<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD JATS (Z39.96) Journal Publishing DTD v1.2 20190208//EN"
  "https://jats.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/1.2/JATS-journalpublishing1.dtd">
<article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
         xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"
         article-type="research-article"
         dtd-version="1.2">

  <!-- ============================================================ FRONT -->
  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">IJLTEMAS</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management &amp; Applied Science (IJLTEMAS)</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">IJLTEMAS</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="epub">2278-2540</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>IJLTEMAS</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>

    <article-meta>
      <!-- IDs -->
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">79</article-id>
            <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.51583/IJLTEMAS.2026.150700074</article-id>
      
      <!-- Categories -->
            <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Management</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      
      <!-- Title -->
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Profitability, Growth and Market Valuation of Leading Pharmaceutical Companies in India: A Comparative Financial Analysis</article-title>
      </title-group>

      <!-- Authors -->
      <contrib-group>
                <contrib contrib-type="author">
                    <name>
            <surname>T</surname>
            <given-names>Divyashree</given-names>
          </name>
                              <aff>
            Faculty, Department of Business Administration, Sira PG Center, Sira, Tumkur University, Tumkur                        <country>India</country>
                      </aff>
                    
        </contrib>
                <contrib contrib-type="author">
                    <name>
            <surname>Nischith S</surname>
            <given-names>Dr.</given-names>
          </name>
                              <aff>
            Faculty, Department of Business Administration, BIMS, University of Mysore, Mysore                        <country>India</country>
                      </aff>
                    
        </contrib>
              </contrib-group>

      <!-- Volume / Issue / Pages -->
            <volume>15</volume>
                  <issue>7</issue>
                        <fpage>890</fpage>
            <lpage>904</lpage>
            
      <!-- Dates -->
      <history>
                <date date-type="received">
          <day>01</day>
          <month>08</month>
          <year>2026</year>
        </date>
                        <date date-type="accepted">
          <day>06</day>
          <month>08</month>
          <year>2026</year>
        </date>
              </history>

            <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>13</day>
        <month>08</month>
        <year>2026</year>
      </pub-date>
      
      <!-- DOI Self-URI -->
            <self-uri xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.51583/IJLTEMAS.2026.150700074"/>
      
      <!-- Keywords -->
            <kwd-group kwd-group-type="author">
                <kwd>Net Profit Margin</kwd>
                <kwd>Financial Growth</kwd>
                <kwd>Market Valuation</kwd>
                <kwd>Market Capitalization</kwd>
                <kwd>Pharmaceutical Companies.</kwd>
              </kwd-group>
      
    </article-meta>
  </front>

  <!-- ============================================================ BODY (Abstract) -->
  <body>
        <sec>
      <title>Abstract</title>
      <p>The profitability, growth, volatility and market valuations of 10 of the Indian pharmaceutical companies have been assessed in the study. The Quarter wise data of the 24 Quarters starting from FY 2020-21 to FY 2025-26 was considered for the following companies Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Cipla, Divi's Laboratories, Lupin, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Zydus Lifesciences, Biocon, Aurobindo Pharma and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. Profits were calculated through Net Profit Margins, while market values were calculated through the Price to Earnings Ratio and Price to Sales ratio. Revenues from operations, Profit after Tax and Market Capitalization were calculated through average quarterly growth rates, maximum and minimum growth rates and standard deviation. Divi's Laboratories had the highest Net Profit Margin percentage of 28.17% along with the highest Price to Sales ratio of 51.55. Zydus Lifesciences had the highest CAGR of Market Capitalization of 29.38%, Biocon had the highest CAGR of revenue of 14.70% with a negative CAGR of Market Capitalization. There were differences in profitability and market valuation ratios among the companies, and high valuation multiples did not correlate with profit growth. A rank based composite assessment was done where Divi's Laboratories was placed at the top, followed by Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Cipla. The study highlights that the financial strength in the Indian pharmaceutical sector can be said to be multidimensional and company specific depending on the profitability, operational stability, quality of growth and expectations of investors.</p>
    </sec>
      </body>

  <!-- ============================================================ BACK (References) -->
    <back>
    <ref-list>
      <title>References</title>
            <ref id="ref1">
        <label>1</label>
        <mixed-citation>Behera, C., &amp; Rath, B. N. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and Indian pharmaceutical companies: An event study analysis. Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, 24(Special Issue), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.21098/bemp.v24i0.1483</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref2">
        <label>2</label>
        <mixed-citation>Bhaumik, S. K., Driffield, N. L., &amp; Pal, S. (2010). Does ownership structure of emerging-market firms affect their outward FDI? The case of the Indian automotive and pharmaceutical sectors. Journal of International Business Studies, 41(3), 437–450. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2009.52</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref3">
        <label>3</label>
        <mixed-citation>Lobo, S., &amp; Bhat, S. (2024). Unveiling investor behavior: An investigation into India’s pharmaceutical sector during COVID-19. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 21(3), 399–411. https://doi.org/10.21511/imfi.21(3).2024.32</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref4">
        <label>4</label>
        <mixed-citation>Mittal, S., &amp; Sharma, D. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on stock returns of the Indian healthcare and pharmaceutical sector. Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal, 15(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.14453/aabfj.v15i1.2</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref5">
        <label>5</label>
        <mixed-citation>Purkayastha, S., Manolova, T. S., &amp; Edelman, L. F. (2022). Innovation and internationalization in the Indian pharmaceutical sector: The moderating role of ownership structures. In D. Dikova and E. Ipsmiller (Eds.), Research handbook on innovation in international business (pp. 219–238). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800882942.00017</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref6">
        <label>6</label>
        <mixed-citation>Varghese, A., Santhosh, A. K., Anjana, K. M., &amp; Francis, R. (2025). Fundamental research and analysis of India pharmaceutical sector. Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities, 12(S1), 124–130. https://doi.org/10.34293/sijash.v12iS1-June.9127</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref7">
        <label>7</label>
        <mixed-citation>Lamba, A., Aggarwal, P., Gupta, S., &amp; Joshipura, M. (2024). What determines the performance of pharmaceutical firms in India on account of COVID-19 interventions? International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 18(3), 353–374. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-05-2023-0039</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref8">
        <label>8</label>
        <mixed-citation>Purkayastha, S., Manolova, T. S., &amp; Edelman, L. F. (2015). Business group effects on the innovation–internationalization relationship: Evidence from the Indian pharmaceutical sector. In L. Tihanyi, E. R. Banalieva, T. M. Devinney, and T. Pedersen (Eds.), Emerging economies and multinational enterprises (Advances in International Management, Vol. 28, pp. 379–402). Emerald Group Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1571-502720150000028017</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref9">
        <label>9</label>
        <mixed-citation>Purkayastha, S., Manolova, T. S., &amp; Edelman, L. F. (2018). Business group effects on the R&amp;D intensity–internationalization relationship: Empirical evidence from India. Journal of World Business, 53(2), 104–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2016.11.004</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref10">
        <label>10</label>
        <mixed-citation>Sohrabji, N., &amp; Marquette, K. (2023). How structural changes are driving R&amp;D activity in India’s pharmaceutical sector. Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, 14(3), 256–261. https://doi.org/10.1093/jphsr/rmad035</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref11">
        <label>11</label>
        <mixed-citation>Tyagi, S., Nauriyal, D. K., &amp; Gulati, R. (2018). Firm-level R&amp;D intensity: Evidence from the Indian drugs and pharmaceutical industry. Review of Managerial Science, 12(1), 167–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-016-0218-8</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
            <ref id="ref12">
        <label>12</label>
        <mixed-citation>Varma, Y., Venkataramani, R., Kayal, P., &amp; Maiti, M. (2021). Short-term impact of COVID-19 on the Indian stock market. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14(11), Article 558. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14110558</mixed-citation>
      </ref>
          </ref-list>
  </back>
  
</article>
