Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

Worth knowing

• Buybacks largely absorbed by stock pay. Stock-based pay expense $2.0B vs $3.6B spent repurchasing shares over the 3 fiscal years to 2025. Shares outstanding changed −1.4% from December 2022 to July 2026.

  Over three fiscal years Vertex Pharmaceuticals recorded $2.0B of stock-based pay expense and spent $3.6B repurchasing shares (repurchases can include shares withheld to cover employees' taxes). The share count barely moved (−1.4%), so much of the repurchasing offset new employee shares rather than shrinking the count.Over three fiscal years Vertex Pharmaceuticals recorded $2.0B of stock-based pay expense and spent $3.6B repurchasing shares. The share count barely moved (−1.4%), so much of the repurchasing offset new employee shares rather than shrinking the count.

• Sales growing faster than profits. Since 2022: revenue +34%, operating profit −3.1%.

  Since 2022, Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue changed +34% while operating profit fell 3.1%: costs rose faster than sales.

• Annual revenue rose 5 years in a row. Fiscal-year revenue rose from $6.2B in 2020 to $12.0B in 2025.

  Vertex Pharmaceuticals's fiscal-year revenue rose in each of the five years to 2025, from $6.2B to $12.0B.

• Wide margins. Operating margin 38% (12 months to Jun 2026) vs a peer median of 7.1%.Operating margin 38% vs peers 7.1%.

  Vertex Pharmaceuticals keeps 38% of revenue as operating profit, more than 95% of peers (median 7.1%).