COP vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of ConocoPhillips and Merck & Co., Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-20.
ConocoPhillips · Energy
$125.78
-2.1% upside to fair value
Grade C
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%).
COP trades at a lower forward P/E
(21.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COP |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$125.78 |
$114.27 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$123.15 |
$118.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-2.1%
|
+3.3%
|
| Market Cap |
$153.3B |
$282.2B |
| Forward P/E |
21.0x
|
22.4x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
7.5x
|
13.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
2.6x
|
4.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
8.4x
|
20.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
-2.5%
|
+5.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
33.1%
|
81.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
25.4%
|
27.5%
|
| Return on Equity |
11.3%
|
5.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.91% |
| FCF Yield |
11.96%
|
4.95%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Overweight
|
Investment Thesis
ConocoPhillips is a leading independent oil and gas exploration and production company with a strong focus on low-cost shale assets and sustainability initiatives. The company benefits from a durable competitive position due to its cost advantage and early ESG leadership, but faces near-term earnings pressure as revenue declined 2.5% and earnings fell 23.4% in the most recent quarter year-over-ye…
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 |
COP |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$92.36 |
$88.50 |
| Zone High |
$104.68 |
$100.30 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|