# Vertex (VERX.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/VERX

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:32:50.953Z. Financial observations: FY2018–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $13.66 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 0 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 8 years

- Years with declining revenue: 0

- Years with a net loss: 6

- Operating margin variation: 3.11×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: -0.01×

- FY2019: 0.10×

- FY2020: -0.28×

- FY2021: -0.01×

- FY2022: -0.02×

- FY2023: -0.03×

- FY2024: -0.00×

- FY2025: -0.01×

### moat: fail

- Years with nonpositive invested capital use equity plus debt and leases; positive earnings with no positive capital are shown above 100%.

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: -1.1%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -4.3%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 0.7 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 61.4%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 60.7%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 8

- Capital spending / revenue: 12.1%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -2.7%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: 0.0%

- FY2019: >100%

- FY2020: -35.9%

- FY2021: -0.9%

- FY2022: -2.1%

- FY2023: -4.3%

- FY2024: -0.3%

- FY2025: -1.2%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$66M

- Net income, five-year total: -$72M

- Return on incremental invested capital: -4.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.1 pp

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: -$1.5M

- FY2022: -$12M

- FY2023: -$6.9M

- FY2024: -$53M

- FY2025: $7.2M

### management: fail

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 0.0% vs -1.2%

- Per-share earnings: -0.05 to -0.09 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 2.9%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 2.9%

- Per-share value change: -$0.04

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: -$0.05

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$0.09

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.50

- Average buyback yield: 0.2%

- Buyback history: 3 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- ROIC, first three-year median: 0.0%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -1.2%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: -$0.05

- FY2019: $0.24

- FY2020: -$0.48

- FY2021: -$0.01

- FY2022: -$0.08

- FY2023: -$0.09

- FY2024: -$0.34

- FY2025: $0.04

### accounting: pass

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: -12.5%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.99×

- Restructuring years, last five: 2

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 34.9%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 22.96×

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 1.67×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: -40.2%

- FY2019: -23.2%

- FY2020: -24.1%

- FY2021: -13.9%

- FY2022: -12.4%

- FY2023: -11.5%

- FY2024: -18.6%

- FY2025: -12.5%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 76% since Jan 2025 · "Vertex (VERX) Hits New Low on Tempered Growth Outlook" (finance.yahoo.com, Aug 2025) · sales +12.2%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:47.732Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-08-07: Vertex (VERX) Hits New Low on Tempered Growth Outlook ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vertex-verx-hits-low-tempered-160805804.html))

- 2026-08-05: Vertex (VERX) Earnings Beat Puts Its Valuation Back In Focus ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/vertex-verx-earnings-beat-puts-091744364.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +12.2%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2018: $272M 

- FY2019: $322M 

- FY2020: $375M 

- FY2021: $426M 

- FY2022: $492M 

- FY2023: $572M 

- FY2024: $667M 

- FY2025: $748M 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 60.7%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2018: 64.9% 

- FY2019: 65.7% 

- FY2020: 55.9% 

- FY2021: 62.0% 

- FY2022: 60.7% 

- FY2023: 60.9% 

- FY2024: 63.9% 

- FY2025: 60.7% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in software application; annual sales are USD 748.4 million.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: revenue 748444000; grossProfit 454512000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); VERX.US: Vertex, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise tax technology solutions for retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing industries in the United States and internationally. The company offers transaction determination; compliance and reporting, including workflow management tools; tax data management and document management solutions; analytics and insights; pre-built integration that includes mapping data fields, and business logic and configurations; industry-specific solutions support certain industries for indirect tax needs, such as retail, communications, and leasing; and technology specific solutions, such as chain flow accelerator and SAP-specific tools. It provides implementation services, such as configuration, data migration and implementation, and support and training; E-invoicing, an end-to-end e-invoicing process; and managed services, including indirect tax return preparation, filing and tax payment, and notice management. The company sells its software products through software licenses and software as a service subscription. Vertex, Inc. has a strategic collaboration with xSuite Group GmbH to support SAP customers. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 60.7% to 63.9% during 2023–25; it lost 1.1% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 60.9%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 63.9%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 60.7%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); 8-year return on capital observations [[2018,0],[2019,1.000001],[2020,-0.3591198920368498],[2021,-0.00898445623895875],[2022,-0.021055064931638758],[2023,-0.04323470303079553],[2024,-0.002726079975303018],[2025,-0.012068800330934352]]; median -0.010526628284946552. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Can it raise prices

Kept about a 61% gross margin through 2022 cost inflation.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm (filed 2026-02-24); Gross margin observations: [[2021,0.6195681803227838],[2022,0.6071550615917856],[2023,0.6089918184724671]]; range within 2 percentage points.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 5 of 8 years; bought back USD 10.1 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2019: growth capex 8637887.102898695; upkeep 28922112.897101305; owner earnings 27324887.102898695. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.31611794297156914.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: growth capex 21023000; upkeep 96931000; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 7211000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 2.9154070170572735.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Dividend observations: [[2018,28024000],[2019,28566000],[2020,146116000],[2021,2700000],[2022,536000],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: cash repurchases 10094000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 7% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); VERX.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 6.995 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-15.

### What the price says

The price is 3.3 times annual sales.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Closing price 13.66 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 4.151679378726945; price multiple 3.2902348071465606. FY2025 cash earnings/share 0.04. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2020-07: $23.56 per share

- 2020-08: $25.61 per share

- 2020-09: $23.00 per share

- 2020-10: $24.24 per share

- 2020-11: $25.24 per share

- 2020-12: $34.85 per share

- 2021-01: $32.85 per share

- 2021-02: $30.75 per share

- 2021-03: $21.98 per share

- 2021-04: $20.43 per share

- 2021-05: $19.21 per share

- 2021-06: $21.94 per share

- 2021-07: $18.90 per share

- 2021-08: $20.70 per share

- 2021-09: $19.22 per share

- 2021-10: $20.82 per share

- 2021-11: $18.28 per share

- 2021-12: $15.87 per share

- 2022-01: $14.51 per share

- 2022-02: $13.93 per share

- 2022-03: $15.34 per share

- 2022-04: $14.23 per share

- 2022-05: $11.06 per share

- 2022-06: $11.33 per share

- 2022-07: $11.25 per share

- 2022-08: $13.68 per share

- 2022-09: $13.67 per share

- 2022-10: $18.02 per share

- 2022-11: $17.18 per share

- 2022-12: $14.51 per share

- 2023-01: $13.50 per share

- 2023-02: $15.58 per share

- 2023-03: $20.69 per share

- 2023-04: $20.65 per share

- 2023-05: $21.98 per share

- 2023-06: $19.50 per share

- 2023-07: $20.76 per share

- 2023-08: $22.39 per share

- 2023-09: $23.10 per share

- 2023-10: $24.21 per share

- 2023-11: $28.06 per share

- 2023-12: $26.94 per share

- 2024-01: $24.26 per share

- 2024-02: $33.58 per share

- 2024-03: $31.76 per share

- 2024-04: $29.13 per share

- 2024-05: $33.05 per share

- 2024-06: $36.05 per share

- 2024-07: $39.65 per share

- 2024-08: $38.69 per share

- 2024-09: $38.51 per share

- 2024-10: $41.51 per share

- 2024-11: $54.25 per share

- 2024-12: $53.35 per share

- 2025-01: $57.75 per share

- 2025-02: $32.29 per share

- 2025-03: $35.01 per share

- 2025-04: $40.03 per share

- 2025-05: $39.57 per share

- 2025-06: $35.34 per share

- 2025-07: $33.17 per share

- 2025-08: $25.82 per share

- 2025-09: $24.79 per share

- 2025-10: $22.90 per share

- 2025-11: $19.67 per share

- 2025-12: $19.97 per share

- 2026-01: $18.55 per share

- 2026-02: $14.48 per share

- 2026-03: $11.89 per share

- 2026-04: $12.37 per share

- 2026-05: $13.35 per share

- 2026-06: $11.48 per share

- 2026-07: $12.91 per share

- 2026-08: $14.16 per share

- 2026-09: $11.78 per share

- 2026-10: $13.66 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1806837/000110465926019165/verx-20251231x10k.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-24.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.