ABBV vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of AbbVie Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. โ€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-09-18.
AbbVie Inc. ยท Healthcare
$261.70
-1.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C High Quality
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. ยท Healthcare
$147.17
-4.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C
QuantHub Verdict
ABBV has more upside to fair value (-1.0%). These are model outputs โ€” not personalized investment advice. See all research โ†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric ABBV MRK
Current Price $261.70 $147.17
Fair Value Estimate $259.04 $141.07
Upside to Fair Value -1.0% -4.1%
Market Cap $462.4B $363.5B
Forward P/E โ€” โ€”
EV / EBITDA 24.8x 29.6x
Price / Sales 7.2x 5.5x
Price / FCF 23.6x 22.6x
Revenue Growth YoY +10.2% +5.1%
Gross Margin 71.5% 75.4%
Operating Margin 29.3% 16.7%
Return on Equity -136.5% 6.6%
Dividend Yield 2.61% 2.31%
FCF Yield 4.25% 4.42%
Analyst Consensus Strong Buy Buy
Investment Thesis
ABBV โ€” AbbVie Inc.
AbbVie is a diversified branded-biopharma company spanning immunology, neuroscience, oncology and aesthetics, with high-margin TTM economics including a 71.5% gross margin and 29.3% operating margin. Its successor immunology franchises are performing strongly: Q2 2026 revenue rose 10.2% year over year, with Skyrizi up 24.4% to $5.505 billion and Rinvoq up 24.5% to $2.525 billion, helping offset aโ€ฆ
MRK โ€” Merck & Co., Inc.
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 higโ€ฆ
Accumulation Zones
Metric ABBV MRK
Zone Low $194.28 $105.80
Zone High $220.18 $119.91
In Buy Zone? No No
โ† ABBV Research    MRK Research โ†’    All Research