AAPL vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Apple Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-24.
Apple Inc. · Technology
$337.02
+9.9% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
High Quality
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$147.17
-4.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
QuantHub Verdict
AAPL has more upside to fair value
(+9.9%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
AAPL |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$337.02 |
$147.17 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$370.54 |
$141.07 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+9.9%
|
-4.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$4,949.9B |
$363.5B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
29.6x
|
29.6x
|
| Price / Sales |
10.6x
|
5.5x
|
| Price / FCF |
36.2x
|
22.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+16.4%
|
+5.1%
|
| Gross Margin |
48.7%
|
75.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
33.2%
|
16.7%
|
| Return on Equity |
137.2%
|
6.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.31% |
2.31% |
| FCF Yield |
2.76%
|
4.42%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Apple Inc. is a global consumer-electronics and services platform whose hardware lineup (iPhone, Mac, iPad, wearables) and digital ecosystem (App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple Pay, advertising) generated $31.78 of revenue per share and $9.30 of free cash flow per share on a trailing basis, with TTM gross margin of 48.7%, operating margin of 33.2%, net margin of 27.6%, and ROE of 137.2%. Busin…
Merck & Co., Inc. is a global healthcare leader with two core divisions, Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health, spanning oncology, vaccines, acute hospital care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular and diabetes, and it employs roughly 74,000 people under CEO Robert Davis. The business quality is medium: TTM gross margin of 75.4% and TTM operating margin of 16.7% reflect a genuinely hig…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
AAPL |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$277.91 |
$105.80 |
| Zone High |
$314.96 |
$119.91 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|