ANET vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Arista Networks, Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-20.
Arista Networks, Inc. · Technology
$172.62
+12.4% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$114.27
+3.3% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
ANET has more upside to fair value
(+12.4%).
MRK trades at a lower forward P/E
(22.4x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
ANET |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$172.62 |
$114.27 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$193.98 |
$118.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+12.4%
|
+3.3%
|
| Market Cap |
$217.4B |
$282.2B |
| Forward P/E |
61.8x
|
22.4x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
54.8x
|
13.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
24.1x
|
4.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
51.1x
|
20.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+28.9%
|
+5.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
64.1%
|
81.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
42.8%
|
27.5%
|
| Return on Equity |
31.0%
|
5.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.91% |
| FCF Yield |
1.96%
|
4.95%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Overweight
|
Investment Thesis
Arista Networks is a leading provider of software-driven cloud networking solutions focused on AI, cloud, and data center markets. The company benefits from durable competitive advantages including a highly experienced leadership team led by CEO Jayshree Ullal, who has driven growth from startup to a $100 billion market cap S&P 500 company. Arista's business quality is high, supported by strong r…
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 |
ANET |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$145.48 |
$88.50 |
| Zone High |
$164.88 |
$100.30 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|