Data as of:
LIVE
VRTX
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated · Healthcare / Biotechnology
$508.34
-7.92% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
CRSP
CRISPR Therapeutics AG · Healthcare / Gene Editing Biotechnology
$56.56
-5.43% this month
Comparison scoreboard
VRTX LEADS 4/5AI Scorei
VRTX ✓53.5
CRSP 45.9
1Y Returni
VRTX ✓+31.32%
CRSP -10.14%
Fwd P/Ei
VRTX ✓24.63
CRSP -16.10
Target Up.i
VRTX +3.96%
CRSP ✓+55.54%
Op. Margini
VRTX ✓38.05%
CRSP -1127.55%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/18/2026
Quick take
VRTX vs CRSP Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
VRTX and CRSP are genetic medicine companies with very different risk/reward profiles. VRTX is one of biotech's most profitable companies — Trikafta generates enormous cash flow funding a diversified pipeline with multiple near-term catalysts. CRSP is a pioneering gene editing company at earlier commercialization stage — CASGEVY's historic approval validates the platform, but the company is pre-profitability dependent on CASGEVY ramp and pipeline execution. VRTX offers biotech profitability; CRSP offers gene editing optionality.
VRTX vs CRSP — Vertex Pharmaceuticals (dominant CF franchise generating $8B+ annually with a funded pipeline in pain, kidney disease, and diabetes — rare profitable biotech funding its own pipeline) versus CRISPR Therapeutics (pioneer gene editing company with the first approved CRISPR therapy and a platform spanning oncology, regenerative medicine, and in vivo editing).
Live analysis · updated 9/18/2026
VRTX holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. VRTX leads on both 1-year return (+31.32%) and forward P/E quality (24.63x vs -16.10x for CRSP), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, CRSP is growing revenue faster (1041.40%), while VRTX maintains the higher operating margin (38.05%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for CRSP (+55.54%) than for VRTX (+3.96%).
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Normalized 1Y performance
VRTX
CRSP
Recent returns
VRTX
CRSP
Analyst price targets & sentiment
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.
VRTX · 28 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (2.1/5.0)
25 Buy / 4 Hold / 2 Sell
Price target range
analyst low$330.00
analyst high$621.00
analyst mean$563.12
current price$508.34
+4.0% upside to analyst mean
CRSP
Price target range
analyst mean$87.56
current price$56.56
+55.5% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
VRTX may suit investors who:
- want profitable biotech exposure through a dominant rare disease franchise with Trikafta's $8B+ revenue base and minimal near-term competition
- value Vertex's self-funded pipeline model — enormous Trikafta cash generation funds pain, kidney, and diabetes pipeline programs without dilutive equity raises
- are positive on VX-548 non-opioid pain opportunity — first-in-class non-opioid for acute pain could be a massive commercial launch representing a new revenue platform for Vertex
- prefer lower risk than pre-profitability gene editing companies while still getting gene therapy optionality through Vertex's CASGEVY partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics
CRSP may suit investors who:
- want direct exposure to CRISPR gene editing technology as the first commercialized platform — CASGEVY's approval is a historic milestone for the field with broad platform implications
- believe CASGEVY's sickle cell and beta thalassemia market is larger than consensus expects — one-time curative therapy with compelling clinical outcomes may see stronger-than-expected commercial uptake
- are high-risk-tolerance biotech investors comfortable with pre-profitability cash burn in exchange for exposure to potentially transformative in vivo gene editing platform development
- value the scientific founders' platform (Emmanuelle Charpentier's CRISPR discovery team) and believe CRISPR's technology breadth across diseases creates enormous long-term optionality
Performance & AI score
| Metric | VRTX | CRSP |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 53.5 | 45.9 |
| AI ranki | #334 | #734 |
| Latest closei | $508.34 | $56.56 |
| 1M returni | -7.92% | -5.43% |
| 6M returni | +11.97% | +22.32% |
| 1Y returni | +31.32% | -10.14% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | VRTX | CRSP |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.27K (+32.7%) started 2025-09-19 | $8.99K (-10.1%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $27.38K (+173.8%) started 2021-09-20 | $4.86K (-51.4%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $55.7K (+457.0%) started 2016-09-19 | $40.14K (+301.4%) started 2016-10-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | VRTX | CRSP |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $137.3B | $5.44B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 31.55 | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 24.63 | -16.10 |
| Price/Salesi | 10.42 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 10.44 | 292.23 |
| Analyst targeti | $563.12 | $87.56 |
| Target upsidei | +3.96% | +55.54% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | VRTX | CRSP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 12.50% | 1041.40% |
| Earnings growthi | 8.00% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +8.00% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +20.88% | -1611.75% |
| Operating margini | 38.05% | -1127.55% |
| Profit margini | 35.00% | 0.00% |
| ROIC proxyi | 23.54% | -26.10% |
| Return on equityi | 23.54% | -26.10% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.30 | 1.74 |
| Debt/equityi | 9.77 | 44.87 |
| Current ratioi | 3.19 | 17.85 |
| Quick ratioi | 2.54 | 17.79 |
Correlation
Over the past year, VRTX and CRSP have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.40), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.40
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.30
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.31
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
VRTX max drawdowni15.21%
CRSP max drawdowni42.25%
VRTX max wkly dropi9.32%
CRSP max wkly dropi18.19%
5Y risk snapshot
VRTX max drawdowni29.07%
CRSP max drawdowni74.21%
VRTX max wkly dropi20.71%
CRSP max wkly dropi21.49%
10Y risk snapshot
VRTX max drawdowni41.60%
CRSP max drawdowni85.11%
VRTX max wkly dropi22.29%
CRSP max wkly dropi30.47%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | VRTX | CRSP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +32.68% | -10.14% |
| CAGRi | +32.81% | -10.14% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.76% | 59.47% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.98 | 0.04 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.62 | 0.06 | |
| Max drawdowni | 15.21% | 42.25% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.89% | 26.33% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.53% | 27.49% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.26% | 29.04% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.56% | 11.59% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.32% | 18.19% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +173.79% | -51.44% |
| CAGRi | +22.34% | -13.47% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.96% | 60.90% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.69 | -0.01 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.97 | -0.02 | |
| Max drawdowni | 29.07% | 74.21% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.89% | 53.35% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.22% | 52.93% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.56% | 54.04% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.60% | 13.32% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 20.71% | 21.49% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +457.02% | +301.42% |
| CAGRi | +18.74% | +15.05% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.67% | 64.05% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.55 | 0.47 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.82 | 0.72 | |
| Max drawdowni | 41.60% | 85.11% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.89% | 73.07% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.93% | 49.91% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.67% | 56.40% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.70% | 17.10% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.29% | 30.47% |
Business comparison
| Category | VRTX | CRSP |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | CRISPR Therapeutics AG |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Biotechnology | Biotechnology |
| Core business | Vertex Pharmaceuticals has transformed cystic fibrosis (CF) treatment with successive CFTR modulator drugs — Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko, and Trikafta. Trikafta treats 90%+ of CF patients and generates $8B+ in annual revenue — making Vertex the most commercially successful rare disease company ever. Vertex generates enormous cash flows that fund an expansive pipeline beyond CF: kidney disease (IgA nephropathy — inaxaplin), pain (VX-548 non-opioid analgesic, an exciting near-approval asset), type 1 diabetes (stem cell-derived islet cells — OTX008), and gene editing through the CASGEVY partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics. | CRISPR Therapeutics is a gene editing company founded by Emanuelle Charpentier (Nobel Prize co-recipient for CRISPR discovery) — developing medicines using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. CRSP's first approved therapy, CASGEVY (exagamglogene autotemcel), co-developed with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is approved for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia — the first approved CRISPR gene editing therapy in history. Beyond CASGEVY, CRISPR Therapeutics is developing in vivo gene editing (editing genes inside the body), regenerative medicine (stem cell-derived cancer therapies, diabetes cell therapy), and other ex vivo gene editing programs. |
| Investor focus | Investors focus on Trikafta revenue sustainability (CF patient retention, label expansion), pipeline diversification (pain, kidney, diabetes), CASGEVY gene editing launch for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia, and Vertex's massive cash generation enabling pipeline investment without dilution. | Investors focus on CASGEVY commercial launch trajectory (sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia patient uptake), in vivo gene editing pipeline (direct body editing without cell extraction), and CRISPR's technology platform expansion into oncology and regenerative medicine. |
VRTX strengths
- Trikafta monopoly on 90%+ of CF patients: Vertex treats the entire CF treatable patient population with minimal competition — highly durable revenue without near-term patent cliff risk
- Enormous cash generation funding pipeline: Trikafta profitability funds a $5B+ pipeline investment without dilutive equity raises — Vertex is one of the few biotechs that funds its own pipeline
- VX-548 non-opioid pain potential: if approved, a first-in-class non-opioid pain drug could be a massive commercial opportunity in a $40B+ pain market seeking opioid alternatives
CRSP strengths
- First approved CRISPR gene editing therapy: CASGEVY's approval marks a historic milestone — validates the CRISPR platform commercially and provides revenue royalties from CASGEVY sales
- CRISPR-Cas9 platform breadth: CRISPR's gene editing technology applies across diseases — sickle cell, cancer, diabetes, liver disease, heart disease — providing enormous pipeline optionality
- Partnership with Vertex: CASGEVY's commercial launch leverages Vertex's rare disease commercial infrastructure and financial resources — CRISPR doesn't need to build commercial capabilities alone
Risks to watch — VRTX
- CF market saturation and revenue ceiling: Vertex has treated most eligible CF patients globally — future Trikafta growth requires label expansions and price increases rather than volume growth
- Pipeline execution risk: beyond CF, Vertex is expanding into large but scientifically challenging areas (type 1 diabetes, pain) — pipeline failures in non-CF areas could impair valuation premium
- Gene therapy manufacturing complexity: Vertex's cell therapy programs (diabetes, sickle cell) require personalized manufacturing — scaling these complex therapies to commercial volumes is a significant operational challenge
Risks to watch — CRSP
- Pre-profitability with significant cash burn: CRISPR Therapeutics funds its pipeline through cash reserves and CASGEVY royalties — profitability depends on CASGEVY commercial success and pipeline milestone payments
- CASGEVY complex one-time treatment at extreme cost: the $2.2M one-time price creates reimbursement and commercial uptake challenges — payers must authorize high-cost potentially curative therapies
- In vivo gene editing technical risk: delivering CRISPR editing tools directly into the human body is scientifically more complex than ex vivo cell editing — in vivo programs are earlier stage with more technical uncertainty
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