Can you expect healthy growth in pharma stocks now? Here's what top brokerages recommend

Pharma stocks have been among the worst hit spaces on Dalal Street in the past few months. The Nifty Pharma -- whose 20 constituents include some of the country's largest drug makers such as Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy's and Divi's -- has lost more than nine per cent of its value in the past one year, a period in which the Nifty50 benchmark has declined almost two per cent. 

Brokerages have mixed views on pharma stocks at the current juncture.

According to Anand Rathi, there was a pickup in demand in the acute therapy segment in the pharma sector in December 2022. Despite high bases, price hikes should aid decent growth for companies operating in acute therapies and volume growth momentum should continue in the chronic therapy segment, the brokerage said in a research report. 

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Anand Rathi is positive on chronic therapy-focused companies such as Abbott, Ajanta Cipla, JB Chemicals, Eris and Torrent Pharma.  

Cipla 

Jefferies downgraded Cipla to 'hold' from 'buy' and reduced its target by Rs 219 to Rs 1,100 apiece -- implying two per cent upside potential from Tuesday's closing price. 

HSBC maintained a 'buy' on the stock and raised its target price by Rs 10 to Rs 1,350. 

Sun Pharma 

Jefferies maintained a 'buy' call on Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and raised its target prce by Rs 16 to Rs 1,200 apiece. 

HSBC also retained a 'buy' on the stock. The brokerage raised its target by Rs 20 to Rs 1,210 apiece. 

Sun Pharma said on Wednesday that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has launched a novel anti-cancer drug, Palbociclib, in India for patients who have advanced breast cancer. 

Divi’s Laboraties 

Jefferies continued with an 'underperform' on Divi’s Labs but raised its target to Rs 3,045 from Rs 3,017.

HSBC maintained a 'hold' on the stock and raised its target to Rs 3,440 from Rs 3,425. 

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Biocon

Jefferies downgraded Biocon to 'hold' from 'buy' and reduced its target to Rs 285 from Rs 357. Yet, the brokerage's target price implies upside potential of 10.5 per cent from its closing price on Tuesday.  

HSBC maintained 'hold' on Biocon and brought down its target to Rs 300 from Rs 325. 

Lupin 

Jefferies retained an 'underperform' rating on Lupin and raised its target price for the stock by Re 1 to Rs 650.  

HSBC, on the other hand, upgraded Lupin to 'buy' from 'hold' and raised its target for the stock to Rs 860 from Rs 715.

Laurus Labs 

Jefferies downgraded Laurus to 'hold' from 'buy' and reduced its target to Rs 395 from Rs 567.

Alkem Labs

Jefferies maintained 'underperform' on Alkem and lowered its target for the stock to Rs 2,600 from Rs 2,802.   

HSBC continued with its 'buy' rating on Alkem but reduced its target to Rs 3,555 from Rs 3,735. 

Torrent Pharma

Jefferies maintained 'hold' on Torrent Pharma and raised its target for the stock to Rs 1,620 from Rs 1,505.

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