Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd rose over 3 per cent on Tuesday, March 11, after ICICI Securities upgraded the stock’s rating to ‘Buy’.
This adds to the continued positive investor sentiment driven by the acquisition of Nasdaq-listed Checkpoint Therapeutics for $355 million. As of 1:30 pm, Sun Pharma shares were trading at Rs 1,655.95 per share, up 2.76 per cent.
ICICI Securities upgraded its rating on the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’. In this, it has set a target price of Rs 1,895 based on 31x FY27 estimated earnings per share (32x FY26 estimated earnings per share).
The brokerage further mentioned that the stock has declined ~10 per cent in the last two months. Meanwhile, both Motilal Oswal and HDFC Securities have reiterated a ‘buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,970 and Rs 1,970, respectively.
Meanwhile, InCred has assigned a ‘hold’ rating to the stock with a target price of Rs 1,900. This acquisition of Checkpoint Therapeutics, a US-based early-stage oncology-focused biotech company, is a step towards further expanding its specialized portfolio.
The deal includes an upfront cash payment of $4.1/share. This will total up to $355 million, and future milestones worth $0.7/share. The transaction is expected to be completed by the second half of 2025.
This acquisition expands SUNP’s onco-derma offerings The acquisition is in line with Sun Pharma’s ongoing strategy to expand its oncology and immunotherapy portfolio, following the earlier acquisition of Concert Pharma for $576 million in 2023, and collaboration with Philogene in 2024 for global exclusive commercialisation, license and supply agreement for the specialty product Fibromune.
