COST vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Merck & Co., Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-08.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$947.50
-1.4% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$113.87
-12.1% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
COST has more upside to fair value
(-1.4%).
MRK trades at a lower forward P/E
(32.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$947.50 |
$113.87 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$933.84 |
$100.14 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-1.4%
|
-12.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$420.2B |
$281.2B |
| Forward P/E |
47.6x
|
32.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
28.3x
|
17.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.4x
|
4.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
47.7x
|
19.9x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.6%
|
+4.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
75.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
27.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.3%
|
17.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
2.1%
|
5.02%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates as a membership-only warehouse club offering a wide range of merchandise at low prices. The company exhibits high business quality with a durable competitive moat driven by cost advantages, strong brand loyalty, and efficient operations, reflected in a robust ROE of 28.3% and solid revenue growth of 11.6% in the most recent quarter. Despite these strengths, t…
Merck & Co., Inc. is a leading global healthcare company specializing in pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and animal health products. Its business quality is high, supported by a durable competitive moat anchored in the dominant global position of Keytruda in PD-1/PD-L1 oncology, a strong vaccines portfolio including Gardasil, and scale in R&D and manufacturing. The company benefits from a seasoned lea…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
COST |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$700.38 |
$75.11 |
| Zone High |
$793.76 |
$85.12 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|