MRK vs TSM: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited — 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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited · Technology
$365.90
-3.8% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
QuantHub Verdict
MRK has more upside to fair value
(-2.9%).
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 |
TSM |
| Current Price |
$121.42 |
$365.90 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$352.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-2.9%
|
-3.8%
|
| Market Cap |
$300.2B |
$1,897.7B |
| Forward P/E |
14.0x
|
26.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
11.8x
|
18.1x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.1x
|
13.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
21.4x
|
54.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+1.3%
|
+33.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.5%
|
59.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
41.2%
|
50.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
34.7%
|
35.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
3.1% |
1.05% |
| FCF Yield |
4.7%
|
1.85%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
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…
TSMC remains the single most critical company in the global semiconductor supply chain, manufacturing virtually every leading-edge AI chip for NVIDIA, Apple, AMD, and the hyperscalers. The company delivered exceptional 2025 results with 33% revenue growth and 50% net income growth, driven by HPC surging to 55% of Q4 revenue. At the 3nm node, TSMC maintains production yields of 70-80% versus Samsu…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
TSM |
| Zone Low |
$88.00 |
$265.00 |
| Zone High |
$100.00 |
$310.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|