The Hyderabad-based CRDMO saw its stock slip roughly 10% from the ₹1,697 peak hit in early September. The pullback stems largely from first-quarter profitability numbers that landed short of expectations. Q1 margins settled at 27%, missing the company’s medium-term guidance band of 28–30%.
In a direct conversation with CNBC-TV18, CFO Sivaramakrishnan Chittor offered a clear roadmap. He stated the firm will sustain a 15–20% compound annual growth rate for the next three to five years. While that pace is slower than the $3.5-billion company’s recent explosive trajectory, it remains a substantial run-rate for long-term holders. Shares currently trade near three times the issue price, and the street consensus targets ₹1,628—just a 7% premium to the current market level.
Chittor addressed the margin squeeze head-on, citing fixed costs in personnel and facility overheads. “Even when we did 30% last year, our margins change based on the revenue growth that happens,” he explained. He expects the margin to climb in the second half as revenue volume scales up, absorbing those fixed costs.
The growth engine is shifting toward complex modalities. The company is expanding into peptide manufacturing and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). A pilot-scale peptide facility is slated for completion by the end of the current financial year or early next, with a larger commercial unit planned for 2028. The strategic intent is clear: capture demand from large international pharma firms diversifying supply chains away from China.
Revenue composition currently shows pharma at 40% and biotech at 60% of the drug discovery segment, which itself makes up 35% of total revenue. With eight of nine analysts holding a 'buy' call, the market is waiting for the second-half margin recovery to validate the expansion thesis.