MRK vs PANW: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and Palo Alto Networks, 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
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Technology
$174.41
-0.1% upside to fair value
Grade B
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 |
MRK |
PANW |
| Current Price |
$114.27 |
$174.41 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$174.18 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+3.3%
|
-0.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$282.2B |
$118.9B |
| Forward P/E |
22.4x
|
94.6x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
13.5x
|
52.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.3x
|
12.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
20.2x
|
29.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+5.0%
|
+14.9%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.9%
|
73.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
27.5%
|
14.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
5.6%
|
15.5%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.91% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
4.95%
|
3.42%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Overweight
|
Strong 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…
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is a leading global cybersecurity company specializing in AI-driven security platforms with a strong recurring revenue base exceeding 80% of total revenue. The company benefits from a high gross margin of 73.5% and solid profitability with a net margin of 13.0%, supported by accelerating revenue growth of 14.9% and earnings growth of 61.6% in the most recent quarter. Unde…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
PANW |
| Zone Low |
$88.50 |
$130.63 |
| Zone High |
$100.30 |
$148.05 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|