ARGX vs ARQT vs VRTX Stock Comparison

Argenx Se, Arcutis Biotherapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARGX Argenx Se
$882.48 -8.0% 1M +6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$54.61B
P/E
28.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.82B
Div. yield
–
Biotechnology Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Vertex Pharmaceuticals leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Vertex Pharmaceuticals 4, Argenx Se 3, Arcutis Biotherapeutics 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARGXARQTVRTXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $54.61B $3.98B $132.00B VRTX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 28.8x 145.0x 30.0x ARGX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.8x 63.4x 28.6x VRTX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +61.5% +76.1% +10.2% ARQT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 32.3% 6.1% 35.0% VRTX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 10.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.3% +61.3% +24.0% ARQT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.8%/yr +7.9%/yr +23.4%/yr ARGX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.9% 56.7% 29.0% VRTX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 92/100 76/100 76/100 ARGX

Percentile Scorecard

ARGXARQTVRTX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisARGXARQTVRTX
Valuation 84 #99 of 625 70 #187 of 625 81 #121 of 625
Growth 94 #35 of 602 96 #28 of 602 60 #241 of 602
Profitability 98 #11 of 551 89 #61 of 551 95 #30 of 551
Financial Health – 47 #348 of 656 53 #307 of 656
Shareholder Returns – 77 #85 of 365 93 #28 of 365
Overall 92 76 76
  • ARGX ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • ARQT ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • VRTX ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodARGXARQTVRTXSPY
1 month -8.0%+17.7%-1.0% -0.2%
3 months +1.2%+11.5%+6.2% +3.9%
6 months +13.9%+36.0%+21.1% +8.2%
Year to date +4.9%+9.1%+14.9% +12.9%
1 year +6.3%+61.3%+24.0% +12.3%
3 years +91.9%+1,256.7%+46.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +24.3%+138.6%+13.6% +23.3%
5 years +214.2%+46.4%+186.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year +25.8%+7.9%+23.4% +10.9%
10 years ——+587.0% +261.1%
10 years, per year ——+21.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureARGXARQTVRTXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.9%56.7%29.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.6%49.3%25.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.391.080.49 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.171.080.83 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.2%-93.2%-29.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.7%-3.5%-6.6% -1.2%
52-week high $1,058.90$32.82$557.96 $779.14
52-week low $663.93$19.50$409.47 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleARGXARQTVRTX
P/E now vs peer median 28.8xmedian 17.2x 145.0xmedian 17.2x 30.0xmedian 17.2x
P/S now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 9.0x 8.6xmedian 9.0x 10.5xmedian 9.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 16.3x —median 16.3x 24.8xmedian 16.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 18.7x 101.6xmedian 18.7x 34.8xmedian 18.7x
P/B now vs peer median —median 2.2x 18.0xmedian 2.2x 6.5xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.27median 0.33 5.41median 0.33 2.96median 0.33

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsARGXARQTVRTX
Revenue $5.82B $463.98M $12.59B
Gross profit $5.24B $422.89M $10.82B
Operating income $1.74B $34.25M $4.78B
Net income $1.88B $28.52M $4.41B
Free cash flow – $39.15M $3.80B
R&D $1.80B $91.04M $3.91B
EPS (diluted) $28.43 $0.21 $17.26
Cash & equivalents – – $6.14B
Total debt – $108.90M –
Shares (diluted) 66.03M 135.90M 255.20M
Enterprise value $54.61B $3.26B $104.01B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricARGXARQTVRTX
P/E 28.8x 145.0x 30.0x
P/FCF – 101.6x 34.8x
P/Operating cash flow – 101.2x 30.7x
P/S 9.4x 8.6x 10.5x
P/B – 18.0x 6.5x
P/Tangible book – 19.2x 6.7x
EV/EBITDA – – 24.8x
EV/EBIT 31.4x 113.4x 26.0x
EV/Revenue 9.4x 8.4x 9.9x
EV/FCF – 99.2x 32.7x
EV/Operating cash flow – 98.8x 28.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.27 5.41 2.96

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARGXARQTVRTX
Revenue growth (1Y) 61.5% 76.1% 10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 80.5% 241.4% 9.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 62.2% 80.2% 10.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 80.0% 256.4% 9.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 120.6% 139.9% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 85.1% 28.2% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 22.5% 130.6% 21.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 115.5% 27.8% 9.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 20.9% 128.6% 22.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 104.8% 26.8% 10.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 160.0% 11.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 28.8% 1.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 159.0% 8.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 28.8% -0.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARGXARQTVRTX
Gross margin 90.0% 91.1% 86.0%
EBITDA margin – – 39.7%
Operating margin 29.9% 7.4% 38.0%
Pretax margin 32.6% 6.3% 41.9%
Net margin 32.3% 6.1% 35.0%
FCF margin – 8.4% 30.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 8.5% 34.1%
Return on equity – 13.9% 22.2%
Return on assets – 6.0% 16.3%
Return on invested capital – 10.6% –
Return on capital employed – 10.9% 20.8%
Asset turnover – 1.0x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.4x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue – 9.4% 5.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARGXARQTVRTX
Debt / assets – 22.3% –
Debt / equity – 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – 2.8x –
Liabilities / assets – 54.8% 26.2%
Equity / assets – 45.2% 73.8%
Interest coverage 10,120x 2.5x –
Current ratio – 2.9x 3.2x
Quick ratio – 2.2x 2.5x
Cash ratio – 1.3x 2.0x
Altman Z-score – 7.59 13.25

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARGXARQTVRTX
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – -0.2% 1.4%
Shareholder yield – -0.2% 1.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusARGXARQTVRTX
Forward P/E 28.8xFY2026 63.4xFY2026 28.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $30.63FY2026 $0.50FY2026 $18.24FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +56.5%FY2026 – -0.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +26.9% +152.0% +23.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.08BFY2026 $565.04MFY2026 $12.67BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.1%FY2026 +50.2%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +22.9% +17.0% +18.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARGXARQTVRTX
Held by institutions 46.1% 100.0% 95.1%
Institutions holding 504 271 1,745
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.0% -0.4% +3.9%
Institutions buying 264 138 902
Institutions selling 160 98 605
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.41 1.49

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ARGXARQTVRTX
ARGX 1.00 0.17 0.35
ARQT 0.17 1.00 0.21
VRTX 0.35 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARGX, ARQT and VRTX?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Argenx Se (ARGX) $54.61B, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) $3.98B, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) $132.00B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARGX, ARQT and VRTX?

Argenx Se (ARGX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Argenx Se (ARGX) 28.8x, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 145.0x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 30.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is cheapest (Argenx Se (ARGX) 28.8x, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 63.4x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 28.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Argenx Se (ARGX) +61.5%, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) +76.1%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) has the highest net margin (Argenx Se (ARGX) 32.3%, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 6.1%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 35.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) returned the most: Argenx Se (ARGX) +6.3%, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) +61.3%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +24.0%. Over five years, Argenx Se (ARGX) compounded fastest (Argenx Se (ARGX) +25.8%/yr, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) +7.9%/yr, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +23.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) has been the steadiest (Argenx Se (ARGX) 36.9%, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 56.7%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 29.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARGX, ARQT and VRTX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.