stock market
The name of Rekha Jhunjhunwala, wife of veteran stock market investor late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, is included among the biggest investors of the country. According to the data for March 2026 quarter, his public portfolio is worth about Rs 48,000 crore, which includes 27 companies. Apart from big companies like Titan, Tata Motors and Star Health, he has also made strong bets in the pharma sector. The special thing is that his total investment in two companies of pharma sector, Jubilant Pharmova and Wockhardt, is about Rs 1,550 crore.
Rekha Jhunjhunwala’s largest stake in the pharma sector is in Jubilant Pharmova. As of March 2026 quarter, he holds 6.4% stake in the company, whose current value is around Rs 999 crore. He holds about 1.02 crore shares of the company. Jubilant Pharma is an integrated pharma company, which is present in the business of radiopharmaceuticals, contract manufacturing and research services. The biggest strength of the company is considered to be its radiopharmaceuticals business. It manufactures and supplies special radioactive materials used in heart and cancer scans.
This company with a market cap of about Rs 15,471 crore is the third largest radiopharmaceutical manufacturer in America. Apart from this, the company also operates the second largest radiopharmacy network there with 46 sites. It is not easy for new companies to enter this business, because products have to be manufactured and supplied very quickly. This is the reason why competition remains limited in this business. Rekha Jhunjhunwala is holding her stake in the company since September 2021. He has not made any major changes in it in the last five years. This clearly indicates that this investment is based on long-term confidence rather than any short-term trade.
Despite challenges in business, investment continues
However, Jubilant Pharmova’s performance has not been very strong in the last few years. The company’s sales have registered an average annual growth of about 6% during the last five years. At the same time, there is pressure on operating profit. The impact of declining margins in the old generic drugs business is visible on the company’s results. The company’s EBITDA was Rs 1,403 crore in FY21, which declined to around Rs 1,260 crore in FY26. The company also had to suffer loss in FY23. Although some improvement was seen later, there was again a big decline in profits in FY26. Despite this, Rekha Jhunjhunwala has retained her stake.
High-risk bet made in Wockhardt
Rekha Jhunjhunwala’s second big choice in the pharma sector is Wockhardt. He holds 1.8% stake in the company, whose current value is around Rs 558 crore. He holds about 28.37 lakh shares. Wockhardt had to face problems like heavy debt for a long time, restrictions from the US regulator USFDA and continuous losses. This was the reason why this company was considered risky for investors. But in the last few years, there has been significant improvement in the condition of the company.
Wockhardt, with a market cap of around Rs 31,965 crore, is today among the top three Indian generic pharmaceutical companies in Britain. It is also the sixth largest generic drug supplier in Ireland’s retail and hospital channels. The company’s Methycobalamin brand is considered the leader in its segment in India.
The company returned from losses to profit.
Wockhardt’s sales have grown an average of about 5% over the past five years, but the company’s biggest achievement has been improving profits. While the company was incurring losses at the operating level in FY21, its operating profit increased to Rs 652 crore in FY26. The company’s operating margin has been above 20% in the last two quarters. Apart from this, after continuously incurring losses for four years, the company has registered a net profit of Rs 199 crore in FY26. The company has also reduced its debt to a great extent. The debt of around Rs 4,160 crore in FY17 came down to around Rs 2,233 crore in FY26. Although the balance sheet cannot be called completely strong, but the situation has become much better than before.
The combined investment of around Rs 1,550 crore in Jubilant Pharmova and Wockhardt shows Rekha’s belief in the long-term opportunities in the Jhunjhunwala pharma sector. On one hand, he has chosen a company with a strong and stable business model, and on the other hand, he has also invested in a high-risk company which is on the path of improvement. This strategy makes his portfolio different from other investors.
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