ARQT vs BIIB vs VRTX Stock Comparison

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Biogen and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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BIIB Biogen Inc.
$254.46 +13.8% 1M +70.4% 1Y
Market cap
$37.61B
P/E
108.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.30B
Div. yield
–
Biotechnology Healthcare
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Vertex Pharmaceuticals leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Vertex Pharmaceuticals 6, Arcutis Biotherapeutics 3, Biogen 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARQTBIIBVRTXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.30B $37.61B $139.19B VRTX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 156.8x 108.2x 35.0x VRTX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 68.5x 19.9x 30.1x BIIB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +76.1% +2.3% +10.5% ARQT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.1% 3.4% 30.7% VRTX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.6% 1.3% — ARQT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 4.5x -0.4x VRTX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +42.7% +70.4% +30.2% BIIB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.2%/yr -1.8%/yr +23.3%/yr VRTX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 51.7% 34.2% 29.7% VRTX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 76/100 59/100 74/100 ARQT

Percentile Scorecard

ARQTBIIBVRTX

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

AxisARQTBIIBVRTX
Valuation 70 #192 of 634 91 #56 of 634 77 #145 of 634
Growth 96 #26 of 607 25 #456 of 607 46 #328 of 607
Profitability 89 #61 of 557 87 #75 of 557 93 #40 of 557
Financial Health 46 #352 of 654 33 #437 of 654 60 #265 of 654
Shareholder Returns 77 #94 of 400 – 93 #30 of 400
Overall 76 59 74
  • ARQT ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • BIIB ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • VRTX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodARQTBIIBVRTXSPY
1 month +36.2%+13.8%+9.0% -1.0%
3 months +26.4%+23.1%+13.2% -0.4%
6 months +41.7%+33.4%+28.4% +4.5%
Year to date +18.0%+44.6%+21.1% +12.4%
1 year +42.7%+70.4%+30.2% +13.6%
3 years +1,304.1%+2.0%+45.9% +76.4%
3 years, per year +141.4%+0.7%+13.4% +20.8%
5 years +55.4%-8.7%+184.7% +63.7%
5 years, per year +9.2%-1.8%+23.3% +10.4%
10 years —-8.1%+595.3% +267.7%
10 years, per year —-0.8%+21.4% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureARQTBIIBVRTXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.7%34.2%29.7% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 49.3%32.7%26.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.060.250.47 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.832.061.02 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -93.2%-64.4%-29.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%0.0%-1.7% -1.6%
52-week high $34.26$254.46$558.71 $779.14
52-week low $19.50$149.33$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.

MultipleARQTBIIBVRTX
P/E now vs peer median 156.8xmedian 18.0x 108.2xmedian 18.0x 35.0xmedian 18.0x
P/S now vs peer median 9.3xmedian 9.1x 3.7xmedian 9.1x 10.7xmedian 9.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 16.2x 32.9xmedian 16.2x 30.3xmedian 16.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 109.9xmedian 21.7x 18.2xmedian 21.7x 43.5xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 19.5xmedian 2.2x 2.0xmedian 2.2x 6.7xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 5.85median 0.38 -2.81median 0.38 6.51median 0.38

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 monthsARQTBIIBVRTX
Revenue $463.98M $10.30B $12.95B
Gross profit $422.89M $7.62B $11.08B
Operating income $34.25M $445.10M $4.30B
Net income $28.52M $347.50M $3.98B
Free cash flow $39.15M $2.07B $3.20B
R&D $91.04M $2.15B $4.25B
EPS (diluted) $0.21 $2.35 $15.58
Cash & equivalents – $1.30B $4.98B
Total debt $108.90M $7.29B $4.50B
Shares (diluted) 135.90M 147.80M 255.20M
Enterprise value $3.59B $26.93B $111.18B

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
MetricARQTBIIBVRTX
P/E 156.8x 108.2x 35.0x
P/FCF 109.9x 18.2x 43.5x
P/Operating cash flow 109.5x 16.7x 37.7x
P/S 9.3x 3.7x 10.7x
P/B 19.5x 2.0x 6.7x
P/Tangible book 20.8x 6.8x 11.2x
EV/EBITDA – 32.9x 30.3x
EV/EBIT 122.8x 98.0x 31.9x
EV/Revenue 9.1x 4.2x 10.6x
EV/FCF 107.5x 21.1x 42.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 107.0x 19.4x 37.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 5.85 -2.81 6.51

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARQTBIIBVRTX
Revenue growth (1Y) 76.1% 2.3% 10.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 241.4% 1.0% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 80.2% 0.6% 9.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 256.4% 0.5% 9.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 139.9% -76.6% 7.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 28.2% -34.8% 3.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 130.6% -78.4% 8.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 27.8% -38.1% 4.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 128.6% -78.5% 9.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.8% -38.5% 5.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 160.0% -8.4% -0.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.8% 18.2% -5.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 159.0% -10.1% -4.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.8% 24.9% -8.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARQTBIIBVRTX
Gross margin 91.1% 74.0% 85.5%
EBITDA margin – 12.9% 35.1%
Operating margin 7.4% 4.3% 33.2%
Pretax margin 6.3% 4.3% 36.7%
Net margin 6.1% 3.4% 30.7%
FCF margin 8.4% 20.1% 24.7%
Operating cash flow margin 8.5% 21.8% 28.5%
Return on equity 13.9% 1.8% 19.3%
Return on assets 6.0% 1.1% 13.2%
Return on invested capital 10.6% 1.3% –
Return on capital employed 10.9% 1.6% 17.2%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.3x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 6.5x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 9.4% 2.9% 5.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARQTBIIBVRTX
Debt / assets 22.3% 22.7% 13.7%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.4x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 4.5x -0.4x
Debt / FCF 2.8x 3.5x 1.4x
Liabilities / assets 54.8% 41.0% 36.1%
Equity / assets 45.2% 59.0% 63.9%
Interest coverage 2.5x – 93.0x
Current ratio 2.9x 1.9x 2.3x
Quick ratio 2.2x 0.9x 1.7x
Cash ratio 1.3x 0.3x 1.3x
Altman Z-score 8.32 3.14 8.83

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARQTBIIBVRTX
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -0.2% – 0.7%
Shareholder yield -0.2% – 0.7%
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.

ConsensusARQTBIIBVRTX
Forward P/E 68.5xFY2026 19.9xFY2026 30.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.50FY2026 $12.81FY2026 $18.24FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -16.2%FY2026 -0.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +152.0% +36.5% +23.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $565.04MFY2026 $9.96BFY2026 $12.67BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +50.2%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.0% +11.9% +18.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARQTBIIBVRTX
Held by institutions 100.0% 96.4% 95.1%
Institutions holding 272 1,038 1,747
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.4% +6.0% +3.9%
Institutions buying 138 550 904
Institutions selling 99 294 605
Buyers to sellers 1.39 1.87 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.

ARQTBIIBVRTX
ARQT 1.00 0.21 0.22
BIIB 0.21 1.00 0.48
VRTX 0.22 0.48 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARQT, BIIB and VRTX?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) $4.30B, Biogen (BIIB) $37.61B, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) $139.19B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARQT, BIIB and VRTX?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 156.8x, Biogen (BIIB) 108.2x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 35.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Biogen (BIIB) is cheapest (Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 68.5x, Biogen (BIIB) 19.9x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 30.1x). 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: Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) +76.1%, Biogen (BIIB) +2.3%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +10.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) has the highest net margin (Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 6.1%, Biogen (BIIB) 3.4%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 30.7%). On return on invested capital, Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) leads (Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 10.6%, Biogen (BIIB) 1.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Biogen (BIIB) returned the most: Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) +42.7%, Biogen (BIIB) +70.4%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +30.2%. Over five years, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) compounded fastest (Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) +9.2%/yr, Biogen (BIIB) -1.8%/yr, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +23.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) has been the steadiest (Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) 51.7%, Biogen (BIIB) 34.2%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 29.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARQT, BIIB 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 6. 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.