MRK vs PFE: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and Pfizer Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-04-11.
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$121.42
-2.9% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
VS
Pfizer Inc. · Healthcare
$26.91
+30.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
QuantHub Verdict
PFE has more upside to fair value
(+30.1%).
PFE trades at a lower forward P/E
(9.5x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MRK |
PFE |
| Current Price |
$121.42 |
$26.91 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$35.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-2.9%
|
+30.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$300.2B |
$153.0B |
| Forward P/E |
14.0x
|
9.5x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
11.8x
|
13.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.1x
|
2.4x
|
| Price / FCF |
21.4x
|
16.8x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+1.3%
|
-1.6%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.5%
|
70.3%
|
| Operating Margin |
41.2%
|
24.7%
|
| Return on Equity |
34.7%
|
9.0%
|
| Dividend Yield |
3.1% |
6.4% |
| FCF Yield |
4.7%
|
5.9%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
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…
Pfizer remains the world's largest traditional pharmaceutical company by non-COVID revenue, generating $62.6B in 2025 sales across oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, and vaccines. The stock trades at a P/S of 2.44x, still well below the 5-year median of 3.10x, driven by post-COVID revenue normalization, a $17-18B patent cliff spanning 2026-2028, and $61.6B in acquisition-related debt from Seag…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
PFE |
| Zone Low |
$88.00 |
$25.00 |
| Zone High |
$100.00 |
$29.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|