VRTX vs ARWR Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is generally evaluated as an established, profitable biotech with a dominant franchise and diversifying pipeline, while Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is assessed as an earlier-stage RNAi platform company whose value depends on clinical trial success and partnership execution. The comparison contrasts a proven commercial biotech against a higher-risk, pipeline-driven platform play.
Use this comparison to weigh Vertex's established commercial profitability and diversification against Arrowhead's earlier-stage, higher-risk RNAi platform potential.
ARWR holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ARWR has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+53.18% vs +24.72%), though VRTX has the better forward P/E setup (24.63x vs -17.24x for ARWR). On fundamentals, ARWR is growing revenue faster (171.00%), while VRTX maintains the higher operating margin (38.05%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ARWR (+32.77%) than for VRTX (+3.96%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to an established, highly profitable biotech franchise
- Value pipeline diversification beyond a single disease area
- Prefer lower binary clinical trial risk than early-stage biotechs
- Are comfortable with a premium valuation reflecting franchise quality
- Are comfortable with binary clinical trial and regulatory risk
- Believe RNAi technology represents a durable therapeutic platform
- Value partnership-driven funding reducing near-term dilution risk
- Want higher-risk, higher-potential-reward biotech exposure
| Metric | VRTX | ARWR |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 56.4 | 64.8 |
| AI ranki | #142 | #74 |
| Latest closei | $508.75 | $58.50 |
| 1M returni | -1.14% | -17.22% |
| 3M returni | +4.67% | -18.04% |
| 6M returni | +16.78% | -13.95% |
| 1Y returni | +24.72% | +53.18% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | VRTX | ARWR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $12.45K (+24.5%) started 2025-10-16 | $15.32K (+53.2%) started 2025-10-15 |
| 5Y ago | $28.14K (+181.4%) started 2021-10-18 | $8.84K (-11.6%) started 2021-10-15 |
| 10Y ago | $63.2K (+532.0%) started 2016-10-17 | $88.77K (+787.7%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | VRTX | ARWR |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $137.3B | $11.7B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 31.55 | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 24.63 | -17.24 |
| Price/Salesi | 10.42 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 10.44 | 17.16 |
| Analyst targeti | $563.12 | $110.00 |
| Target upsidei | +3.96% | +32.77% |
| Metric | VRTX | ARWR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 12.50% | 171.00% |
| Earnings growthi | 8.00% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +8.00% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +20.88% | -7.26% |
| Operating margini | 38.05% | -226.03% |
| Profit margini | 35.00% | -47.79% |
| ROIC proxyi | 23.54% | -55.21% |
| Return on equityi | 23.54% | -55.21% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.30 | 1.28 |
| Debt/equityi | 9.77 | 295.98 |
| Current ratioi | 3.19 | 5.90 |
| Quick ratioi | 2.54 | 5.71 |
Over the past year, VRTX and ARWR have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.25), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | VRTX | ARWR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +24.51% | +53.18% |
| CAGRi | +24.55% | +53.23% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.78% | 61.94% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.75 | 0.92 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.21 | 1.56 | |
| Max drawdowni | 15.21% | 35.12% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 34.70% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.08% | 8.51% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.63% | 12.13% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.56% | 12.40% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.32% | 20.38% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +181.39% | -11.58% |
| CAGRi | +23.01% | -2.43% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.07% | 64.86% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.71 | 0.22 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.99 | 0.32 | |
| Max drawdowni | 29.07% | 87.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 34.70% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.32% | 53.15% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.61% | 58.05% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.60% | 26.85% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 20.71% | 32.69% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +531.99% | +787.71% |
| CAGRi | +20.25% | +24.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.61% | 74.13% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.59 | 0.63 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.88 | 0.93 | |
| Max drawdowni | 41.60% | 88.96% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 35.34% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.89% | 43.68% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.64% | 51.29% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.70% | 67.20% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.29% | 70.60% |
| Category | VRTX | ARWR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Biotechnology | Biotechnology |
| Core business | Vertex Pharmaceuticals develops and markets therapies for cystic fibrosis and is expanding into pain management, diabetes, and other serious diseases through its clinical pipeline. | Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals develops RNA interference therapeutics targeting genetic and metabolic diseases, advancing a pipeline through partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies. |
| Investor focus | Investors watch cystic fibrosis franchise durability, commercial uptake of newer non-opioid pain and gene-editing therapies, and pipeline diversification progress. | Investors track clinical trial readouts across the RNAi pipeline, partnership and licensing milestone payments, and progress toward first commercial approvals. |
- Dominant, highly profitable franchise in cystic fibrosis treatments
- Strong balance sheet funding pipeline diversification efforts
- Approved gene-editing and non-opioid pain therapies expanding beyond core franchise
- Differentiated RNAi drug discovery platform with broad pipeline applicability
- Multiple partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies providing non-dilutive funding
- Potential for near-term commercial approvals in cardiometabolic disease
- Long-term reliance on cystic fibrosis franchise for the bulk of revenue
- New therapy launches carry commercial execution and reimbursement risk
- Patent and competitive dynamics in core disease areas over time
- Revenue remains dependent on partnership milestones rather than product sales
- Clinical trial risk across an early- to mid-stage pipeline
- Valuation sensitive to binary trial readout outcomes
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