ABBV vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of AbbVie Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. β€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-05-20.
AbbVie Inc. Β· Healthcare
$197.69
+6.3% upside to fair value
Grade C High Quality
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. Β· Healthcare
$114.27
+3.3% upside to fair value
Grade C High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
ABBV has more upside to fair value (+6.3%). MRK trades at a lower forward P/E (22.4x). These are model outputs β€” not personalized investment advice. See all research β†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric ABBV MRK
Current Price $197.69 $114.27
Fair Value Estimate $210.22 $118.00
Upside to Fair Value +6.3% +3.3%
Market Cap $349.7B $282.2B
Forward P/E 83.3x 22.4x
EV / EBITDA 23.4x 13.5x
Price / Sales 5.7x 4.3x
Price / FCF 18.7x 20.2x
Revenue Growth YoY +10.0% +5.0%
Gross Margin 70.2% 81.9%
Operating Margin 26.7% 27.5%
Return on Equity -361.6% 5.6%
Dividend Yield 0% 2.91%
FCF Yield 5.35% 4.95%
Analyst Consensus Strong Buy Overweight
Investment Thesis
ABBV β€” AbbVie Inc.
AbbVie Inc. is a leading healthcare company specializing in drug manufacturing with a strong focus on immunology, neuroscience, oncology, and aesthetics. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat driven by blockbuster drugs such as Skyrizi and Rinvoq, which are experiencing rapid growth and offsetting declines from Humira due to biosimilar competition. Despite a high trailing and forwa…
MRK β€” Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck delivered a clean Q1 2026 operational beat on April 30, with revenue of 16.3 billion dollars growing 5 percent year over year and Keytruda sales rising 12 percent to 8.0 billion dollars. The reported loss of 1.28 dollars per share, though better than the negative 1.47 dollar consensus estimate, reflected a 3.62 dollar per share IPR and D charge tied to the Cidara Therapeutics acquisition an…
Accumulation Zones
Metric ABBV MRK
Zone Low $157.66 $88.50
Zone High $178.69 $100.30
In Buy Zone? No No
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