Mankind Pharma enters top 100 companies by market cap after a stellar listing

• Mankind Pharma entered the top 100 companies club in terms of highest market capitalization on listing day.
• Analysts say that the dazzling listing gains by Mankind Pharma has brought back life into the primary market.
• Macquarie Research has initiated coverage on the company with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a target price of ₹1,400.

After a lull period of over four months in 2023, the stellar debut of Mankind Pharma has rekindled optimism in the primary market.

With a 32% run up in stock price as compared to the issue price, the company provided investors with good profits. With a marketcap of ₹56,108 crore, it also entered the top 100 companies club on its debut day.

It ranks at 84 in terms of largest listed companies in India, leaving behind the likes of Punjab National Bank, Hero MotoCorp, UPL, Indian Hotels and Zomato.

Retail investors’ bonanza

All the retail investors who had invested in the IPO have been allotted the shares, helping them gain from the stock run up. Only 92% of the portion of shares reserved for retail investors were subscribed, hence every investor who applied were allotted stocks.

Overall, the ₹4,326 crore IPO generated good demand from investors, with the issue being subscribed 15.32 times, thanks to the qualified institutional buyers who subscribed the most at 49.16 times.

Analysts say that the dazzling listing gains by Mankind Pharma has brought back life into the primary market.

“Fast growing India-centric Mankind Pharma truly deserves credit for bringing back life into the primary market during CY 2023 with a stellar listing which provided a 30% return to retail investors. The icing on the cake was the allotment itself wherein almost all retail investors were allotted the shares,” said S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Securities.

On Wednesday, shares of the company were down 2.2% to 1,390 per share, as the Indian stock markets remained volatile, ahead of US inflation data to be released later today.

Fundamentals are strong, say analysts

Analysts say that the stock may continue to do well backed by its strong fundamentals.

“Mankind Pharma got listed at 20% premium to the IPO price, thus receiving a strong response. The primary market saw an IPO hitting after a long gap, thus the interest was high. Moreover the healthcare sector was a laggard over the last one year but started seeing traction over the last two months as the monthly pharma data showed improvement. Given its healthy financial track record, domestic focus and extensive network, Mankind is likely to continue doing well,” Hemang Jani, Head of Equity Strategy, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Macquarie Research has initiated coverage on the company with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a target price of ₹1,400.

“We believe the company’s net profit could double (>2x) in the next three years, driven by: a) continued sales outperformance relative to Indian pharma market (IPM), b) mix shift towards chronic therapies, and c) unlocking of meaningful operating leverage as salesforce productivity improves,” said the brokerage firm.

The brokerage believes that Mankind Pharma is at a discounted valuation than its peers — Abbott India, GSK India and Pfizer India.

Mankind Pharma has 50 brands under it, which are cheaper than its peers in respective categories, and 39 brands out of them have outperformed their respective category growth. These include products like Mankind Unwanted Kit, Prega News, Gas-O-Fast and so on.

The company entered into the consumer healthcare business in 2007 and has established brands in condoms, pregnancy detection, emergency contraceptives, antacid, vitamin and mineral supplement and anti-acne preparations categories.

Some of its key brands such as Manforce, Prega News and Unwanted-72 are market leaders in their respective categories.


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