VRTXVertex Pharmaceuticals
Is the business good?
The checks split: earnings fully cash-backed (1.1×) and elite returns on assets, but margins compressing.
Mixed fundamental signals. Nine pass/fail tests of year-over-year health from the filings.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is worsening vs a year ago.
Positive operating leverage, operating profit is growing faster than sales, so margins widen as the business scales.
High-quality, exceptional returns on the assets themselves, not leverage. ROE 22% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is VRTX?
Vertex Pharmaceuticals earns 30% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so the business is worth more the bigger it gets.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 21 points above what the capital costs: growth creates value
- Operating margin
- 38%
Operating margin · Biotechnology median −77% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Cash conversion
- 1.08×
Cash conversion · 1.18× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- −1.4%
Share count, year on year · bought back, each share owns more of the company
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 46% |
| FY2021 | 37% |
| FY2022 | 48% |
| FY2023 | 39% |
| FY2024 | −2.1% |
| FY2025 | 35% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 86%
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 38%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 35%
- Free cash flow margin
- 30%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 31%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $12.6B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $3.80B
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $4.41B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 30%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Biotechnology
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