Lodestar

MRK

Merck & Co., Inc.
NYSEPharmaceutical PreparationsLatest fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025

Merck & Co., Inc. reported revenue of $65.01B in its most recent fiscal year, up 1.3% on the year before. It kept 28.1% of that as net income, and generated $12.36B of free cash flow. Figures below are compared against other companies classified under Pharmaceutical Preparations.

Grades vs. industry

Growth
C+54/100
Ranked against 28 peers using 8 metrics.
Profitability
A84/100
Ranked against 116 peers using 5 metrics.
Financial health
F18/100
Ranked against 108 peers using 3 metrics.
Dividend coverage
C45/100
Ranked against 9 peers using 3 metrics.

Growth

MetricCompanyIndustry medianRank
Revenue growth (YoY)
Latest fiscal year revenue vs. the year before.
1.3%7.4%125 / 219
Revenue growth (3y)
Annualized revenue growth over three fiscal years.
3.1%7.6%105 / 186
Revenue growth (5y)
Annualized revenue growth over five fiscal years.
9.4%7.3%80 / 169
EPS growth (YoY)
Diluted EPS vs. the prior fiscal year.
8.0%-33.3%15 / 49
EPS growth (3y)
Annualized diluted EPS growth over three fiscal years.
8.4%4.0%10 / 28
EPS growth (5y)
Annualized diluted EPS growth over five fiscal years.
21.2%3.8%4 / 29
Free cash flow growth (YoY)
Operating cash flow less capital expenditure, vs. prior year.
-31.7%-7.9%34 / 51
Free cash flow growth (3y)
Annualized free cash flow growth over three fiscal years.
-5.6%1.4%23 / 33

top third of peersmiddle thirdbottom third. Rank 1 is always best — for debt and payout ratios that means the lowest figure, not the highest.

“Not reported” means the company did not tag this figure in its filing, not that the value is zero. Rankings are hidden where fewer than 5 classified peers reported the metric, and compare against a broad industry code rather than close competitors.

Profitability

MetricCompanyIndustry medianRank
Gross margin
Gross profit as a share of revenue. Often unreported.
74.8%72.1%50 / 116
Operating margin
Operating income as a share of revenue.
Not reported-34.2%—
Net margin
Net income as a share of revenue.
28.1%-30.0%23 / 173
Free cash flow margin
Free cash flow as a share of revenue.
19.0%-15.3%28 / 156
Return on equity
Net income divided by shareholder equity.
34.7%-52.3%13 / 368
Return on assets
Net income divided by total assets.
13.3%-37.6%23 / 419
Return on invested capital
After-tax operating profit over debt plus equity less cash.
Not reported-49.3%—

top third of peersmiddle thirdbottom third. Rank 1 is always best — for debt and payout ratios that means the lowest figure, not the highest.

“Not reported” means the company did not tag this figure in its filing, not that the value is zero. Rankings are hidden where fewer than 5 classified peers reported the metric, and compare against a broad industry code rather than close competitors.

Financial health

MetricCompanyIndustry medianRank
Debt to equity
Total debt divided by shareholder equity.
0.94x0.24x84 / 108
Current ratio
Current assets over current liabilities.
1.54x4.17x357 / 419
Quick ratio
Current assets excluding inventory, over current liabilities.
1.30x3.84x357 / 419
Interest coverage
Operating income divided by interest expense.
Not reported-15.21x—
Net debt to EBITDA
Net debt over derived EBITDA. EBITDA is not a GAAP tag; it is computed.
Not reported-1.56x—

top third of peersmiddle thirdbottom third. Rank 1 is always best — for debt and payout ratios that means the lowest figure, not the highest.

“Not reported” means the company did not tag this figure in its filing, not that the value is zero. Rankings are hidden where fewer than 5 classified peers reported the metric, and compare against a broad industry code rather than close competitors.

Debt figures can be understated where a filer splits borrowings across XBRL tags this site does not match.

Dividend coverage

Measures how much of earnings and free cash flow the dividend consumes, against industry peers. A low grade means the dividend is less covered than peers' — not that a cut is expected. Long-established payers often score low here by design.

MetricCompanyIndustry medianRank
Dividend payout ratio
Dividends paid as a share of net income.
44.8%45.5%6 / 12
Dividend / free cash flow
Dividends paid as a share of free cash flow. The stricter test.
66.1%55.7%8 / 11
Dividend growth (5y)
Annualized growth in dividends per share over five years.
5.8%5.8%5 / 9

top third of peersmiddle thirdbottom third. Rank 1 is always best — for debt and payout ratios that means the lowest figure, not the highest.

“Not reported” means the company did not tag this figure in its filing, not that the value is zero. Rankings are hidden where fewer than 5 classified peers reported the metric, and compare against a broad industry code rather than close competitors.

Dividend record

What the dividend has actually done, not a prediction of what it will do. Changes are checked against total dollars paid so that stock splits are not mistaken for cuts.

Years paying
19
since 2009 in this data
Consecutive increases
15 years
through 2025
Reductions
None
in the years covered
Latest per share
$3.28
fiscal 2025

Dividend history is limited to what companies have filed in machine-readable form, which generally begins around 2009. A company may have paid or raised its dividend for far longer than shown here.

Insider activity

Trades reported by officers, directors and 10% shareholders on SEC Form 4. None of the last 36 reported transactions were open-market purchases — grants, option exercises and sales make up the majority of insider filings at most companies.

DateInsiderTransactionSharesPriceValue
Sep 30, 2026
Coe Mary Ellen
Director
Grant or award(derivative)206$145.31$30.0K
Sep 30, 2026
Karsanbhai Surendralal Lanca
Director
Grant or award(derivative)112$145.31$16.3K
Sep 30, 2026
Seidman Christine E
Director
Grant or award(derivative)56$145.31$8.1K
Aug 13, 2026
Guindo Chirfi
EVP, Access, Policy & Comms
Open-market sale10,000$135.00$1.35M
Aug 12, 2026
Zachary Jennifer
EVP, General Counsel
Open-market sale80,315$133.46$10.72M
Aug 12, 2026
Zachary Jennifer
EVP, General Counsel
Option exercise41,494$117.89$4.89M
Aug 12, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale11,099$131.61$1.46M
Aug 12, 2026
Zachary Jennifer
EVP, General Counsel
Option exercise13,433$84.71$1.14M
Aug 12, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale600$132.04$79.2K
Aug 12, 2026
Zachary Jennifer
EVP, General Counsel
Option exercise(derivative)41,494$0.00$0.00
Aug 12, 2026
Zachary Jennifer
EVP, General Counsel
Option exercise(derivative)13,433$0.00$0.00
Aug 11, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale7,410$131.33$973.2K
Aug 11, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale5,427$132.35$718.3K
Aug 10, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale20,784$130.43$2.71M
Aug 6, 2026
Guindo Chirfi
EVP, Access, Policy & Comms
Open-market sale15,000$131.00$1.97M
Aug 6, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale4,945$130.23$644.0K
Aug 6, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale805$131.02$105.5K
Aug 6, 2026
DeLuca Richard R.
EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth
Open-market sale300$131.02$39.3K
Aug 5, 2026
Williams David Michael
EVP,Chief Info&Digital Officer
Open-market sale34,705$128.77$4.47M
Aug 5, 2026
Williams David Michael
EVP,Chief Info&Digital Officer
Option exercise34,705$73.73$2.56M
Aug 5, 2026
Williams David Michael
EVP,Chief Info&Digital Officer
Open-market sale13,542$128.77$1.74M
Aug 5, 2026
Maraldo David R.
EVP & Pres. MMD
Open-market sale9,709$128.72$1.25M
Aug 5, 2026
Williams David Michael
EVP,Chief Info&Digital Officer
Option exercise13,542$75.36$1.02M
Aug 5, 2026
Maraldo David R.
EVP & Pres. MMD
Option exercise9,709$87.10$845.7K
Aug 5, 2026
Maraldo David R.
EVP & Pres. MMD
Open-market sale6,311$128.72$812.3K

A dash under price or value means none was reported, which is normal for grants and gifts — it does not mean the shares were free. Option exercises and awards are compensation arriving on a schedule, not a judgement about the stock.

Annual financials

Fiscal year2025202420232022202120202019201820172016
Revenue$65.01B$64.17B$60.12B$59.28B$48.70B$41.52B$39.12B$42.29B$40.12B$39.81B
Net income$18.25B$17.12B$365.00M$14.52B$13.05B$7.07B$9.84B$6.22B$2.39B$3.92B
EPS (diluted)$7.28$6.74$0.14$5.71$5.14$2.78$3.81$2.32$0.87$1.41
Operating cash flow$16.47B$21.47B$13.01B$19.09B$13.12B$10.25B$13.44B$10.92B$6.45B$10.38B
Capital expenditure$4.11B$3.37B$3.86B$4.39B$4.45B$4.43B$3.37B$2.62B$1.89B$1.61B
Free cash flow$12.36B$18.10B$9.14B$14.71B$8.67B$5.82B$10.07B$8.31B$4.56B$8.76B
Total assets$136.87B$117.11B$106.67B$109.16B$105.69B$91.59B$84.40B$82.64B$87.87B$95.38B
Shareholder equity$52.61B$46.31B$37.58B$45.99B$38.18B$25.32B$25.91B$26.70B$34.34B$40.09B
Total debt$49.30B$37.10B$35.10B$30.70B$33.10B$31.80B$26.30B$25.10B$24.41B$24.84B
Cash$14.56B$13.24B$6.84B$12.69B$8.10B$8.05B$9.68B$7.96B$6.09B$6.51B
Dividends per share$3.28$3.12$2.96$2.80$2.64$2.48$2.26$1.99$1.89$1.85

A dash means the figure was not tagged in that year’s filing. It does not mean zero. Figures reflect the most recent filing covering each period, so restated years show their restated values.

Source

Figures come from Merck & Co., Inc.’s filings with the SEC, as submitted in XBRL. The most recent annual figures are from a 10-K filed Feb 24, 2026. View filings on EDGAR.

Not financial advice. This page presents figures reported to the SEC and compares them with other companies sharing an industry classification. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell anything, and the grades cannot capture everything that matters about a business. Industry classifications are coarse, filings are self-reported, and some figures are missing or understated where companies tag them in ways this site does not match. Do your own research.