Despite “another impressive quarterly revenue beat” on Tuesday and solid initial guidance for 2025, Vertex stock dipped on light fourth-quarter earnings.
The biotech company earned an adjusted $3.98 per share during the three months ended Dec. 31. That fell more than 5% year over year, and missed forecasts for $4.02, according to FactSet.
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But other than that, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is “firing on all cylinders,” Piper Sandler analyst Christopher Raymond said in a report. He rates Vertex stock an overweight with a 533 price target.
“Specifically with the [cystic fibrosis] franchise continuing to produce upside, even with Alyftrek’s launch still in its infancy, and with Journavx’s launch still on the come, we like the opportunity for upside to FY25 guidance and estimates,” he said.
But Vertex stock fell 3.1% to 455.22. Shares are now below their 50-day moving average inside a consolidation with an entry at 519.88, MarketSurge shows.
Analysts Split On Vertex Stock
In total, sales grew 16% to $2.91 billion, comfortably ahead of forecasts for $2.78 billion. The lion’s share of that came from Vertex’s cystic fibrosis drugs, which generated $2.72 billion in sales. The remaining $191.2 million came from “other products.” Vertex also sells a gene-editing drug with Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP) to treat sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.
For the year, Vertex expects $11.75 billion to $12 billion in sales, in line with analysts’ forecast for $11.92 billion.
The fourth-quarter report had analysts split. While Piper Sandler’s Raymond called Vertex a “best-of-breed among biotech’s large caps,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams kept his sector perform rating. He hiked his price target on shares to 407 from 402.
Abrahams notes it’s still early days for Vertex’s newest cystic fibrosis drug. Meanwhile, the pain drug, Journavx, just won Food and Drug Administration approval.
“With shares at 26.5x [2025 estimates earnings per share], non-CF programs likely requiring greater relative investment, and entering a year with less certain commercial launch dynamics and riskier clinical readouts, we see a less compelling setup vs. some other large-caps,” he said.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X/Twitter at @AGatlin_IBD.
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