Is Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated's (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ:VRTX) stock is up by a considerable 16% over the past three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study Vertex Pharmaceuticals' ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Vertex Pharmaceuticals

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

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

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

23% = US$3.3b ÷ US$14b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.23.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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 23% ROE

First thing first, we like that Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an impressive ROE. Further, even comparing with the industry average if 24%, the company's ROE is quite respectable. Therefore, it might not be wrong to say that the impressive five year 23% net income growth seen by Vertex Pharmaceuticals was probably achieved as a result of the high ROE.

As a next step, we compared Vertex Pharmaceuticals' net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 33% in the same period.

past-earnings-growth

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. 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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for VRTX? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Vertex Pharmaceuticals Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Vertex Pharmaceuticals' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.

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