MRK vs UNH: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Merck & Co., Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated — 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
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated · Healthcare
$353.52
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
UNH 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 |
UNH |
| Current Price |
$114.27 |
$353.52 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$118.00 |
$512.60 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+3.3%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$282.2B |
$320.9B |
| Forward P/E |
22.4x
|
26.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
13.5x
|
16.1x
|
| Price / Sales |
4.3x
|
0.7x
|
| Price / FCF |
20.2x
|
16.3x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+5.0%
|
+2.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
81.9%
|
18.8%
|
| Operating Margin |
27.5%
|
4.2%
|
| Return on Equity |
5.6%
|
12.4%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.91% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
4.95%
|
6.13%
|
| 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…
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a leading healthcare company with two main platforms: UnitedHealthcare, providing health benefits coverage, and Optum, offering information and technology services. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat due to its scale, integrated platforms, and broad market reach serving over 170 million consumers. Despite strong revenue growth of 12% y…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MRK |
UNH |
| Zone Low |
$88.50 |
$384.45 |
| Zone High |
$100.30 |
$435.71 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|