CAT vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Caterpillar Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-20.
Caterpillar Inc. · Industrials
$912.14
-47.9% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$114.27
+3.3% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MRK has more upside to fair value
(+3.3%).
MRK trades at a lower forward P/E
(22.4x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
CAT |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$912.14 |
$114.27 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$475.00 |
$118.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-47.9%
|
+3.3%
|
| Market Cap |
$420.2B |
$282.2B |
| Forward P/E |
44.9x
|
22.4x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
30.0x
|
13.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
5.9x
|
4.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
36.7x
|
20.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+22.2%
|
+5.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
32.5%
|
81.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
16.6%
|
27.5%
|
| Return on Equity |
47.5%
|
5.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
1.5% |
2.91% |
| FCF Yield |
2.73%
|
4.95%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Hold
|
Overweight
|
Investment Thesis
Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, with diversified revenue across Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy & Transportation, and Cat Financial. Q1 2026 results reported April 30 showed revenue of $17.4 billion (+22.2% YoY) and EPS of $5.50 (+30.3% YoY), driven by powerful demand from data center build-outs (large engine and power gen…
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 |
CAT |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$356.00 |
$88.50 |
| Zone High |
$404.00 |
$100.30 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|