HON vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Honeywell International Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-04-11.
Honeywell International Inc. · Industrials
$235.04
-9.9% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$121.42
-2.9% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
MRK has more upside to fair value
(-2.9%).
MRK trades at a lower forward P/E
(14.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
HON |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$235.04 |
$121.42 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$211.73 |
$118.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-9.9%
|
-2.9%
|
| Market Cap |
$149.4B |
$300.2B |
| Forward P/E |
22.3x
|
14.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
16.9x
|
11.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.0x
|
4.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
27.7x
|
21.4x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
-2.7%
|
+1.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
36.9%
|
81.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
17.7%
|
41.2%
|
| Return on Equity |
33.28%
|
34.7%
|
| Dividend Yield |
1.92% |
3.1% |
| FCF Yield |
3.61%
|
4.7%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Honeywell is a diversified industrial conglomerate in the final stages of a transformative three-way separation into Honeywell Aerospace, Solstice Advanced Materials, and a retained Automation entity, targeting Q3 2026 completion. The business generated 33% ROE and $5.4B in free cash flow on $37.4B revenue in FY2025, supported by a record $37B backlog with 23% organic order growth in Q4. At $235 …
Merck is a top-5 global pharmaceutical company generating $65B in annual revenue with 81.5% gross margins and 28% net margins. Keytruda, the world's best-selling drug at $31.7B (49% of pharma revenue), faces patent expiry in 2028. Merck is aggressively building replacements through M&A and pipeline launches: Winrevair ($1.4B year one), Capvaxive ($759M), and the $6.7B Terns acquisition for TERN-7…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
HON |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$158.80 |
$88.00 |
| Zone High |
$179.97 |
$100.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|