Laurus Labs trades higher for fourth straight day; stock hits record high

The stock has outperformed the market in past four months. It has rallied 171 per cent since June on the back of strong quarterly earnings.

Shares of Laurus Labs hit a record high of Rs 1,263, up 4 per cent on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Thursday. The stock of the pharmaceutical company was trading higher for the fourth straight day, gaining 7 per cent during the period. It surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,263 touched on August 24, 2020, in the intra-day trade.

Laurus Labs has outperformed the S&P BSE Sensex in the past four months. Since June, it rallied 171 per cent on strong quarterly earnings. In comparison, the benchmark index was up 19 per cent during the same period.

Laurus Labs is a leading research-driven pharmaceutical manufacturing company in India. The company has grown to become one of the leading manufacturers of API for anti-retroviral (ARV), oncology, cardiovascular, anti-diabetics, anti-asthma, and gastroenterology.

The board of directors of the company has fixed September 30, 2020, as the record date for the sub-division of equity shares of the company from the existing face value of Rs 10 each to Rs 2 each. The company announced, on April 30, its stock split plan to make the stock more affordable for the small retail investors and increase liquidity.

For the April-June 2020 quarter (Q1FY21), Laurus Labs posted consolidated revenue of Rs 974 crore, up 77 per cent year-on-year (YoY) while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at Rs 285 crore, up 288 per cent YoY. EBITDA margin came in at 29 per cent while net profit or profit after tax (PAT) zoomed 1,047 per cent YoY to Rs 172 crore.

Ambit Capital maintains ‘buy’ rating on the stock with the target price of Rs 1,295 per share. The brokerage firm has substantially upgraded FY21/22 EPS to Rs 63/Rs 74 from Rs 38/ Rs 41, owing to incremental projects in CRAMS; EFV API sales uptick and customer wins in non-ARV APIs with 20 per cent capacity expansion underway.

At 11:45 am, Laurus Labs was trading 1.5 per cent higher at Rs 1,230 on the BSE, as compared to a 1.3 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 982,000 equity shares had changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE.