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Major pharma known for oncology drug Keytruda, vaccines (Gardasil, pneumococcal) and animal health.
Major pharma known for oncology drug Keytruda, vaccines (Gardasil, pneumococcal) and animal health.
Sells patented medicines and vaccines through payers, hospitals and government immunisation programmes, with Keytruda for cancer the biggest single product; animal health is a separate business sold to veterinarians. Keytruda loses patent protection around 2028, so it is working to replace it with new products and an under-the-skin version.
Moat: wide (IP / patents, scale, brand). Keytruda's broad label across cancers and Gardasil's franchise generate durable, hard-to-replace demand.
Headquarters: Rahway, New Jersey, United States · Founded: 1891 · Employees: 75,000
Size Merck & (MRK) is a United States Health Care company (Pharmaceuticals: Major) with a market value of $362B, the 28th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $146.73 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 32.7%, against +14.8% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 14 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 5.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +5.7%); the operating margin is 18.4% (peer median 30.5%).
Valuation It trades at 17.4× forward earnings against a peer median of 18.3× (7th cheapest of 14).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 4% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +9%, so the hurdle is -5 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 12.3 points above its cost of capital (6.2% WACC).
Credit Merck & has 46 bonds outstanding ($47.3B), rated A+ by the agencies and trading like AA- at a weighted spread of 59 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 1.1% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 2 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $67.2B | $64.9B | $64.0B | $59.9B | $58.5B |
| Revenue growth | — | +1% | +7% | +2% | — |
| Gross profit | $55.2B | $46.7B | $47.2B | $43.9B | $41.3B |
| EBITDA | n/a | $29.3B | $25.1B | $6.85B | $23.4B |
| Net income | $2.45B | $18.3B | $17.1B | $365M | $14.5B |
| Free cash flow | n/a | $12.4B | $18.1B | $9.14B | $14.7B |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | $4.11B | $3.37B | $3.86B | $4.39B |
| Total debt | n/a | $50.5B | $38.3B | $36.3B | $32.0B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merck & MRK | $362B | +33% | +5% | 18% | 17.4× | 4.1% |
| Bristol Myers Squibb BMY | $127B | +12% | +4% | 33% | 9.7× | -12.9% |
| Roche RO.SW | $385B | +22% | -1% | 31% | 19.6× | 0.9% |
| Pfizer PFE | $168B | +14% | +1% | 26% | 10.4× | -4.3% |
| AstraZeneca AZN.L | $291B | +1% | +5% | 23% | 18.3× | 14.5% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | MRK | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +3.1% | +8.9% | lowest of 14 |
| 6-month return | +32.7% | +14.8% | 3rd highest of 14 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -6.5% | -6.8% | 6th highest of 14 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +5.2% | +5.7% | 7th lowest of 14 |
| Operating margin | 18.4% | 30.5% | lowest of 14 |
| Forward P/E | 17.4× | 18.3× | 7th cheapest of 14 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 4.1% | 0.1% | 4th most demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +9.3% | +6.0% | 6th highest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -5.2 pp | -8.1 pp | 6th most demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +12.3 pp | +11.8 pp | 7th highest of 14 |
| Bond spread | 59 bp | 64 bp | 5th tightest of 13 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merck & MRK | United States | $362B | +33% | +5% | 18% | 17.4× | 4.1% | +9.3% |
| Roche RO.SW | Switzerland | $385B | +22% | -1% | 31% | 19.6× | 0.9% | +1.1% |
| Novartis NOVN.SW | Switzerland | $298B | +15% | -4% | 30% | 18.4× | 1.7% | -0.2% |
| AstraZeneca AZN.L | United Kingdom | $291B | +1% | +5% | 23% | 18.3× | 14.5% | +15.7% |
| AbbVie ABBV | United States | $515B | +45% | +11% | 36% | 18.4× | -0.1% | +6.0% |
| Johnson & Johnson JNJ | United States | $665B | +26% | +8% | 26% | 24.5× | 3.5% | +2.7% |
| Novo Nordisk A/S NOVO-B.CO | Denmark | $190B | -7% | +6% | 48% | 11.9× | 0.1% | +19.5% |
| Pfizer PFE | United States | $168B | +14% | +1% | 26% | 10.4× | -4.3% | +8.5% |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX | United States | $139B | +27% | +11% | 35% | 29.0× | 6.1% | +14.2% |
| Bristol Myers Squibb BMY | United States | $127B | +12% | +4% | 33% | 9.7× | -12.9% | +2.5% |
| Sanofi SAN.PA | France | $113B | +14% | +15% | 27% | 9.6× | -5.4% | +3.9% |
| Lilly (Eli) LLY | United States | $1.27T | +43% | +46% | 51% | 28.9× | 5.9% | +21.6% |
| GSK GSK.L | United Kingdom | $102B | 0% | +4% | 25% | 10.6× | -0.1% | -0.9% |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN | United States | $93.5B | +27% | +19% | 30% | 11.3× | -2.2% | +11.0% |
Merck & has 46 bonds outstanding with $47.3B face value. The agencies rate it A+; its bonds trade like AA-. Weighted yield 5.48%, a spread of 59 bp over government bonds.