Vertex Inc. Class A Common Stock (VERX)

FairStock Score: 33/100 — RISKY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

Whenever I see a company priced at 636 times earnings and 8.31 times book, my Graham instincts tell me to slow down. Vertex sells enterprise tax technology, which may be sticky once embedded, but the reported figures do not yet prove a wide moat. Revenue has grown from $572.4M in fiscal year 2023 to $666.8M in fiscal year 2024 and $748.4M in fiscal year 2025. It swung from a $52.7M net loss in fiscal year 2024 to $7.2M net income in fiscal year 2025, and in fiscal Q2 2026, the quarter ended 2026-06-30, it earned $9.0M on $204.0M revenue after a $2.5M loss in fiscal Q1 2026. That matches the Lynch TURNAROUND tag FairStock calculates. Still, returns are tiny: ROE 1.46%, ROCE 0.65%. Debt/equity of 1.45 and an Altman Z-Score of 1.15 suggest a fragile balance sheet. Free cash flow of $50.6M and a 2.8% FCF yield are real but not enough to make the equity obviously cheap. The Graham Number is $0.82 against the $12.72 close on 2026-10-13, leaving a negative margin of safety. A Piotroski F-Score of 7/9 is encouraging, and PEG of 0.64 hints growth may eventually help, but a P/E of 636 and EV/EBITDA of 21.90 demand proof. I would want consistent profits, lower leverage, and a price closer to tangible value before calling this a Graham bargain.

In plain English: Vertex makes tax software that helps businesses calculate and report taxes. The business is a turnaround: sales are growing and it has started to earn small profits after losses, but profits are still thin and debt is high. At the latest close of $12.72 on 2026-10-13, the stock looks expensive compared with those small profits rather than an obvious bargain.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer