Despite massive volatility in the markets due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many stocks have hit their lifetime high levels. Pharmaceutical company stocks like Alembic Pharma and IPCA Labs recently touched lifetime highs. Even globally many technology companies touched their lifetime highs.

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The opportunities for some during times of adversities tend to much larger as the magnitude of disruptions is of the highest order., said Axis Bank in a recent report. The report identifies the key areas of opportunity which are likely to see outsize returns over the next one year.

The brokerage believes there will be a wide range of opportunities for quality companies across sectors; however, it added that some themes are more likely to play out and benefit the leader companies in that space disproportionately.

The brokerage has listed 6 key themes to look out for amid the crisis period. Based on the themes, it recommends the following stocks: ICICI Bank, Mindtree, HCL Tech, Manappuram, Biocon, Escorts, Minda Industries, Bharti Airtel, Aarti Industries, and Varun Beverages.

Here's the key themes it suggests:

1. As per Axis, digital and data services will play a bigger role now.

It believes this will provide significant opportunities for both technology companies and telecom service providers as demand will be ahead of supply.

2. The Pharmaceuticals sector has seen a significant re-rating post the crisis but the companies with higher domestic exposure have witnessed the maximum re-rating, the report noted. It added that this trend is likely to sustain and companies with solid growth profiles are likely to re-rate further and deliver robust returns over the next 12 months.

3. While competence of domestic manufacturing and the new challenges on account of labour dislocation are real but India has solid competence in Chemicals space, the brokerage said. Pharmaceuticals, Petrochemicals and Specialty Chemicals are the areas of strength for Indian companies and Axis believes that the Indian chemical companies could be the biggest

beneficiaries of the re-alignment of global supply chains.

4. The rural and Agri related themes could benefit, noted the brokerage as the COVID crisis has had a far lesser impact on the Indian agrarian economy. Also, the recent forecast of normal monsoon by IMD means the rural economy likely to perform much better than the urban economy, it added.

5. As per the brokerage, essential consumer goods will also recover from Q2FY21 and expects to witness further formalization as the unorganized market will see significant erosion. Lower input costs and competitive intensity will help aid margins and thus, large FMCG and small-ticket consumer discretionary companies could also see further re-rating, it stated.

6. Finally, the brokerage believes that large private banks will gain ground. Due to the major sell-off in the banking and financial space, it believes that this provides a lot of opportunities for large and high-quality private banks to gain market share. However, companies with strong collateral like Gold Finance are well placed and could see decent growth, it added.