Vertex Pharmaceuticals earnings: third quarter 2026

Vertex Pharmaceuticals sold $3.44 billion of medicines in the third quarter of 2026, 12% more than a year ago. Its newer cystic fibrosis medicine, ALYFTREK, nearly tripled. Vertex also raised its sales forecast for the year again. The catch is the price of growing: buying Crinetics, an acromegaly drug company, pushed up spending and brought in debt, so profit with the deal's one-off effects stripped out did not rise at all. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Analysts had expected earnings per share of $4.36 for the quarter, the average of five forecasts on Nasdaq's earnings calendar. The figures we have from the release do not give the company's own earnings per share, so we cannot say whether it came in above or below. ¹²

The strong points

• Sales rose 12% from a year ago to $3.44 billion, with growth both in the U.S. and abroad. ¹
• The newer cystic fibrosis medicine ALYFTREK nearly tripled its sales to $705.8 million, more than making up for the older TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO slipping about 8%. ¹

The weak points

• Profit with the acquisition's one-off effects stripped out was flat at $1.2 billion, even though sales rose 12%. ¹
• Vertex went from no debt at the end of 2025 to about $4.5 billion, part of it due within a year. ¹
• Stock of medicines grew by about a third since December, and money owed by customers grew too. ¹

What the company expects

• Vertex raised its forecast for 2026 sales to $13.15 billion to $13.25 billion, from $13.1 billion to $13.2 billion before. ¹
• Vertex now expects to spend $7.15 billion to $7.2 billion this year on research, selling and running the business, up from $6.3 billion to $6.45 billion. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A very strong report. Vertex raised its sales forecast for the year again and grew sales 12%, led by its newer cystic fibrosis medicine; the costs of buying Crinetics kept profit flat this quarter but did not dent the growth of the business.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)
• The previous results, for what it forecast then

Notes

1. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's results release, 2 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 2 November 2026. ↩