Healthcare services stocks rally; Thyrocare up 35% in 2 days post Q2 update

Thyrocare Technologies, Metropolis Healthcare and Dr. Lal PathLabs, hitting their respective record highs, were up 9 per cent to 17 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade.

Shares of healthcare services companies were on a roll, surging by up to 17 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday on the expectation of strong earnings in the July-September quarter (Q2FY21).

Thyrocare Technologies, Metropolis Healthcare, and Dr. Lal PathLabs hit their respective record highs and were up 9 per cent to 17 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.72 per cent at 39,860 points at 10:49 am.

Shares of Thyrocare Technologies soared 17 per cent to Rs 1,038.60; zooming 35 per cent in the past two trading days after the company on Tuesday said it reported nearly 37 per cent year-on-year and over 100 per cent sequential growth in aggregate revenue for the quarter ended September 2020 (Q2FY21). 

“Q2FY21 has witnessed a motivating number and increased turnover of Covid-PCR and Covid-Antibody testing, and the aggregate revenue for the quarter has increased by about 37 per cent compared to Q2FY20. The low revenue in Q1FY21 has bounced back in Q2FY21 with a very healthy growth of 171 per cent over the trailing quarter,” Thyrocare Technologies said in a statement.

"The company has done more than 4 lakh Covid-19 RT-PCR test and more than 3.20 lakh Covid antibody test as on September 30, 2020. The Company has also started RT-PCR tests from its laboratory situated at Gurgaon, Delhi, and will create the same kind of facilities at Banglore and Kolkata. With non-Covid tests coming back to track, we anticipate a need for more capacity and facilities," it said.

Metropolis Healthcare has rallied nearly 9 per cent to Rs 2,117.55 on the BSE. The stock has gained 18 per cent in the past three trading days after the company said it has achieved the highest ever quarterly revenue in Q2FY21.

The revenue for Q2FY21 has nearly doubled from Q1FY21 and has grown by around 25 per cent from Q2FY20 levels. In September 2020, revenue growth stood at around 40 per cent as compared to September 2019 due to an increase in Covid testing month-over-month and improving non-Covid business performance.

With scale-up of non-Covid business, sustained cost management measures as well as operating leverage on account of a significant uptick in revenue, the EBITDA margins in Q2FY21 have improved over Q2FY20, the company said.