What's Going On With Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Stock Wednesday?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX shares are trading lower by 1.44% to $304.10 Wednesday morning. The company on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter financial results.

What Happened?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported quarterly earnings of $3.76 cents per share which was above the analyst consensus estimate of $3.51. The company also reported quarterly sales of $2.30 billion, which met the analyst consensus estimate and increased 11% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, Vertex Pharmaceuticals says the company sees FY23 product revenue in the range of $9.55 billion to $9.7 billion versus the analyst consensus estimate of $9.6 billion.

See Also: Why RxSight Shares Are Plummeting

What Else?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals highlighted that the company's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2022, were $10.8 billion, compared to $7.5 billion as of December 31, 2021.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals says this increase was primarily driven by strong revenue growth and operating cash flow, partially offset by income tax payments and our acquisition of ViaCyte.

"Outstanding execution across the company resulted in another year of strong revenue growth as well as acceleration of both the research and clinical-stage pipeline," said Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Vertex.

"Our progress in 2022 lays the foundation for treating more people with cystic fibrosis, launching multiple new therapies in the near term, achieving important clinical milestones, and driving continued significant growth for many years to come."

Analyst Rating Updates

Additionally, VRTX received a number of analyst rating updates Wednesday including:

• SVB Leerink analyst David Risinger maintained with an Outperform and lowered the price target from $374 to $365.
• HC Wainwright & Co. analyst Andrew Fein maintained with a Buy and raised the price target from $300 to $326.
• Barclays analyst Gena Wang maintained with an Overweight and raised the price target from $313 to $342.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, VRTX has a 52-week high of $325.19 and a 52-week low of $225.28.