Shares of Torrent Pharma jumped 13 percent on Friday after the pharmaceutical company reported a strong set of numbers in the June-quarter amid a challenging environment. Brokerage firms are also positive on the stock post the Q1 numbers.

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The stock rose as much as 13 percent to Rs 2,754.90 per share on BSE. The stock has jumped over 47 percent in 2020 so far and added 16 percent in July.

Pharma companies have been in the spotlight during this pandemic with the major firms focussing on developing COVID-19 treatments. The Nifty Pharma outperforming all major indices and benchmarks, up 37 percent as compared to a 9 percent fall in Nifty in 2020 YTD.

Torrent Pharma reported a 48.61 percent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 321 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, mainly on account of robust sales in the Indian market, the company said in a BSE filing. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 216 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

According to Samir Mehta, executive chairman, Torrent Pharma, the first quarter of current fiscal witnessed challenges due to Covid-19 hampering industry growth in global markets.

"In India, despite a challenging market environment, Torrent was able to sustain its base revenue of the previous year with the chronic and sub‐chronic portfolio gaining market share. Expenses were lower during the quarter owing to the lockdown which aided margins. We remain optimistic about a gradual recovery in India, Brazil, US and Germany in the coming quarters," Mehta said post the results.

Brokerages Citi and CLSA maintain buy calls on the stock. CLSA also raised the stock's target price to Rs 3,100 from Rs 2,920 earlier.

As per CLSA, the profit at 48 percent was ahead of estimates driven by a margin surprise. Higher gross margin and lower operational expenditure drove 539 bps spike in EBITDA margin to its 4-year high of 32 percent, it added.

The global firm believes that the portfolio mix of the firm augurs well for a healthy earnings growth and expects that improving outlook on exports in FY22 will aid the margin expansion. It also raised FY21-22 EPR estimates by 2-4 percent.

Meanwhile, Citi also lauded the Q1 results of the firm, saying that the results demonstrate resilience in the company's business model. It expects the momentum to continue aided by recovery in branded generic markets and sees pickup in markets like US and Germany in the next 6-12 months. The brokerage has a target price of Rs 2,940 per share for the stock.