded a 73% year-on-year rise in revenue from operations, reaching ₹314.5 crore in the June quarter. Net profit grew by 27% YoY to ₹19 crore, while gross transaction value (GTV) rose 55% to ₹4,644.7 crore, driven by strong performance in the flight and bus segments (up 81%) and a 30% increase in train GTV. Shares of Le Travenues Technology, the parent company of travel platform ixigo, declined 6% to Rs 201.7 on Friday after touching a record high of Rs 215 in intraday trade. The drop follows a sharp 19% surge in the previous session, driven by the company's strong Q1FY26 earnings. Ixigo reported a 73% year-on-year (YoY) jump in revenue from operations to Rs 314.5 crore for the June quarter. Net profit rose 27% YoY to Rs 19 crore, while gross transaction value (GTV) climbed 55% to Rs 4,644.7 crore, led by an 81% growth in flight and bus segments and a 30% increase in train GTV. EBITDA for the quarter rose 69% YoY to Rs 32.5 crore, while adjusted EBITDA (which includes ESOP expenses and excludes other income) stood at Rs 31.4 crore, marking a 54% rise from Rs 20.3 crore in the same quarter last year. Rajnish Kumar, group co-CEO, ixigo and Aloke Bajpai, group CEO, ixigo said the company continues to see rapid growth and has hit new 'all-time highs.' They said the growth in categories such as buses and flights stems from a customer-centric approach, ability to cross-sell and up-sell to the captive user-base, AI-driven efficiencies and enhanced brand awareness. Saurabh Devendra Singh, group CFO, Ixigo, said quarter one of financial year 2026 is another strong quarter, with 'record' revenue and profits across all key verticals. "The 54% increase in adjusted EBITDA and 76% growth in PBT (excluding exceptional items) demonstrate the strength of our operating model and disciplined execution. We remain committed to driving sustainable growth," he added. The company said it crossed 10,000 daily meal deliveries with Zoop, with over 20 lakh meals served across 200+ stations since October 2024. ixigo's bus business, AbhiBus partnered with global travel platform CheckMyBus to expand the reach of its bus inventory to international travellers. The company said its bus and train segments continue to gain traction, particularly in the bus and train segments. In quarter one of the financial year 2026, train bookings by Gen Z travellers (aged 18-30) on ixigo rose 45% year on year, with Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, and Pune emerging as the fastest-growing markets. Bus bookings from this cohort saw even sharper growth, rising 56% year on year, led by Indore, Lucknow, and Nagpur. Train bookings by solo female travellers grew by 123% year on year for the company. ixigo said it is deepening its investment in agentic AI and automation to drive scalable, 'customer-first innovation'. The company said key AI led initiatives for the quarter under review include voice-led customer support, enhanced AI-based personalisation, and expanding bundled offerings like travel insurance and visa rejection protection. The company said its quarter one flash sales for flights and hotels were driven by AI-led videos and creatives, reducing production costs to just 0.1% of traditional budgets. According to Trendlyne, the average target price for Ixigo is Rs 207, indicating a potential upside of nearly 1% from current levels. Of the 3 analysts tracking the stock, the consensus rating is 'Strong Buy'. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Ixigo Passenger Segments Grew 36% in Q1FY26 Amid AI Push

The monthly active users (MAUs) of online travel agency Ixigo rose to 84.13 million in Q1FY26, compared to 79.74 million in the quarter ending June 2024. The passenger segments, which refer to the total number of point-to-point passenger tickets booked, grew by 36.4% year-over-year (YoY) to 36.07 million. Speaking of its financial performance, the total revenue from operations surged 73% YoY to Rs 314.5 crore in Q1FY26. Similarly, Ixigo's profit after tax stood at Rs 18.9 crore in Q1FY26, rising 26.8% YoY from Rs 14.9 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. Its Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) grew 69.2% to Rs 32.5 crore in the quarter. Meanwhile, the Gross Transaction Value (GTV) rose marginally by 5.6% YoY to Rs 4,644.6 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 2,988.1 crore in Q1FY25. The revenue streams in this segment comprise agent service charges, value-added services, payment gateway charges, and advertising income. Its GTV rose 30% YoY to Rs 2,055.1 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 1,579.17 crore in Q1FY25. Further, the revenue from operations increased 29% YoY to Rs 129.92 crore in the quarter. The management attributed this growth to a 45% YoY increase in train bookings by Gen Z travellers across cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and others. Additionally, train bookings by solo women travellers grew 123% YoY. Coming to the bus ticketing segment, it includes revenue streams like airline commissions, convenience fees, value-added services, and ancillaries, plus advertising income. The GTV grew by 81% YoY to Rs 681.04 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 376.39 crore in Q1FY25. Alongside this, the revenue from operations recorded a 93% YoY surge to Rs 76.64 crore. Akin to train ticketing, Gen Z travellers led a 56% YoY rise in bookings across cities like Indore, Lucknow, and Nagpur. This segment includes revenue streams like airline commissions, convenience fees, value-added services, and ancillaries, plus advertising income. The GTV increased 81% YoY to Rs 1,848.05 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 1,021.4 crore in the quarter ending June 2024. The revenue from operations grew to Rs 103.19 crore from Rs 41.5 crore during the same period. The company's management also shed light on the growth recovery in this segment after tragedies like the April 2025 Pahalgam attack and the AI-171 crash in June. Executives referenced customer reach-outs for reschedules, cancellations, and AI-augmented customer support as alleviating factors during this period. High flight bookings were noted due to factors such as compressed domestic airfares, the company's anniversary, and collaborations with bank partners for promotions, as well as new ancillary services. The management also lauded the integration of Agentic AI within the online travel agency sector. Consequently, Ixigo Director Rajnish Kumar referenced several applications of AI across the company, from ML-driven pricing models for products like Price Lock to the utilisation of DIY agentic tools to automate workflows by HR and Finance teams. Moving to the customer front, Kumar claimed that fully autonomous AI agents handle 60% of the company's customer support voice interactions.

Q1FY26 Earnings - Ixigo Sees Potential In AI-Driven Travel Features

"When it comes to leveraging emerging AI models and tools, we have taken a forward-leaning experimental approach, both to enhance internal efficiencies and to power new customer-facing experiences. Currently, over 40% of our code is AI-generated", stated Ixigo Director and Group Co-Chief Executive Officer Rajnish Kumar during the company's Q1FY26 earnings call. Remaining bullish on AI's potential, Kumar claimed that agentic AI may pose risks for late adapters in the online travel agency (OTA) business. This contrasts with Ixigo, which adopted the technology in 2017 with its agentic travel assistant TARA and later ventured into other use cases. These include real-time fare trackers, price prediction agents, and autonomous web checking agents delivering boarding passes to users' Apple or Google Wallets, among others. Building on AI integrations, stakeholders also questioned the impact of Ixigo's travel guarantee feature on its flight ticketing business. Launched in the last quarter of FY25, this feature allows customers to avail refunds and discounts on alternate modes of transportation in cases of unconfirmed tickets. While executives refrained from disclosing any financial metrics, they claimed that, given the low base of market penetration in this segment, there is still significant growth potential. This complements features like the travel guarantee, which could lead to potential upselling opportunities. Elsewhere, stakeholders discussed the impact of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) recent changes on Ixigo's train segment business. In response, officials explained that there were three primary changes with varying levels of impact. Firstly, the aspect of reverting back to a delay time of 30 minutes from 10 minutes in Tatkal booking introduced some volatility. Secondly, while Aadhaar linking with Tatkal ticket booking remains fairly recent, it has had a slight impact on train bookings. And thirdly, executives opined that the preparation of seating charts eight hours in advance instead of four hours impacts booking volumes positively. However, they cautioned that the full consequences of the changes and their impact on consumer behaviour would take time to ascertain. Notably, investments in cross-selling products, such as the travel guarantee, led to a decrease in the contribution margin percentage. For context, this value dropped to 40.7% in the quarter from 47.7% in Q1FY25. Within this, the train segment contributed 32% to the overall contribution margin. Elsewhere, analysts inquired whether external factors, such as elections, contributed to the growth in the bus business. While executives argued against any such events leaving a persistent impact, they referenced improvements in product for its growth in the past three quarters. This includes features like bus insights and the new Edge platform that translate into customer trust and conversion rate in bookings. While Ixigo remains a new entrant into the hotel business, executives contended that the 'room nights' booked metric is displaying a strong month-on-month growth. Currently, the vertical remains focused on tackling the unsolved customer pain areas and supply-side problems, aiming to improve customer experience, the management added. Differently, analysts queried officials on any plans to launch a B2B vertical with corporate tie-ups akin to their competitors. Without providing any specific timelines, executives expressed optimism around entry into these verticals in the future. For context, Ixigo's rival Yatra saw a 103% year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth in Q4FY25, which it attributed to the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events) or corporate business, among other levers. Coming to the expenses, the brand and advertising expenses in the quarter rose by 73.2% YoY to Rs 29.08 crore. This included celebrity-led advertisements in the train segment and cricketer-led campaigns on the bus segments, among other activities. However, the management termed this a "multi-year exercise", noting that their impacts will be visible later. Finally, analysts also probed the decrease in technology-related costs despite the first quarter performing strong seasonally. Notably, such costs increased in the previous quarter owing to a surge in queries like flight and train tracker. Clarifying this assumption, officials noted that technology costs get bunched up and should be viewed as a YoY metric instead of a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) analysis.