Financial fortitude: Indian pharmaceutical sector’s performance before and during COVID-19 using fuzzy AHP & TOPSIS

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the financial performance of various sectors across the globe, including the Indian pharmaceutical industry. This study aims to evaluate the financial performance of ten Indian pharmaceutical companies listed in the S&P BSE Healthcare Index over two distinct periods: before COVID-19 (2018–2020) and during the pandemic (2020–2022). A hybrid multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach, integrating the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), is employed to assess companies based on five key financial dimensions and several performance indicators. Results indicate that profitability, valuation, and growth ratios were the most critical dimensions, with weights of 0.21 each, followed by liquidity (0.19) and efficiency (0.18). Furthermore, among the companies evaluated, Divis Labs and Abbott India emerged as top performers, both during and before the pandemic, with Divis Labs registering closeness coefficients of 0.871 and 0.814 during 2020–2021 and 2021–2022. The findings highlight the financial resilience of these companies, offering valuable insights for stakeholders in formulating strategies to sustain financial stability during future crises.