Wockhardt Limited

Healthcare — Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic · NSE

₹1,953.00+₹3.60 (+0.18%)

DalalBaazaar Score

52 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

Driven by a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with both sales and profits growing well. Valuation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:03 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Wockhardt Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Wockhardt Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a pharmaceutical and biotech company, in India, the United States, Europe, and internationally.

IndustryDrug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic

SectorHealthcare

Employees2,564

Annual revenue₹3,317 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹3,317 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹23 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,564 employees supports ₹1.29 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.29 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L, DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES, CIPLA LTD, DIVI S LABORATORIES LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 6.4% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

Peer median ROE14.5%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +25% while net margin moved -130% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+25%

Margin effect-130%

DalalBaazaar Score

52/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 77.5x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
✗ P/B of 6.51x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

59/ 100

Average

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

24/ 100

Expensive

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

77.5x

Sector Median

33.3x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Against its sector it trades 133% above the peer median of 33.3x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Expensive

33.3x median of 4 peers · +133%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

44.5x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 7.0% to 22.9% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -16.7% to 4.3%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -7.8% to 6.4%.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

No automated checks triggered

None of the automated financial checks below were triggered on the years of data available. That is not the same as a clean bill of health — see what could not be checked.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 7.0% to 22.9%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹26 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 133% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 7.8% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 21%✓ 22.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.9x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 2.1x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 6% a year✓ 7.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 25.9%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹26 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

8 / 11 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✗ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

5 good · 2 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹31,735 Cr

Mid Cap

Mid-sized — more growth headroom, but sharper swings than large caps

P/E (Trailing)

77.5x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

6.51x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹25.19

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

4.3%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

6.4%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.42x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

25.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

553.2%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

₹26 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

Operating Margin

14.3%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

11.2%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.66

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

1.00

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

65%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

2108.8 / 2030.9

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

24.4

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,646 Cr	₹2,789 Cr	₹2,915 Cr	₹3,317 Cr	+7.8%
EBITDA	₹185 Cr	₹239 Cr	₹452 Cr	₹758 Cr	+60.0%
EBITDA Margin	7.0%	8.6%	15.5%	22.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹559 Cr	-₹463 Cr	-₹47 Cr	₹213 Cr	—
EPS	₹-38.79	₹-32.05	₹-3.02	₹13.1	—
ROE	-16.7%	-13.8%	-1.1%	4.3%	—
ROCE	-7.8%	-2.7%	3.9%	6.4%	—
Total Debt	₹2,184 Cr	₹2,356 Cr	₹2,021 Cr	₹2,233 Cr	+0.7%
Free Cash Flow	-₹56 Cr	₹3 Cr	-₹387 Cr	₹26 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 7.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 60.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 7.0% to 22.9% over 3 years (+15.9 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹559 Cr to ₹213 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-38.79 to ₹13.1.

🟢 ROE has risen from -16.7% to 4.3% over 3 years (+21.0 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -7.8% to 6.4% over 3 years (+14.2 pts).

🟡 Total Debt has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.7% a year).

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹56 Cr to ₹26 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹8,615 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹3,334 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹217 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹390 Cr

Capex

-₹364 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

13.1%

Insider Holding

51.0%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

17 Nov 2016

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L	34.9x	14.5%
DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES	31.0x	8.8%
CIPLA LTD	31.8x	9.8%
DIVI S LABORATORIES LTD	83.0x	17.5%

Recent News

4 mixed2 general

Wockhardt Share Price Fall Streak: Sector Snapshot

Univest, 13 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

Wockhardt publishes 27th AGM addendum in newspapers after time shift

scanx.trade, 17 Oct

Wockhardt shares surge over 19% in four sessions, here is why

Upstox, 05 MayPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Wockhardt soars 19%, zooms 75% in 1 month; what's driving pharma stock?

Business Standard, 01 Jun

Wockhardt shares pause massive 36% rally in 5 sessions; slip 7%. What’s behind the selloff?

The Economic Times, 02 JunPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Wockhardt share price soars 19% to hit fresh record high; here's why

Business Today, 01 JunPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health

MiddlingProfitability · Risk

WeakGrowth · Valuation

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x; Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑