Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) RSU sell-vs-hold

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Sell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Vertex Pharmaceuticals RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.

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Your vest

pre-IPO? enter price manually

Tax inputs

Hold strategy

1 yr
20%
20%
10.0%

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.

This vest pushes your top federal rate from 24% to 35%. Hover the Federal value below for the bracket-by-bracket slicing.

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 VRTX today.

Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in VRTX. 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.

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Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is a public Other company, incorporated in Massachusetts and headquartered in Boston, MA.

Equity grants at Vertex Pharmaceuticals typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is an American biopharmaceutical company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the first biotech firms to use an explicit strategy of rational drug design rather than combinatorial chemistry. It maintains headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, and three research facilities, in San Diego, California, and Milton Park, Oxfordshire, England.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Joshua Boger founded the company in 1989 to design drugs from protein structure rather than screening. Cystic fibrosis became the franchise: Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko, and Trikafta together treat the large majority of patients with the disease, a rare-disease monopoly with durable pricing. Casgevy, developed with CRISPR Therapeutics and approved in 2023 for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia, was among the first CRISPR gene-editing therapies authorized anywhere. Pain and kidney disease programs aim to diversify. Headquarters are in Boston.

Sources: vrtx.com · en.wikipedia.org

Equity comp at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

  • 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 Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 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.

All Vertex Pharmaceuticals tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →

Vertex Pharmaceuticals equity questions

Should I sell or hold my Vertex Pharmaceuticals RSUs at vest?
Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 Vertex Pharmaceuticals grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
Equity compensation at Vertex Pharmaceuticals typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
Do Vertex Pharmaceuticals RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
No. Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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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