Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, and other institutions; and physicians, wholesalers, government entities, veterinarians, distributors, animal producers, farmers, and pet owners. It has development and commercialization agreement for three of Daiichi Sankyo's deruxtecan ADC candidates, which include patritumab deruxtecan, ifinatamab deruxtecan, and raludotatug deruxtecan for the treatment of multiple solid tumors both as monotherapy and/or in combination with other treatments; and AstraZeneca PLC to co-development and co-commercialize AstraZeneca's Lynparza products for multiple cancer types, and Koselugo for multiple indications. The company also has a collaboration agreement with Eisai Co., Ltd., Bayer AG, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, as well Moderna, Inc. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey.

Merck & Company, Inc.

Below is Validea's guru fundamental report for MERCK & CO INC (MRK). Of the 22 guru strategies we follow, MRK rates highest using our P/E/Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Peter Lynch. This strategy looks for stocks trading at a reasonable price relative to earnings growth that also possess strong balance sheets.
MERCK & CO INC (MRK) is a large-cap value stock in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The rating using this strategy is 93% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
Detailed Analysis of MERCK & CO INC
More Information on Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch Portfolio
About Peter Lynch: Perhaps the greatest mutual fund manager of all-time, Lynch guided Fidelity Investment's Magellan Fund to a 29.2 percent average annual return from 1977 until his retirement in 1990, almost doubling the S&P 500's 15.8 percent yearly return over that time. Lynch's common sense approach and quick wit made him one of the most quoted investors on Wall Street. ("Go for a business that any idiot can run -- because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it," is one of his many pearls of wisdom.) Lynch's bestseller One Up on Wall Street is something of a "stocks for the everyman/everywoman", breaking his approach down into easy-to-understand concepts.
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Peter Lynch Detailed Fundamental Analysis - MRK

AbbVie ABBV is known for its strong immunology franchise comprising blockbuster drugs like Skyrizi, Rinvoq and Humira. However, AbbVie has also built a substantial oncology franchise with products like Imbruvica and Venclexta.
Some key oncology drugs approved in the past couple of years are AbbVie and partner Genmab’s Epkinly for relapsed or refractory (r/r) third-line diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and third-line r/r follicular lymphoma, and Emrelis, which was approved in May 2025 for previously treated non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer with high c-Met expression. Elahere was added to AbbVie’s oncology portfolio with the February 2024 acquisition of Immunogen. These three new drugs have strengthened AbbVie’s oncology franchise. Elahere and Epkinly both delivered double-digit revenue growth in the first half of 2025. Emrelis should start to contribute to oncology sales from the second half of 2025.
AbbVie’s oncology segment generated combined revenues of $3.3 billion in the first half of 2025, rising 4.2% year over year as higher sales of Venclexta and contributions from new drugs, Elahere and Epkinly, more than offset declining Imbruvica sales due to competitive pressure.
Our estimates for AbbVie’s oncology portfolio suggest a CAGR of 3.5% over the next three years.
AbbVie is also strengthening its portfolio of oncology medicines with the addition of antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs. The ADCs are considered a disruptive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry as they will allow better treatment of cancer by harnessing the targeting power of antibodies to deliver cytotoxic molecule drugs to tumors. The company now has two ADCs in the commercial portfolio (i.e., Elahere and Emrelis) and two additional promising next-generation ADCs in late-stage development (Temab-A and pivekimab sunirine), plus some others in early-stage development.
Another key candidate in its oncology pipeline is etentamig/ABBV-383, a BCMA CD3 bispecific being developed for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
Overall, AbbVie’s oncology business is well-positioned for growth over the next several years, despite continued competitive pressure on Imbruvica.
Competition in the Oncology Space
Other bigger players in the oncology space are AstraZeneca AZN, Merck MRK, Bristol-Myers and Pfizer PFE.
For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now comprise around 43% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 16% in the first half of 2025. AstraZeneca’s strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).
Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-L1 inhibitor Keytruda and PARP inhibitor Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for around 50% of Merck’s pharmaceutical sales. Keytruda’s sales rose 6.6% to $15.1 billion in the first half of 2025.
Bristol-Myers’ key cancer drug is PD-L1 inhibitor, Opdivo, which accounts for around 20% of its total revenues. Opdivo’s sales rose 9% to $4.82 billion in the first half of 2025.
Oncology sales comprise more than 25% of Pfizer’s total revenues. Its oncology revenues grew 9% in the first half of 2025, driven by drugs like Xtandi, Lorbrena, the Braftovi-Mektovi combination and Padcev, which made up for declining sales of drugs like Ibrance. Pfizer has also ventured into the oncology biosimilars space and markets six biosimilars for cancer. Pfizer also advanced its oncology clinical pipeline with several candidates entering late-stage development, like sasanlimab, vepdegestrant and sigvotatug vedotin.
ABBV’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
AbbVie’s stock has gained 21.2% so far this year compared with an increase of 0.2% for the industry.
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From a valuation standpoint, AbbVie is not very cheap. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 15.54 forward earnings, higher than 14.64 for the industry. The stock is also trading above its five-year mean of 12.69.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has declined from $12.03 per share to $12.02, while that for 2026 has increased from $14.08 to $14.31 per share over the past 30 days.
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AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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ABBV's Improving Oncology Sales Poise It Well for Long-Term Growth

What happened
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated August 19, 2025, Slocum, Gordon & Co LLP reported selling all 20,789 shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) during the second quarter.
The estimated transaction value, based on the quarterly average price for Q2 2025, was approximately $2.96 million. The move reduced the fund’s position in Kimberly-Clark to zero as of June 30, 2025.
What else to know
Top holdings after the filing:
Procter & Gamble: $7.91 million (6.37% of AUM)
NextEra Energy: $7.51 million (6.05% of AUM)
Exxon Mobil: $7.46 million (6.01% of AUM)
Merck: $7.44 million (5.99% of AUM)
American Electric Power: $6.99 million (5.63% of AUM)
Kimberly-Clark shares were priced at $131.33 as of August 18, 2025, with a 1-year price drop of 8.46%. The shares underperformed the S&P 500 by 23.5 percentage points over this period.
Dividend yield: 3.74%. Forward P/E: 17.34. EV/EBITDA (TTM): 13.0 (as of 2025-06-30). Percentage off 52-week high: 11.9% as of 2025-08-18.
Company Overview
Metric
$43.6 billion
Revenue (TTM)
$19.72 billion
Net Income (TTM)
$2.43 billion
Dividend Yield
3.74%
Company Snapshot
Manufactures and markets personal care products (diapers, wipes, feminine and incontinence care), consumer tissue (facial and bathroom tissues, paper towels), and professional hygiene solutions under brands such as Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, and Kotex.
Generates revenue primarily through direct sales to supermarkets, mass merchandisers, drugstores, warehouse clubs, and e-commerce platforms, as well as via distributors for both household and away-from-home use.
Serves retail consumers globally and commercial clients in sectors including manufacturing, lodging, office buildings, and food service.
Kimberly-Clark manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of trusted brands in personal care and tissue products. Its established presence in both retail and professional channels underpins its competitive advantage in the household and personal products industry.
Foolish take
Kimberly-Clark was one of the darlings of the pandemic, when consumers literally couldn’t buy enough toilet paper, tissues, and other paper goods. However, the initial pandemic surge did die out, causing the stock price to stagnate over time. In the last five years, the stock is down more than 15%. Year to date it’s up again by 1.69%, but that’s hardly worth writing home about.
Although Kimberly-Clark owns a number of brands that produce products that people need every day, including diapers and feminine hygiene products, the stock has failed to perform to expectations, including earnings misses in two of the last four quarters that may be attributed to an increasingly cost-sensitive consumer who may be choosing generic versions of this company’s products instead.
Declining birth rates are also not helping in core areas like diapers, though an aging population could increase demand for adult diapers over time. The company is currently undergoing restructuring that may help to reposition it for the future, including divesting smaller and less profitable business lines and focused harder on geographic growth opportunities and manufacturing optimization.
Challenges remain as global tariff negotiations continue to drag on and uncertainty abounds. Higher tariffs may mean Kimberly-Clark has to raise prices and this may cause further damage with that already stretched consumer who may be choosing cheaper options.
Glossary
Fully exited: When an investor sells all shares of a particular holding, reducing their position to zero.
Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held by an investor or fund.
Transaction value: The total dollar amount received or paid in a single buy or sell operation.
Stake: The ownership interest or share an investor holds in a company or fund.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of investments managed by a fund or investment firm.
13F: A quarterly report filed by institutional investment managers disclosing their equity holdings.
Dividend yield: Annual dividends per share divided by the share price, shown as a percentage.
Forward P/E: Price-to-earnings ratio using forecasted earnings for the next year.
EV/EBITDA: Enterprise value divided by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization; measures company valuation.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.
52-week high: The highest price at which a stock traded during the past year.
Liquidation: The process of selling off an asset or position, often to exit an investment completely.
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Kristi Waterworth has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Merck and NextEra Energy. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Slocum Gordon Exits Stake in Kimberly-Clark Worth Nearly $3 Million

Below is Validea's guru fundamental report for MERCK & CO INC (MRK). Of the 22 guru strategies we follow, MRK rates highest using our P/E/Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Peter Lynch. This strategy looks for stocks trading at a reasonable price relative to earnings growth that also possess strong balance sheets.
MERCK & CO INC (MRK) is a large-cap value stock in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The rating using this strategy is 93% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
Detailed Analysis of MERCK & CO INC
More Information on Peter Lynch
About Peter Lynch: Perhaps the greatest mutual fund manager of all-time, Lynch guided Fidelity Investment's Magellan Fund to a 29.2 percent average annual return from 1977 until his retirement in 1990, almost doubling the S&P 500's 15.8 percent yearly return over that time. Lynch's common sense approach and quick wit made him one of the most quoted investors on Wall Street. ("Go for a business that any idiot can run -- because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it," is one of his many pearls of wisdom.) Lynch's bestseller One Up on Wall Street is something of a "stocks for the everyman/everywoman", breaking his approach down into easy-to-understand concepts.
Additional Research Links
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Guru Fundamental Report for MRK - Peter Lynch

MRK Factor-Based Stock Analysis - Peter Lynch

The NASDAQ 100 After Hours Indicator is down -1.71 to 23,383.06. The total After hours volume is currently 259,932,235 shares traded.
The following are the most active stocks for the after hours session:
CSX Corporation (CSX) is -0.04 at $36.48, with 11,794,785 shares traded. Over the last four weeks they have had 3 up revisions for the earnings forecast, for the fiscal quarter ending Dec 2025. The consensus EPS forecast is $0.44. As reported by Zacks, the current mean recommendation for CSX is in the "buy range".
Intel Corporation (INTC) is -0.2 at $25.11, with 5,012,564 shares traded. Over the last four weeks they have had 6 up revisions for the earnings forecast, for the fiscal quarter ending Sep 2025. The consensus EPS forecast is $-0.12. INTC's current last sale is 114.14% of the target price of $22.
Merck & Company, Inc. (MRK) is +0.05 at $84.98, with 4,121,304 shares traded. Over the last four weeks they have had 3 up revisions for the earnings forecast, for the fiscal quarter ending Dec 2025. The consensus EPS forecast is $2.19. MRK's current last sale is 84.98% of the target price of $100.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) is +0.07 at $175.71, with 3,488,467 shares traded. As reported by Zacks, the current mean recommendation for NVDA is in the "buy range".
ICICI Bank Limited (IBN) is unchanged at $32.88, with 3,050,213 shares traded. As reported by Zacks, the current mean recommendation for IBN is in the "buy range".
Coca-Cola Company (The) (KO) is -0.08 at $70.05, with 2,822,050 shares traded. Over the last four weeks they have had 6 up revisions for the earnings forecast, for the fiscal quarter ending Jun 2026. The consensus EPS forecast is $0.93. As reported by Zacks, the current mean recommendation for KO is in the "buy range".
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (FUN) is unchanged at $25.98, with 2,768,957 shares traded. As reported by Zacks, the current mean recommendation for FUN is in the "buy range".
Pepsico, Inc. (PEP) is -0.15 at $152.01, with 2,241,489 shares traded. PEP's current last sale is 98.71% of the target price of $154.
Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (CX) is +0.02 at $8.67, with 2,117,595 shares traded. CX's current last sale is 107.04% of the target price of $8.1.
Walmart Inc. (WMT) is +0.16 at $101.45, with 2,081,731 shares traded. Over the last four weeks they have had 3 up revisions for the earnings forecast, for the fiscal quarter ending Jul 2025. The consensus EPS forecast is $0.73. WMT is scheduled to provide an earnings report on 8/21/2025, for the fiscal quarter ending Jul2025. The consensus earnings per share forecast is 0.73 per share, which represents a 67 percent increase over the EPS one Year Ago
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (HTZ) is -0.0295 at $5.17, with 1,791,526 shares traded. As reported in the last short interest update the days to cover for HTZ is 8.389105; this calculation is based on the average trading volume of the stock.
Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (QQQ) is -0.05 at $569.23, with 1,713,739 shares traded. This represents a 41.46% increase from its 52 Week Low.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

After Hours Most Active for Aug 19, 2025 : CSX, INTC, MRK, NVDA, IBN, KO, FUN, PEP, CX, WMT, HTZ, QQQ

Merck MRK announced that the FDA has granted the Breakthrough Therapy designation (BTD) to its B7-H3-directed DXd antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd), for treating adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer whose disease progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
The FDA’s Breakthrough Therapy designation is a process that speeds up the development and review of drugs for serious or life-threatening conditions. This designation is granted when early clinical evidence suggests that a drug may significantly improve over existing treatments on one or more important clinical measures.
The FDA’s latest decision was based on data from the phase II IDeate-Lung01 study with support from the phase I/II IDeate-PanTumor01 study. The IDeate-Lung01 study evaluated the safety and efficacy of I-DXdin in the given patient population.
MRK Stock Performance
Year to date, shares of Merck have plunged 15.3% compared with the industry’s decline of 2.8%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
MRK & Daiichi's Deal for I-DXd & Other ADC Candidates
Besides extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, I-DXd is being evaluated in separate phase III studies for treating esophageal cancer and prostate cancer. Developed by Daiichi Sankyo, this ADC drug candidate already enjoys an orphan drug designation for treating small-cell lung cancer in the United States, Europe and some other countries.
Merck acquired global co-development and co-commercialization rights to I-DXd and two other ADCs, patritumab deruxtecan and raludotatug deruxtecan, from Daiichi Sankyo in October 2023 for a total potential consideration of up to $22 billion. However, Daiichi Sankyo has retained exclusive rights for the development of the candidates in Japan.
In August last year, Merck expanded the collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialize MK-6070, an investigational T-cell engager targeting delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3), which it obtained from its recent acquisition of Harpoon Therapeutics.
Patritumab deruxtecan is being developed in late-stage studies for breast cancer, while raludotatug deruxtecan is being developed in mid-stage studies for ovarian cancer as well as other cancer indications.
Competition in the ADC Space
ADCs are being considered a disruptive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, as these will enable better treatment of cancer by harnessing the targeting power of antibodies to deliver cytotoxic molecule drugs to tumors.
Daiichi Sankyo has several ADCs in clinical development across multiple types of cancer. It markets Enhertu, a HER2-directed ADC, in partnership with AstraZeneca AZN, which is presently approved across multiple indications, including HER2-mutated breast, lung and gastric cancers.
In January 2025, the FDA approved AZN and Daiichi’s second ADC drug, Datroway, for treating unresectable or metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer in adult patients who have received prior endocrine-based therapy and chemotherapy. The FDA approved Datroway for its second indication, non-small-cell lung cancer, in June.
Pfizer PFE also forayed into the lucrative ADC space with the acquisition of Seagen for $43 billion in late 2023.
Following this acquisition, PFE added three ADCs to its portfolio — Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and Tivdak — all approved across various types of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. These products contributed meaningfully to Pfizer’s revenues in 2024 and in the first half of 2025.
MRK's Zacks Rank
Merck currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

MRK's ADC Candidate Gets FDA Breakthrough Therapy Tag for Lung Cancer

MRK Quantitative Stock Analysis - Peter Lynch

Pfizer PFE is one of the largest and most successful drugmakers in oncology. It boasts a strong portfolio of approved cancer medicines as well as a robust pipeline of cancer candidates with a focus on multiple modalities, including small molecules, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and immuno-oncology biologics.
The addition of Seagen in 2023 also strengthened its position in oncology by adding four ADCs — Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and Tivdak. The acquired Seagen products contributed meaningfully to Pfizer’s revenues in 2024 and in the first half of 2025. Seagen also has some next-generation ADC candidates in its pipeline.
Oncology sales comprise more than 25% of Pfizer’s total revenues. Its oncology revenues grew 9% in the first half of 2025, driven by drugs like Xtandi, Lorbrena, the Braftovi-Mektovi combination and Padcev, which made up for declining sales of drugs like Ibrance.
Xtandi recorded alliance revenues of $566 million in the quarter, up 14% year over year. Lorbrena sales rose 48% to $251 million. Braftovi/Mektovi revenues were $182 million, up 23% year over year. New drug, Elrexfio, generated sales of $85 million in the second quarter. Ibrance revenues declined 8% year over year to $1.05 billion due to continued competitive pressure across markets. Among the ADCs added from the acquisition of Seagen, Adcetris sales were $255 million in the second quarter, which declined 9% year over year due to competitive pressure in the United States. Padcev rose 38% to $542 million, driven by strong demand trends.
Pfizer has ventured into the oncology biosimilars space and markets six biosimilars for cancer. Revenues from oncology biosimilars were $353 million in the second quarter, up 27% year over year.
Pfizer also advanced its oncology clinical pipeline with several candidates entering late-stage development, like sasanlimab, vepdegestrant and sigvotatug vedotin. By 2030, it expects to have eight or more blockbuster oncology medicines in its portfolio.
In July, it closed a global ex-China in-licensing agreement with China's 3SBio for exclusive rights to the latter’s dual PD-1 and VEGF inhibitor, which will strengthen its oncology pipeline.
Pfizer is also working on expanding the labels of approved oncology drugs like Padcev, Adcetris and Elrexfio, among others.
With all the above developments, Pfizer’s future in cancer treatment looks promising. Continued growth of Pfizer’s diversified portfolio of oncology drugs should support top-line growth in the second half of 2025.
Competition in the Oncology Space
Other large players in the oncology space are AstraZeneca AZN, Merck MRK and Bristol-Myers BMY.
For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now comprise around 43% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 16% in the first half of 2025. AstraZeneca’s strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).
Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for around 50% of Merck’s pharmaceutical sales. Keytruda’s sales rose 6.6% to $15.1 billion in the first half of 2025.
Bristol-Myers’ key cancer drug is PD-L1 inhibitor, Opdivo, which accounts for around 20% of its total revenues. Opdivo’s sales rose 9% to $4.82 billion in the first half of 2025.
PFE’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Pfizer’s stock has declined 0.4% so far this year compared with a decrease of 1.2% for the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its 5-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 8.08 forward earnings, lower than 14.45 for the industry and the stock’s 5-year mean of 10.78.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has risen from $3.05 per share to $3.12 per share, while that for 2026 has gone up from $3.08 to $3.09 per share over the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Pfizer has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Pfizer Oncology Drugs Drive Sales in Q2: Will the Trend Continue?

Merck’s MRK strong foothold in the oncology space is propelled by its biggest revenue driver, Keytruda. The blockbuster PD-L1 inhibitor alone accounted for more than 50% of the company’s pharmaceutical sales during the first half of 2025.
Keytruda, approved for several types of cancers, has played an instrumental role in driving Merck’s steady revenue growth over the past few years.
Keytruda generated sales of $15.16 billion in the first half of 2025, up almost 7% year over year. The drug remains a key driver of Merck’s top-line growth. Our model estimates full-year 2025 sales for Keytruda to be $32.2 billion, suggesting an increase of 9.2% year over year.
The drug’s sales are gaining from rapid uptake across earlier-stage indications, mainly early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. Continued strong momentum in metastatic indications is also boosting sales growth. The company expects continued growth from Keytruda, particularly in early lung cancer.
Per management, Keytruda will remain a key revenue driver for the company in the second half of 2025, along with the Animal Health business and new product launches like Winrevair and Capvaxive. However, weaker Gardasil sales in China and Japan will partly offset gains.
MRK Eyes Keytruda's Long-Term Growth Amid Upcoming Patent Loss
With Keytruda set to face patent loss in 2028, Merck is working on different strategies to drive its long-term growth. The company is advancing innovative immuno-oncology combinations, such as pairing Keytruda with LAG3 and CTLA-4 inhibitors.
In partnership with Moderna MRNA, Merck is developing a personalized mRNA therapeutic cancer vaccine (V940/mRNA-4157) in combination with Keytruda for patients with certain types of melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Merck and Moderna are conducting pivotal phase III studies on V940, in combination with Keytruda, for earlier-stage and adjuvant NSCLC and adjuvant melanoma.
Merck is also developing a subcutaneous formulation of Keytruda that can extend its patent life. This formulation is under review in the United States and an FDA decision is expected in September.
While Keytruda continues to drive Merck’s growth, the company’s heavy dependence on the drug remains a concern.
Also, competitive pressure might increase for Keytruda in the near future. In 2024, Summit Therapeutics SMMT reported positive data from a phase III study (conducted in China by partner Akeso) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC, in which its lead pipeline candidate, ivonescimab, a dual PD-1 and VEGF inhibitor, outperformed Keytruda. Summit believes iivonescimab has the potential to replace Keytruda as the next standard of care across multiple NSCLC settings.
Though Keytruda is set to face loss of exclusivity in 2028, its sales are expected to stay strong until then.
MRK's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Year to date, shares of Merck have lost 15.3% compared with the industry’s decrease of 2.8%. The stock has also underperformed the sector and the S&P 500 during the same time frame, as seen in the chart below.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Merck appears attractive relative to the industry. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 9.01 forward earnings, lower than 14.45 for the industry and its 5-year mean of 12.76.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has increased from $8.85 per share to $8.92, while the same for 2026 has decreased from $9.65 to $9.59 over the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
MRK's Zacks Rank
Merck currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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