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Informist, Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

MUMBAI – Shares of pharmaceutical companies are seen moving in a range next week, but may act as defensive bets in a market weakened by concerns over high crude oil prices dragging down earnings across sectors. The profit-taking-induced sell-off on Friday notwithstanding, investors will likely rotate into pharmaceutical stocks in a volatile market, some analysts said. While earnings of most pharmaceutical companies are expected to be under pressure in the March quarter, owing to a slowdown in sales in the US, some export-focussed companies may be benefited by the depreciation of the rupee. India-oriented companies will likely register healthy domestic sales, but their input costs on raw materials may go up because of the domestic currency's weakness, some brokerages said. 

Mehr news agency said Iran's foreign minister will "begin a round of visits to Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow", starting Friday, according to several media reports. "The purpose of this trip is bilateral consultations, discussions about current developments in the region, and also the latest situation of the imposed war by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran," Mehr said. US President Donald Trump said he hopes to host Israeli and Lebanese leaders "in the near future", after announcing a three-week extension to the ceasefire in Lebanon, which was due to expire on Sunday.

The depreciation of the rupee against major global currencies in the past 3–4 months is supportive to reported earnings of Indian pharmaceutical companies. The sector is predominantly overseas-oriented, with a large share of revenues derived from exports out of India or from local businesses of foreign subsidiaries, Elara Securities said in a research report. The brokerage sees a 5% increase in 2026–27 (Apr-Mar) revenues for the companies under its coverage and up to a 15% rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation. However, the brokerage added that raw materials could be more expensive in rupee terms. The cost pressures partially offset the revenue benefit from a weaker rupee, Elara said.

"Companies with a larger share of overseas revenues are better placed to retain the currency tailwind at the margin level, whereas those with limited international exposure may experience margin pressure from higher input and operating costs, the brokerage said". The brokerage sees EBITDA upside of 12–15% for Granules Pharma, Aurobino Pharma and Gland Pharma. In contrast, Eris Lifesciences and Mankind Pharma could see a 1–2% negative impact on EBITDA due to the rise in rupee-denominated expenses, the brokerage said.

Shares of Cipla will be in focus in the coming week. Cipla's recent product approval of generic OFEV and generic Ventolin from the US Food and Drugs administration is likely to start allaying concerns arising about its US growth post the discontinuation of Lanreotide, loss of exclusivity in generic Revlimid and regulatory issues at key plants in India, ICICI Securities said. The brokerage raised its recommendation on the stock to 'buy' from 'hold'. The brokerage expects generic Ventolin and generic OFEV to likely generate sales of $100 million annually.

This week, the Nifty Pharma index ended 0.4% higher at 22580.10 points, while the Nifty 50 declined almost 2%. "The consolidation trend of the (Nifty Pharma) sectoral index will likely continue," a technical analyst at a domestic brokerage said. The analyst expects Nifty Pharma index to be in the range of 21100 points to 23500 points. 

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* Croatian drug regulator issues non-compliance observation to Eris Life's arm
* US FDA issues 3 observations to Lupin's New Jersey manufacturing facility
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* Cipla's mfg facility in Goa gets two observations from US FDA

Following are the resistance and support levels for key pharmaceutical stocks for next week as per calculations based on their prices on the National Stock Exchange:

End

US$1 = INR 94.25

Reported by Eshitva Prakash

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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