India's Laurus Labs falls after brokerage flags weakness in core business

Laurus Labs

12/09/2023 07:03

** Shares of Laurus Labs  LAUL.NS  fall as much as 5.61% to
384.55 rupees, their biggest intraday pct slide in four months 
    ** The drugmaker is the top loser in pharma index
 .NIPHARM , which edged 0.2% higher 
    ** Domestic brokerage Kotak Institutional Equities
downgrades LAUL's stock to "sell" from "reduce"; target price
unchanged at 300 rupees
    ** Kotak cuts earnings estimates for fiscal 2024-2026 by
5%-7% on lower sales and margins
    ** Says valuations in the synthesis segment "difficult to
justify"
    ** Adds that weakness in LAUL's core business over the past
two years as "certainly unsettling"    
    ** Of 11 analysts tracking LAUL, one maintains "strong buy",
four have "buy", three suggest  "hold" and three recommend
"strong sell"; median TP is 340 rupees - LSEG data
    ** LAUL shares up 3.1% so far in 2023, versus a ~22% gain in
pharma index  .NIPHARM  
    
    

 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)
 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463))