Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries hit a multi-year high of Rs 1,012.50 in intraday trade on Thursday, rising 2% on expectations of strong earnings growth. After more than seven years, the pharmaceutical giant’s share price has crossed the Rs 1,000 mark. It was trading at its highest level since May 2015. The stock hit an all-time high of Rs 1,201 on April 7, 2015.

Sun Pharma rose for the third day in a row, gaining nearly 4%. The stock has gained 13% in the past month, compared with the S&P BSE Sensex’s 5% gain.

The pharma company will likely witness a decent quarter due to strong year-over-year growth in domestic formulations and a stable US portfolio amid favourable currency moves and key launches. In their earnings preview, they are benefiting from new introductions and field force expansion, thanks to the full-quarter impact of higher volumes of chronic and sub-chronic therapies and from price hikes and analysts at ICICI Securities.

In the second quarter of FY23, Sun Pharma’s revenue is likely to grow by about 15.8% YoY to Rs 11,145 crore, mainly due to a 13% increase in domestic formulations to Rs 3,602 crore and a US growth of about 27% to Rs 3,411 crore (probably the brokerage firm said it would be driven by professional and taro acquisitions).

The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin is likely to fall by 32 basis points to 27%, while EBITDA is expected to rise 14.4% year-on-year to Rs 3,009 crore. It added that adjusted profit after tax is likely to be flat at Rs 2,051 crore year-on-year.

Growth drivers for Sun Pharma continue to come from the speciality product portfolio. The domestic preparation business will maintain a healthy growth of over 12%. Analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher said comments on margins would be key to monitoring.

Meanwhile, Sun Pharma chairman Dilip Shanghvi told the annual general meeting (AGM) that all the company’s businesses are well positioned for growth and expect double-digit growth in consolidated revenue in FY23. The global speciality business is expected to continue to grow.

“Overall expenses are expected to increase as global business operations normalise. Our R&D investments will account for around 7-8% of sales in FY23, and spending on speciality product clinical trials is expected to increase,” said the chairman. Sun Pharma will announce its Q2FY23 results on November 1, 2022.