1 Reason Wall Street Is Obsessed With Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Key Points

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a lot of buy and hold ratings, but there aren't any sell ratings from Wall Street analysts.

• Around 75,000 people with cystic fibrosis rely on Vertex Pharmaceuticals to keep their lungs functioning.

• There are no other drugmakers marketing treatments that correct the misformed proteins responsible for cystic fibrosis.

• 10 stocks we like better than Vertex Pharmaceuticals ›

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) have risen more than 2,000% over the past 20 years. Despite a terrific run-up, it's hard to find an investment bank analyst on Wall Street who expects the stock to fall in the year ahead.

There are 28 analysts following Vertex Pharmaceuticals. None have issued sell ratings, and 15 are calling the stock a buy. A consensus price target of $496.05 implies a gain of about 26% from its closing price on Sep. 12, 2025.

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Investment bankers up and down Wall Street were pleased with second-quarter sales that rose 12% year over year to reach $2.96 billion, but it's the reason behind the outstanding sales performance that makes the stock a Wall Street darling.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is the only company marketing treatments for cystic fibrosis, a rare disease affecting about 109,000 people worldwide. Any one of hundreds of known mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene can lead to dry, sticky mucus that gets stuck in the lungs.

A majority of people born with CF in the late 1980s did not reach their 30th birthday before the disease shut their lungs down permanently. Thanks largely to Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a majority of folks born with CF in 2024 are expected to reach age 65, according to patient registry data.

Vertex's latest CF treatment, Alyftrek, is a once-daily combination of three drugs that keep CFTR protein channels operating as they should. Alyftrek launched in 2024, so it's going to be a long time before this drugmaker has to worry about patent expirations leading to a loss of market exclusivity.

Shares of Vertex have been trading at 21.9 times forward-looking earnings expectations. This would be a steep valuation for most established drugmakers, but not one that's growing sales by more than 10% annually. Now could be a good time to take a closer look at this stock.

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Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.