GRFS vs VRTX vs ARGX Stock Comparison

Grifols, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Argenx Se Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GRFS Grifols SA
$7.92 +7.8% 1M -16.3% 1Y
Market cap
$5.52B
P/E
11.9x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Biotechnology Healthcare
2 wins
ARGX Argenx Se
$869.33 -9.4% 1M +6.4% 1Y
Market cap
$54.07B
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, Grifols 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGRFSVRTXARGXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.52B $132.25B $54.07B VRTX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 11.9x 30.0x 28.8x GRFS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.4x 28.4x 28.4x GRFS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +10.2% +61.5% ARGX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 35.0% 32.3% VRTX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -16.3% +22.8% +6.4% VRTX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.9%/yr +23.4%/yr +25.5%/yr ARGX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 32.4% 29.0% 37.0% VRTX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 76/100 92/100 ARGX

Percentile Scorecard

GRFSVRTXARGX

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

AxisGRFSVRTXARGX
Valuation 99 #6 of 626 80 #124 of 626 83 #108 of 626
Growth – 60 #245 of 604 95 #34 of 604
Profitability – 95 #31 of 555 98 #11 of 555
Financial Health 14 #566 of 658 53 #308 of 658 –
Shareholder Returns 56 #161 of 368 93 #27 of 368 –
Overall 57 76 92
  • GRFS ranked among 673 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • VRTX ranked among 673 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • ARGX ranked among 673 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGRFSVRTXARGXSPY
1 month +7.8%-1.7%-9.4% -0.8%
3 months +2.2%+8.0%-2.2% +3.5%
6 months -2.6%+21.5%+10.9% +7.0%
Year to date -15.3%+14.1%+3.4% +12.2%
1 year -16.3%+22.8%+6.4% +13.0%
3 years +1.0%+45.7%+89.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +0.3%+13.4%+23.7% +23.1%
5 years -40.5%+186.0%+210.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -9.9%+23.4%+25.5% +11.0%
10 years -46.6%+557.5%— +258.0%
10 years, per year -6.1%+20.7%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGRFSVRTXARGXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 32.4%29.0%37.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.1%25.8%34.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.950.490.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.500.790.17 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.9%-29.1%-38.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.5%-7.3%-17.9% -1.8%
52-week high $9.72$557.96$1,058.90 $779.14
52-week low $7.02$409.47$663.93 $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.

MultipleGRFSVRTXARGX
P/E now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 17.1x 29.8xmedian 17.1x 28.4xmedian 17.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 8.8x 10.4xmedian 8.8x 9.2xmedian 8.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.1x 24.7xmedian 17.1x —median 17.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 18.0x 34.5xmedian 18.0x —median 18.0x
P/B now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 2.1x 6.5xmedian 2.1x —median 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.31 2.94median 0.31 0.27median 0.31

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 monthsGRFSVRTXARGX
Revenue – $12.59B $5.82B
Gross profit – $10.82B $5.24B
Operating income – $4.78B $1.74B
Net income – $4.41B $1.88B
Free cash flow – $3.80B –
R&D – $3.91B $1.80B
EPS (diluted) – $17.26 $28.43
Cash & equivalents $969.15M $6.14B –
Total debt $44.00B – –
Shares (diluted) 681.57M 255.20M 66.03M
Enterprise value $1.86B $104.25B $54.07B

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
MetricGRFSVRTXARGX
P/E 11.9x 29.8x 28.4x
P/FCF 7.6x 34.5x –
P/Operating cash flow – 30.5x –
P/S 0.6x 10.4x 9.2x
P/B 0.6x 6.5x –
P/Tangible book 0.9x 6.6x –
EV/EBITDA – 24.7x –
EV/EBIT – 25.8x 30.9x
EV/Revenue – 9.8x 9.2x
EV/FCF – 32.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 28.7x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 2.94 0.27

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGRFSVRTXARGX
Revenue growth (1Y) – 10.2% 61.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 9.8% 80.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 10.1% 62.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 9.0% 80.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 21.8% 120.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 6.4% 85.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – 21.1% 22.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 9.4% 115.5%
EPS growth (1Y) – 22.9% 20.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 10.1% 104.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 11.6% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 1.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 8.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -0.7% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGRFSVRTXARGX
Gross margin – 86.0% 90.0%
EBITDA margin – 39.7% –
Operating margin – 38.0% 29.9%
Pretax margin – 41.9% 32.6%
Net margin – 35.0% 32.3%
FCF margin – 30.2% –
Operating cash flow margin – 34.1% –
Return on equity – 22.2% –
Return on assets – 16.3% –
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – 20.8% –
Asset turnover – 0.5x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.0x –
Stock comp / revenue – 5.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGRFSVRTXARGX
Debt / assets 48.9% – –
Debt / equity 1.3x – –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 61.4% 26.2% –
Equity / assets 38.6% 73.8% –
Interest coverage – – 10,120x
Current ratio 2.5x 3.2x –
Quick ratio 0.8x 2.5x –
Cash ratio 0.4x 2.0x –
Altman Z-score – 13.17 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGRFSVRTXARGX
Dividend yield 1.4% – –
Net buyback yield – 1.4% –
Shareholder yield 1.4% 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.

ConsensusGRFSVRTXARGX
Forward P/E 8.4xFY2026 28.4xFY2026 28.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.94FY2026 $18.24FY2026 $30.63FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.6%FY2026 -0.9%FY2026 +56.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +26.6% +23.0% +26.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.88BFY2026 $12.67BFY2026 $6.08BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.0%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026 +43.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.3% +18.8% +22.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGRFSVRTXARGX
Held by institutions 21.0% 95.1% 46.1%
Institutions holding 166 1,745 504
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.5% +3.9% -2.0%
Institutions buying 73 902 264
Institutions selling 65 605 160
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.49 1.65

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.

GRFSVRTXARGX
GRFS 1.00 0.21 0.15
VRTX 0.21 1.00 0.35
ARGX 0.15 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GRFS, VRTX and ARGX?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Grifols (GRFS) $5.52B, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) $132.25B, Argenx Se (ARGX) $54.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, GRFS, VRTX and ARGX?

Grifols (GRFS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Grifols (GRFS) 11.9x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 30.0x, Argenx Se (ARGX) 28.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Grifols (GRFS) is cheapest (Grifols (GRFS) 8.4x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 28.4x, Argenx Se (ARGX) 28.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

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

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) returned the most: Grifols (GRFS) -16.3%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +22.8%, Argenx Se (ARGX) +6.4%. Over five years, Argenx Se (ARGX) compounded fastest (Grifols (GRFS) -9.9%/yr, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +23.4%/yr, Argenx Se (ARGX) +25.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) has been the steadiest (Grifols (GRFS) 32.4%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 29.0%, Argenx Se (ARGX) 37.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.