VRTX vs RARE Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is generally evaluated as a highly profitable, large-scale biotech anchored by its dominant cystic fibrosis franchise, while Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical is assessed as a rare disease-focused company still scaling multiple product launches toward overall profitability. The comparison contrasts an established profit engine against a diversified but earlier-stage rare disease portfolio.
Use this comparison to weigh Vertex's established franchise profitability against Ultragenyx's diversified rare disease pipeline and path toward broader commercial scale.
VRTX holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. VRTX leads on both 1-year return (+24.72%) and forward P/E quality (24.63x vs 39.86x for RARE), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, RARE is growing revenue faster (28.10%), while VRTX maintains the higher operating margin (38.05%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for RARE (+108.30%) 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 earlier-stage biotechs
- Are comfortable with a premium valuation reflecting franchise quality
- Believe rare disease therapeutics can achieve durable pricing power despite small patient populations
- Want exposure to a diversified pipeline spanning multiple modalities
- Are comfortable with ongoing losses as the company scales commercial launches
- Value specialized rare disease regulatory and commercial expertise
| Metric | VRTX | RARE |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 56.4 | 24.7 |
| AI ranki | #142 | #2755 |
| Latest closei | $508.75 | $15.17 |
| 1M returni | -1.14% | +16.07% |
| 3M returni | +4.67% | -49.80% |
| 6M returni | +16.78% | -38.13% |
| 1Y returni | +24.72% | -54.62% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | VRTX | RARE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $12.45K (+24.5%) started 2025-10-16 | $4.47K (-55.3%) started 2025-10-16 |
| 5Y ago | $28.14K (+181.4%) started 2021-10-18 | $1.94K (-80.6%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $63.2K (+532.0%) started 2016-10-17 | $2.5K (-75.0%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | VRTX | RARE |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $137.3B | $2.62B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 31.55 | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 24.63 | 39.86 |
| Price/Salesi | 10.42 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 10.44 | 4.92 |
| Analyst targeti | $563.12 | $55.26 |
| Target upsidei | +3.96% | +108.30% |
| Metric | VRTX | RARE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 12.50% | 28.10% |
| Earnings growthi | 8.00% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +8.00% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +20.88% | -25.08% |
| Operating margini | 38.05% | -35.05% |
| Profit margini | 35.00% | -81.73% |
| ROIC proxyi | 23.54% | N/A |
| Return on equityi | 23.54% | N/A |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | N/A |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.30 | 0.31 |
| Debt/equityi | 9.77 | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 3.19 | 1.73 |
| Quick ratioi | 2.54 | 1.41 |
Over the past year, VRTX and RARE have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.20), 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 | RARE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +24.51% | -55.34% |
| CAGRi | +24.55% | -55.41% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.78% | 81.46% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.75 | -0.54 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.21 | -0.64 | |
| Max drawdowni | 15.21% | 64.75% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 58.48% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.08% | 30.09% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.63% | 34.65% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.56% | 44.03% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.32% | 45.72% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +181.39% | -80.56% |
| CAGRi | +23.01% | -27.96% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.07% | 58.21% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.71 | -0.32 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.99 | -0.41 | |
| Max drawdowni | 29.07% | 85.34% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 82.73% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.32% | 50.86% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.61% | 53.79% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.60% | 44.03% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 20.71% | 45.72% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +531.99% | -75.03% |
| CAGRi | +20.25% | -12.96% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.61% | 56.91% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.59 | -0.02 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.88 | -0.03 | |
| Max drawdowni | 41.60% | 92.74% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.82% | 91.45% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.89% | 53.12% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.64% | 59.17% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.70% | 44.03% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.29% | 45.72% |
| Category | VRTX | RARE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical 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 gene-editing treatments through its clinical pipeline. | Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical develops and commercializes therapies for rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases, with a portfolio of approved products and a broad clinical pipeline. |
| 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 commercial growth of its approved rare disease therapies, pipeline progress across gene therapy and other modalities, and the path toward overall profitability. |
- 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
- Growing portfolio of approved therapies for ultra-rare genetic diseases
- Diversified pipeline spanning multiple modalities including gene therapy
- Established rare disease commercial and regulatory expertise
- 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
- Company remains unprofitable while scaling multiple product launches
- Small patient populations limit peak revenue potential per indication
- Execution risk across a broad, resource-intensive pipeline
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