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 2026-05-20.
Honeywell International Inc. · Industrials
$213.17
-14.5% upside to fair value
Grade D
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 HON MRK
Current Price $213.17 $114.27
Fair Value Estimate $182.35 $118.00
Upside to Fair Value -14.5% +3.3%
Market Cap $135.1B $282.2B
Forward P/E 33.0x 22.4x
EV / EBITDA 23.9x 13.5x
Price / Sales 3.7x 4.3x
Price / FCF 32.4x 20.2x
Revenue Growth YoY -6.9% +5.0%
Gross Margin 36.9% 81.9%
Operating Margin 14.9% 27.5%
Return on Equity 23.6% 5.6%
Dividend Yield 0% 2.91%
FCF Yield 3.09% 4.95%
Analyst Consensus Buy Overweight
Investment Thesis
HON — Honeywell International Inc.
Honeywell International Inc. is a diversified industrial conglomerate operating across Aerospace Technologies, Building Automation, Process Automation and Technology, and Safety and Productivity Solutions. The company benefits from a strong leadership team with deep internal experience and a history of strategic acquisitions that have expanded its portfolio into high-growth areas such as aerospac…
MRK — Merck & Co., Inc.
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 HON MRK
Zone Low $136.76 $88.50
Zone High $155.00 $100.30
In Buy Zone? No No
← HON Research    MRK Research →    All Research