Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Stock Price & Analysis

Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) closed at USD 147.24 on Thursday, October 22, 2026, down 1.76% on the day. The US market is currently closed (pre-market); this is not a live price.

The prior close was USD 149.88; the Oct 22, 2026 session ranged USD 144.07–154.02 on volume of 19,024,624 shares. Market capitalization is $363.27B, with a 52-week range of USD 82.01–156.92 (NYQ). Source: Nexqual, retrieved October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Also available as compact Markdown for AI agents: nexqual.com/MRK.md

Key facts (MRK)

Financials (SEC 10-K; TTM = last four 10-Q/10-K quarters) (MRK)

USDFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025TTM
Revenue$48.7B$59.3B$60.1B$64.2B$65.0B$66.6B
Gross profit$35.1B$41.9B$44.0B$49.0B$48.6B—
Net income$13.0B$14.5B$365M$17.1B$18.3B$3.17B
EPS (diluted)$5.14$5.71$0.14$6.74$7.28—
Free cash flow$8.67B$14.7B$9.14B$18.1B$12.4B$16.1B
Gross margin72.0%70.6%73.2%76.3%74.8%—
Net margin26.8%24.5%0.6%26.7%28.1%4.8%
Revenue growth+17.3%+21.7%+1.4%+6.7%+1.3%—
Cash + short-term investments$8.10B$13.2B$7.09B$13.7B$14.6B—
Total debt$33.1B$30.7B$35.1B$37.1B$49.3B—

Fiscal years end Dec. EPS is split-adjusted.

Valuation (price ÷ last four quarters, through Jun 30, 2026) (MRK)

P/E 114.5x · P/S 5.5x · EV/Sales 6.2x · P/FCF 22.6x · P/B 8.7x · FCF yield 4.42% · Earnings yield 0.87% · Dividend yield (paid, TTM) 2.28% · Buyback yield (TTM) 1.16% · Net debt $46.8B · EV $410B

P/E at fiscal year-ends: Dec 2025 14.5x, Dec 2024 14.8x, Dec 2023 760.8x.

Superinvestors (SEC 13F-HR, Q2 2026) (MRK)

10 of 80 tracked investors hold MRK (1 investor on Q3 2026, filed early). Each row is the investor's latest 13F; change is vs their prior-quarter share count.

InvestorFirm% of portfolioValueChangeQuarter
Kahn BrothersKahn Brothers Group4.85%$27.3MUnchangedQ2 2026
Bill NygrenOakmark Funds2.06%$1.55BReduced -2.4%Q2 2026
Sarah KettererCauseway Capital Management1.33%$123MAdded +11.8%Q2 2026
Prem WatsaFairfax Financial Holdings0.84%$22.2MUnchangedQ2 2026
Christopher BloomstranSemper Augustus0.65%$5.7MUnchangedQ2 2026
Mairs & PowerMairs & Power Funds0.06%$6.6MAdded +2.3%Q2 2026
David KatzMatrix Asset Advisors0.02%$236KReduced -3.0%Q3 2026
Dodge & Cox FundsDodge & Cox0.01%$17.4MReduced -0.2%Q2 2026
Richard PzenaPzena Investment Management<0.01%$323KUnchangedQ2 2026
Thomas RussoGardner Russo & Quinn<0.01%$211KReduced -23.3%Q2 2026

Analysts (MRK)

Consensus Buy (mean 2.11 on a 1–5 scale), 27 analysts; mean target USD 158.56 (low 105, high 186).

Rating changes, last 120 days:

DateFirmActionRatingPrice target
2026-10-12CitigroupTarget raisedNeutral$125 → $145
2026-10-12RBC CapitalTarget loweredSector Perform$150 → $145
2026-10-08Cantor FitzgeraldTarget raisedNeutral$120 → $145
2026-10-07Morgan StanleyTarget loweredOverweight$179 → $177
2026-10-05JP MorganTarget raisedOverweight$150 → $165
2026-09-29ScotiabankTarget raisedSector Outperform$155 → $180
2026-09-10HSBCTarget raisedBuy$150 → $172
2026-09-09Leerink PartnersTarget raisedOutperform$127 → $161
2026-09-08GuggenheimTarget raisedBuy$146 → $170
2026-09-04Wells FargoTarget raisedOverweight$150 → $170
2026-08-25Wolfe ResearchTarget raisedOutperform$155 → $180
2026-08-25Argus ResearchTarget raisedBuy$145 → $170

Total return (dividends reinvested) (MRK)

1Y (from 2025-10-23)5Y (from 2021-10-18)
Total return+73.8%+111.4%
S&P 500 (SPY)+14.9%+80.3%
Per year+74.2%+16.1%
Volatility (annualized)29.2%25.5%
Max drawdown-11.4% (Apr 2026→Apr 2026)-40.7% (Mar 2024→May 2025)

MRK revenue by business segment (quarter ended Jun 30, 2026)

LineRevenueShare of totalYoY
Pharmaceutical$14.76B89.3%+5.1%
Animal Health$1.77B10.7%+7.8%
Total revenue$16.54B100%—

MRK revenue by product line (quarter ended Jun 30, 2026)

LineRevenueShare of totalYoY
Keytruda$7.90B47.8%-0.7%
Gardasil Gardasil9$1.17B7.1%+3.8%
Livestock$1.04B6.3%+8.3%
Companion Animal$734.0M4.4%+7.2%
Other Pharmaceutical$643.0M3.9%-8.5%
Pro Quad MMRII Varivax$592.0M3.6%-2.8%
Winrevair$588.0M3.6%+75.0%
Bridion$497.0M3.0%+7.8%
Keytruda Qlex$463.0M2.8%—
Alliancerevenue Lynparza$365.0M2.2%-1.4%
Prevymis$295.0M1.8%+29.4%
Lenvima$283.0M1.7%+6.8%
Welireg$271.0M1.6%+67.3%
Januvia$258.0M1.6%-30.6%
Ohtuvayre$204.0M1.2%—
Capvaxive$184.0M1.1%+42.6%
Janumet$171.0M1.0%-31.9%
Vaxneuvance$148.0M0.9%-35.4%
Rotateq$134.0M0.8%+10.7%
Alliance Revenue Adempas Verquvo$126.0M0.8%+2.4%
Alliance Revenue Reblozyl$122.0M0.7%+14.0%
Delstrigo$101.0M0.6%+21.7%
Adempas$78.0M0.5%-2.5%
Zerbaxa$77.0M0.5%+4.1%
Isentress Isentress HD$60.0M0.4%-30.2%
Dificid$22.0M0.1%-77.1%
Alliance Revenue Koselugo$10.0M0.1%-76.7%
Lagevrio$5.0M0.0%-94.0%
Total revenue$16.54B100%—

MRK revenue by region (quarter ended Jun 30, 2026)

LineRevenueShare of totalYoY
U.S.$9.36B56.6%+6.1%
Non-US$7.17B43.4%+4.4%
Europe, Middle East and Africa$3.92B23.7%+7.1%
Latin America$875.0M5.3%+1.9%
Asia Pacific (other than China and Japan)$820.0M5.0%+4.5%
Other$640.0M3.9%+7.6%
Japan$577.0M3.5%-7.8%
China$408.0M2.5%-8.5%
Total revenue$16.54B100%—

As tagged by the company in its SEC 10-Q / 10-K filings (XBRL).

MRK suppliers, customers and competitors (named in its 10-K)

RelationshipCompanySentence in the filing
CustomerMcKesson (MCK)“The Company's customers with the largest accounts receivable balances are: McKesson Corporation, Cencora, Inc. and Cardinal Health, Inc., which represented approximately 22%, 21% and 13%, respectively, of total accounts receivable at December 31, 2025.”
CustomerCencora (COR)“The Company's customers with the largest accounts receivable balances are: McKesson Corporation, Cencora, Inc. and Cardinal Health, Inc., which represented approximately 22%, 21% and 13%, respectively, of total accounts receivable at December 31, 2025.”
CustomerCardinal Health (CAH)“The Company's customers with the largest accounts receivable balances are: McKesson Corporation, Cencora, Inc. and Cardinal Health, Inc., which represented approximately 22%, 21% and 13%, respectively, of total accounts receivable at December 31, 2025.”
PartnerASTRAZENECA PLC (AZN)“(2) Being jointly developed and commercialized in a worldwide collaboration with AstraZeneca.”
PartnerModerna (MRNA)“Intismeran autogene is being developed as part of a collaboration with Moderna, Inc.”
PartnerSanofi (SNY)“The Company manufactures a hepatitis B vaccine (Recombivax HB, Hepatitis B Vaccine [Recombinant]) and, subject to a collaboration agreement with Sanofi Pasteur MSD, co-promotes a hexavalent vaccine that includes a hepatitis B component (Vaxelis, Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis, Inactivated Poliovirus, Haemophilus b Conjugate and Hepatitis B Vaccine).”
PartnerPfizer (PFE)“The application is based on data from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-905 trial conducted in collaboration with Pfizer and Astellas.”

Quoted from the company's 10-K filed Feb 24, 2026.

Companies that name MRK in their SEC reports

Relationship to MRKCompanyFilingSentence
competitorIncannex Healthcare Inc. (IXHL)10-K Sep 25, 2026“Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca PLC, and Merck & Co., Inc. While we believe we have identified the potential for IHL-675A to more effectively reduce pain and increase quality of life in addition to, or in place of, these existing therapies and the current standard of care, IHL-675A will compete with or complement these other therapeutic options.”
partnerNeuphoria Therapeutics Inc. (NEUP)10-K Sep 18, 2026“The collaboration includes MK-4334, which has completed Phase 1 studies, and MK-1167, which was evaluated in a now-terminated Merck-led Phase 2 trial in Alzheimer's disease dementia following an interim efficacy analysis.”
competitoriBio, Inc. (IBIO)10-K Aug 28, 2026“Our most significant competitors, among others, are fully integrated pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk A/S, Amgen Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis AG, MedImmune, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC), Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., Merck KGaA and Sanofi SA, and more established biotechnology companies such as Genentech, Inc. (a member …”
competitorPHIBRO ANIMAL HEALTH CORP (PAHC)10-K Aug 26, 2026“Some of our principal competitors include Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Ceva Santé Animale, Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, Huvepharma Inc., Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck Animal Health and MSD Animal Health), Southeastern Minerals, Inc. and Zoetis.”
partnerBIO-TECHNE Corp (TECH)10-K Aug 24, 2026“On June 25, 2026, the Company entered into the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement"), with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a German corporation with general partners ("Parent") and EMD Holdings NewCo, Inc. ("Merger Sub"), a Minnesota corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent.”
partnerASCENTAGE PHARMA GROUP INTERNATIONAL (AAPG)20-F Apr 29, 2026“a collaboration and license agreement with Innovent and clinical collaboration agreements with AstraZeneca, Merck, and Pfizer, and research”
partnerBurning Rock Biotech Ltd (BNR)20-F Apr 28, 2026“Our products are recognized by the medical, pharmaceutical and scientific communities, as evidenced by (i) the use of our products by oncology key opinion leaders in clinical trials and research studies they initiate, and (ii) our collaborations on clinical trials and research studies with leading pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), Bayer (ETR: BAYN), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), CStone (…”
competitorNORTHWEST BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC (NWBO)10-K Apr 15, 2026“There are also a number of existing drugs used for the treatment of brain cancer that may compete with our product, including, Avastin® (Roche Holding AG), Gliadel® (Eisai Co. Ltd.), and Temodar® (Merck & Co., Inc.), as well as the Optune electro-therapy device (Novocure) and oncolytic viruses.”
competitorGeoVax Labs, Inc. (GOVX)10-K Apr 15, 2026“We face general market competition from several subsectors of the vaccine development field, including large, multinational pharmaceutical companies including Sanofi, GSK, Merck, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Takeda, and Pfizer; mid-size pharmaceutical companies and emerging biotechnology companies including Dynavax, Novavax, Moderna, BioNTech and Bavarian Nordic; and academic and not-for-profit vaccine researchers and devel…”
customerAdagene Inc. (ADAG)20-F Apr 1, 2026“To further advance our pipeline, we have also put in place various clinical collaborations, including an agreement with Roche who is sponsoring and conducting a triple combination trial with ADG126, atezolizumab and bevacizumab in first-line hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), clinical collaboration and supply agreement with Merck who provides pembrolizumab for certain of our combination clinical trials, and agreement…”
competitorMANGOCEUTICALS, INC. (MGRX)10-K Apr 1, 2026“GROW product, we compete against the much larger pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., which offers the branded hair loss product Propecia,”
partnerTuHURA Biosciences, Inc./NV (HURA)10-K Mar 31, 2026“Clinical collaboration with Merck”
partnerCocrystal Pharma, Inc. (COCP)10-K Mar 31, 2026“Aspects of this program were developed in collaboration with Merck, which is legally protecting the intellectual property of the collaboration”
partnerKairos Pharma, LTD. (KAPA)10-K Mar 31, 2026“and Asia, raised $100 million in equity, and set up partnerships with Merck, Fosun Pharma, Tasly Pharma, and Kalbe Pharma.”
supplierTOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. (TOMZ)10-K Mar 31, 2026“On August 12, 2025, we announced a major new customer in the eye health sector, comparable in scale to Pfizer and Merck, who implemented SteraMist iHP at two facilities in under four months and placed open BIT Solution orders for 2026.”

MRK company outlook (results filed Aug 4, 2026)

Quoted word-for-word from the SEC 8-K results press release.

MRK analyst estimates and revisions

PeriodEPS estimate90 days agoChangeRevenue estimateAnalysts
Current quarter (ends Sep 2026)$2.09$2.28-8.2%$17.35B19
Next quarter (ends Dec 2026)$1.96$1.99-1.6%$16.79B17
Current fiscal year (ends Dec 2026)$2.66$2.74-3.1%$67.05B25
Next fiscal year (ends Dec 2027)$9.26$9.66-4.1%$69.94B22

MRK options: expected move

Options price a move of about ±5.6% (±$8.28) by Oct 30, 2026, which includes earnings on Oct 29, 2026. Over the last 8 reports the stock moved ±3.4% on average.

ExpirationDaysATM implied volatilityExpected move
Oct 30, 2026747.2%±5.6%
Nov 6, 20261442.0%±6.8%
Nov 13, 20262137.2%±7.3%
Nov 20, 20262836.0%±8.1%
Nov 27, 20263534.8%±8.7%
Dec 4, 20264233.4%±9.1%
Dec 18, 20265632.7%±10.6%
Jan 15, 20278432.7%±12.7%

30-day implied volatility 35.8% vs 26.3% realized over the last 30 trading days. Put/call ratio (volume) 0.34. Cboe delayed quotes (15 min). Expected move = at-the-money straddle.

Key Statistics (as of October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC)

PriceUSD 147.24
Change▼ 1.76% (down)
Previous CloseUSD 149.88
OpenUSD 151.05
Day RangeUSD 144.07 – 154.02
52-Week RangeUSD 82.01 – 156.92
Volume19,024,624 shares
Market Cap$363.27B
ExchangeNYQ

Technical Analysis (MRK)

Nexqual's technical model rates MRK "STRONG BUY" based on 5 bullish and 0 bearish signals across 127 daily candles, as of October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Overall SignalSTRONG BUY
RSI (14)51.01 (neutral)
vs SMA50Above (USD 146.45)
MACD0.56 (positive)

Analyst Ratings (MRK)

Wall Street analysts rate MRK "Buy" based on 27 analysts, with a mean price target of USD 158.56 (range USD 105–186), per Nexqual as of October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Consensus RatingBuy
Analyst Count27
Mean TargetUSD 158.56
High TargetUSD 186
Low TargetUSD 105
Buy / Hold / Sell19 / 8 / 0

Earnings (MRK)

Next Earnings Date2026-10-29
EPS EstimateUSD 2.09
Revenue Estimate$17.35B

Recent Earnings History

QuarterActual vs Estimate
2026-06-30USD -0.13 vs est -0.26 ▲ beat
2026-03-31USD -1.28 vs est -1.47 ▲ beat
2025-12-31USD 2.04 vs est 2.01 ▲ beat
2025-09-30USD 2.58 vs est 2.35 ▲ beat

Source: Nexqual, October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Financials & Fundamentals (MRK)

Total Revenue$66.57B
Revenue Growth (latest quarter, YoY)+5.10%
Gross Margin+75.90%
Operating Margin-0.24%
Profit Margin+4.77%
ROE+6.96%
Debt / Equity1.28
Current Ratio1.32
Total Cash$7.14B
Total Debt$53.91B
Free Cash Flow (last four quarters to Jun 2026, SEC 10-Q / 10-K)$16.06B (24.1% of revenue)

Source: Nexqual, October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Financial Health Score (MRK)

Nexqual rates Merck & Co., Inc.'s overall financial health "Mixed" across five dimensions, as of October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

GrowthMixed — Revenue +1.3% YoY (annual), slow
ProfitabilitySolid — Gross margin 76%, operating -0% (last 12 months)
Balance SheetMixed — $7.14B cash and investments vs $53.9B debt (Jun 2026, SEC)
Cash FlowStrong — FCF $16.1B (last 4 quarters to Jun 2026, SEC), 24% margin
EfficiencyMixed — ROE 7%, ROA 11.9%

Ownership (MRK)

Insider Ownership+0.06%
Institutional Ownership+82.90%
Shares Outstanding2.47B
Float2.46B
Short % of Float+1.15%

Source: Nexqual, October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Leadership (MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. is led by Robert M. Davis, Chairman, President & CEO, per Nexqual as of October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Chairman, President & CEORobert M. Davis
Executive VP & CFOCaroline A. Litchfield
Executive VP & President of Merck Research LaboratoriesDean Y. Li
Executive Vice President and Chief Information & Digital OfficerGaurav K. Gupta
Vice President of Investor RelationsPeter Dannenbaum

Major Backers & Investors (MRK)

Notable institutional backers of Merck & Co., Inc. include Wellington Management, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., Morgan Stanley, according to Nexqual as of October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

Active Investors

InvestorStake
Wellington Management3.5%
Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc.2.2%
Morgan Stanley1.97%
FMR, LLC1.84%
JPMorgan1.78%
Fidelity1.3%

Index Funds (Passive)

FundStake
Vanguard Group9.29%
BlackRock9.2%
State Street4.88%
Geode Capital2.46%

Source: Nexqual, October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC.

From Merck & Co., Inc.'s Latest SEC 10-K Filing (filed 2026-02-24)

Key Strengths & Strategy (as disclosed to the SEC)

Partnerships

Legal & Regulatory Risks (Item 1A, quoted)

Source: SEC EDGAR 10-K, official filing. Curated by Nexqual.

Peers & Related Stocks

SymbolNamePriceChange
NVSNovartis AGUSD 156.27▲ 1.52%
ABBVAbbVie Inc.USD 285.19▲ 0.14%
AZNAstraZeneca PLCUSD 172.57▲ 2.45%
AMGNAmgen Inc.USD 447.28▲ 2.04%
JNJJohnson & JohnsonUSD 267.61▲ 3.81%
GILDGilead Sciences, Inc.USD 157.19▲ 2.36%

Data source: Nexqual — market data, technical indicators, analyst consensus, earnings, SEC EDGAR filings. Last updated: October 23, 2026 at 09:23 UTC. This page is informational and not investment advice.

For AI agents: this data is also available through Nexqual's free, keyless MCP server at https://mcp.nexqual.com/mcp; every result includes source_url, as_of and cite_as. More: nexqual.com/agents · llms.txt