GOOG vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Alphabet Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-20.
Alphabet Inc. · Communication Services
$339.40
-6.2% 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 |
GOOG |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$339.40 |
$114.27 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$318.47 |
$118.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-6.2%
|
+3.3%
|
| Market Cap |
$4,105.7B |
$282.2B |
| Forward P/E |
31.2x
|
22.4x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.1x
|
13.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
10.3x
|
4.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
56.4x
|
20.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.3%
|
+5.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
59.7%
|
81.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
32.0%
|
27.5%
|
| Return on Equity |
35.0%
|
5.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.91% |
| FCF Yield |
1.77%
|
4.95%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Overweight
|
Investment Thesis
Alphabet Inc. operates as a global leader in internet content, advertising, cloud computing, and AI technologies, with dominant market positions in search, browser, and mobile operating systems. The company benefits from a high-quality business model characterized by a durable competitive moat, strong revenue growth of 11.3% year-over-year, and robust profitability with net margins of 32.8%. Desp…
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 |
GOOG |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$238.85 |
$88.50 |
| Zone High |
$270.70 |
$100.30 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|