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Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck or the Company) is a global health care company that delivers innovative health solutions through its prescription medicines, including biologic therapies, vaccines and animal health products. The Company s operations are principally managed on a product basis and include two operating segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health, both of which are reportable segments.
$127.50
$0.13 (-0.10%)
EOD Jul 17, 2026
Margins and capital returns are both well above average: 34.01% operating margin, ROIC at 20.61%. Consistent with durable pricing power, though that alone doesn't make it a buy.
Revenue growth slowed to 1.3%, essentially flat. This is a business that needs a catalyst.
At 36x earnings, the current multiple leaves limited room for execution misses or growth deceleration. Free cash flow declined 32% versus the prior year, cash generation momentum has weakened.
35.9x earnings, 22.3x FCF. Not cheap, the quality is already reflected in the price. Upside from here requires either margin expansion or growth re-acceleration, not just continuation.
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$65.77B
▲ +1.3% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$8.94B
▲ +6.6% YoY
Op. Margin
19.72%
▲ +2.5pp YoY
ROIC
10.95%
▼ -1.4pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
$14.12B
▼ -31.7% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$17.89B
▼ -23.3% YoY
Net Debt
$43.41B
Cash & Equiv.
$5.70B
5Y CAGR: +9.4%
5Y CAGR: +16.2%
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At a P/E of 35.9 and a price-to-free-cash-flow of 22.3, Merck & Co. (MRK) trades around a two-stage DCF intrinsic value of about $144.63 per share, so at $127.50 the stock looks around fair value (13.4% below estimated intrinsic value). A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, Merck & Co. scores 40/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a mixed business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 2.6%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Intrinsiqq's two-stage DCF estimates an intrinsic value of about $144.63 per share for MRK, projecting its recent free cash flow forward with a growth rate that fades toward a long-run rate and discounting it back to today. Applying a 25% margin of safety gives a more conservative fair-value entry around $108.47. At today's $127.50, that puts the stock about 13.4% below estimated intrinsic value. The result is sensitive to the growth and discount-rate inputs, so it is best to run conservative, base and optimistic cases. You can adjust all of them yourself with the sliders on the DCF tab.
Merck & Co. scores 40 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 8 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a mixed business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 19.7% operating margin and a 10.9% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Yes, Merck & Co. pays a regular dividend of about $3.33 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 2.6% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 92.1% of earnings, so the dividend is stretched at this level. Merck & Co. has grown the dividend at roughly 5.5% a year over the past few years. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For MRK's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. MRK currently trades around its estimated intrinsic value and scores 40/100 on quality (mixed). It also yields about 2.6%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.