MRK vs TTD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and The Trade Desk, 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
The Trade Desk, Inc. · Technology
$23.08
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
TTD 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 |
TTD |
| Current Price |
$114.27 |
$23.08 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$33.47 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+3.3%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$282.2B |
$10.8B |
| Forward P/E |
22.4x
|
25.3x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
13.5x
|
14.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.3x
|
3.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
20.2x
|
13.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+5.0%
|
+11.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.9%
|
77.8%
|
| Operating Margin |
27.5%
|
20.3%
|
| Return on Equity |
5.6%
|
16.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.91% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
4.95%
|
7.71%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Overweight
|
Hold
|
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…
The Trade Desk, Inc. operates a leading self-service, cloud-based programmatic advertising platform focused on demand-side platform services, primarily in connected TV and audio advertising. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat driven by network effects, high customer retention above 95%, and a founder-led management team with deep industry expertise. Despite solid revenue growth …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
TTD |
| Zone Low |
$88.50 |
$25.10 |
| Zone High |
$100.30 |
$28.45 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|