Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Has Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Strong: Is The Market Wrong?

With its stock down 6.7% over the past month, it is easy to disregard Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX). But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Vertex Pharmaceuticals' ROE today.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for Vertex Pharmaceuticals

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Vertex Pharmaceuticals is:

21% = US$3.5b ÷ US$17b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.21 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Earnings Growth And 21% ROE

At first glance, Vertex Pharmaceuticals seems to have a decent ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 17% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Vertex Pharmaceuticals was able to see a decent growth of 16% over the last five years.

We then performed a comparison between Vertex Pharmaceuticals' net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 17% in the same 5-year period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is VRTX fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Vertex Pharmaceuticals Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Given that Vertex Pharmaceuticals doesn't pay any dividend to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Vertex Pharmaceuticals' performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.