HON vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of Honeywell International Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. β€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-09-26.
Honeywell International Inc. Β· Industrials
$212.55
-8.5% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. Β· Healthcare
$147.17
-4.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C
QuantHub Verdict
MRK has more upside to fair value (-4.1%). These are model outputs β€” not personalized investment advice. See all research β†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric HON MRK
Current Price $212.55 $147.17
Fair Value Estimate $194.50 $141.07
Upside to Fair Value -8.5% -4.1%
Market Cap $67.4B $363.5B
Forward P/E β€” β€”
EV / EBITDA 7.4x 29.6x
Price / Sales 1.9x 5.5x
Price / FCF 16.4x 22.6x
Revenue Growth YoY -6.1% +5.1%
Gross Margin 36.6% 75.4%
Operating Margin 14.1% 16.7%
Return on Equity 41.7% 6.6%
Dividend Yield 2.09% 2.31%
FCF Yield 6.11% 4.42%
Analyst Consensus Buy Buy
Investment Thesis
HON β€” Honeywell International Inc.
Honeywell International Inc. is a 101,000-employee diversified industrial technology and manufacturing conglomerate, led by CEO Vimal Kapur, spanning Aerospace, Building Technologies, Performance Materials and Technologies, and Safety and Productivity Solutions. Business quality is solid but not exceptional: the company carries a durable intangible-asset and switching-cost moat in aerospace avion…
MRK β€” Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc. is a global healthcare leader with two core divisions, Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health, spanning oncology, vaccines, acute hospital care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular and diabetes, and it employs roughly 74,000 people under CEO Robert Davis. The business quality is medium: TTM gross margin of 75.4% and TTM operating margin of 16.7% reflect a genuinely hig…
Accumulation Zones
Metric HON MRK
Zone Low $145.88 $105.80
Zone High $165.32 $119.91
In Buy Zone? No No
← HON Research    MRK Research β†’    All Research