Alkem Laboratories: India growth muted; new platforms to weigh on margins

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

Asia Pacific Equity Research

15 August 2026

Alkem Laboratories

Neutral

ALKE.NS, ALKEM IN

Price (14 Aug 26):Rs5,368.00

India growth muted; new platforms to weigh on margins

▲Price Target (Sep-27):Rs6,100.00

Prior (Mar-27):Rs5,900.00

Alkem’s India performance remains underwhelming (+10% YoY), with the

branded business up ~12% but trade generics flat, limiting overall growth. While

we expect trade generics to recover over the coming quarters, we see it as a

structural constraint with growth likely capped at high single digits, implying India

growth could remain below peers even as execution improves. Higher opex also

tempered margin delivery despite the sharp improvement in gross margin, with the

benefit largely reinvested. We see profitability weighed by newer platforms:

Occlutech is likely margin-dilutive over the next few years (breakeven in FY27),

while Enzene (US CDMO) should take ~4–5 quarters to reach breakeven per

mgmt, keeping margin visibility constrained in the near-to-medium term. While

the stock trades at reasonable valuations of 17x/15x on FY28/29E EV/EBITDA,

we see limited earnings momentum and few clear near-term drivers to re-rate the

name. Maintain Neutral. Revised PT of Rs6,100 (rolled forward to Sep-28E).

Soft quarter; higher opex offsets gross margin strength: 1Q revenue came

in at Rs37bn (+11% YoY, +4% QoQ), ~2% below consensus/JPMe, driven by

softer India growth (+10% YoY) and weaker US sales ($79mn vs $86mn

JPMe), partly offset by strong non-US growth (+35% YoY). Gross margin

improved sharply to 67.9% (+260bps YoY, +250bps QoQ), ~290bps above

JPMe, aided by a better mix (lower trade generics). However, EBITDA margin

was 20.5% (-140bps YoY, +610bps QoQ), slightly below consensus/JPMe as

higher employee and other expenses (including Enzene CDMO-related spend)

offset the gross margin beat. EBITDA was Rs7.6bn (+4% YoY, +48% QoQ),

~3% below consensus/JPMe, while adj. PAT was Rs5.2bn (-21% YoY, +54%

QoQ), 8%/6% below consensus/JPMe due to a higher tax rate.

India growth dragged by muted trade generics performance: India sales

were Rs25bn (+10% YoY), with ~12% growth in branded formulations offset

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