MRK vs SLB: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and SLB N.V. — 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
SLB N.V. · Energy
$56.15
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
SLB has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
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 |
SLB |
| Current Price |
$114.27 |
$56.15 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$81.42 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+3.3%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$282.2B |
$84.3B |
| Forward P/E |
22.4x
|
24.3x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
13.5x
|
17.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.3x
|
2.4x
|
| Price / FCF |
20.2x
|
17.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+5.0%
|
+2.7%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.9%
|
13.6%
|
| Operating Margin |
27.5%
|
11.5%
|
| Return on Equity |
5.6%
|
12.2%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.91% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
4.95%
|
5.69%
|
| 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…
SLB N.V. is the world's largest oilfield services company operating primarily in the energy sector with a focus on oil and gas equipment and services. The company benefits from a diversified revenue base across well construction, production systems, reservoir characterization, and digital integration, with fiscal year 2024 revenues totaling over $37 billion. Despite modest revenue growth of 2.7% …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
SLB |
| Zone Low |
$88.50 |
$61.06 |
| Zone High |
$100.30 |
$69.21 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|