MRK vs NKE: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and NIKE, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-20.
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$114.27
+3.3% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
NIKE, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$42.62
+38.4% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
QuantHub Verdict
NKE has more upside to fair value
(+38.4%).
MRK trades at a lower forward P/E
(22.4x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MRK |
NKE |
| Current Price |
$114.27 |
$42.62 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$58.98 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+3.3%
|
+38.4%
|
| Market Cap |
$282.2B |
$63.0B |
| Forward P/E |
22.4x
|
27.9x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
13.5x
|
20.7x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.3x
|
1.4x
|
| Price / FCF |
20.2x
|
19.4x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+5.0%
|
-9.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.9%
|
42.7%
|
| Operating Margin |
27.5%
|
8.0%
|
| Return on Equity |
5.6%
|
24.4%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.91% |
3.8% |
| FCF Yield |
4.95%
|
5.2%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Overweight
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
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…
Nike is the world's largest athletic footwear and apparel company with $46.3B in FY2025 revenue, operating across 190+ countries with the Nike, Jordan, and Converse brands. The stock trades near its 9-year low at $42.62 after an 11% single-day crash following a Q3 FY2026 earnings report that showed 35% net income decline and weak Q4 guidance calling for a further 2-4% revenue decline. FY2025 reve…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
NKE |
| Zone Low |
$88.50 |
$44.23 |
| Zone High |
$100.30 |
$50.13 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|