Amgen (AMGN) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · AMGNSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Amgen RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
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Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of AMGN today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in AMGN. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
Request beta access →Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator
About Amgen
Amgen (AMGN) is a public Pharma/Biotech company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA.
Last close: $421.51 per share (as of 2026-10-01).
Equity grants at Amgen typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
Amgen Inc. is an American multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The company is ranked 18th on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue. The name "AMGen" is a portmanteau of the company's original name, Applied Molecular Genetics.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Amgen was incorporated in Thousand Oaks, California on April 8, 1980, with George Rathmann as its first CEO and UCLA molecular biologist Winston Salser among its scientific founders. The company develops and manufactures biologic drugs (medicines produced from living cells rather than synthesized chemicals), including Repatha for cholesterol and Prolia for osteoporosis. Its 2023 acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion added rare-disease treatments Tepezza and Krystexxa, which combined for roughly $3 billion in 2025 revenue. Full-year 2025 product sales reached $35.1 billion, reported in Amgen's Q4 2025 results released February 2026.
Sources: amgen.com · amgen.com · stocktitan.net
Equity comp at Amgen
- RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.
Researched 2026-08-17.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amgen.
Amgen (AMGN) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
Example: 500 Amgen (AMGN) RSUs vesting at $421.51 per share is $210,755 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$67,442), the post-tax share value is ~$143,313. Holding 12 months for long-term capital-gains treatment then only matters for the price change between vest and sale; the ordinary income at vest is already locked in. The calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math.
All Amgen tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →
Amgen equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my Amgen RSUs at vest?
- Amgen restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- Does Amgen grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Amgen typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do Amgen RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- No. Amgen restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
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