MRK vs SBUX: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and Starbucks Corporation — 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
Starbucks Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$96.60
+19.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
QuantHub Verdict
SBUX has more upside to fair value
(+19.0%).
MRK trades at a lower forward P/E
(14.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MRK |
SBUX |
| Current Price |
$121.42 |
$96.60 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$115.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-2.9%
|
+19.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$300.2B |
$110.1B |
| Forward P/E |
14.0x
|
42.2x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
11.8x
|
22.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.1x
|
3.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
21.4x
|
45.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+1.3%
|
+2.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.5%
|
24.2%
|
| Operating Margin |
41.2%
|
9.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
34.7%
|
-22.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
3.1% |
2.55% |
| FCF Yield |
4.7%
|
2.2%
|
| 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…
Starbucks is the world's largest specialty coffee retailer with over 39,000 stores across 86 markets, generating $37.2B in annual revenue. Under CEO Brian Niccol, now 19 months into his tenure after joining from Chipotle in September 2024, the company is executing the Back to Starbucks operational turnaround focused on service speed, menu simplification, and store experience reinvention. At P/S 2…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
SBUX |
| Zone Low |
$88.00 |
$88.00 |
| Zone High |
$100.00 |
$98.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|