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Merck & Company, Inc.

MRK · NYSE

Symbol: MRK
Type: Stock
Sector: Health Care
Industry: Biotechnology: Pharmaceutical Preparations
Country: North America
Exchange: NYSE

At Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world - and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities.

Key Issues

Bullish view

Strong oncology performance and newer products helped Merck beat second-quarter estimates, while the company raised and narrowed its 2026 sales outlook.

Bearish view

The evidence also flags Gardasil challenges and Keytruda-related concerns, so current oncology strength may not fully offset weakness elsewhere in the portfolio.

Analyst Consensus

See all

Buy

24 analysts

$129

Current

—

Low

$137

Average

—

High

Average target implies +6.33% versus the current price.

Earnings History

BeatMissNo estimate

Peers

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Analyst Consensus

Buy

24 analysts

$129

Current

—

Low

$137

Average

—

High

Average target implies +6.33% versus the current price.

Analyst Ratings Synthesis

The supplied consensus is Buy across 24 analysts, with a mean target of $137; low and high targets are not reported. Published aggregates cluster from $129.74 to $134.50, while Benzinga cites a $142.33 average for recent ratings from JP Morgan, BMO Capital and Guggenheim, indicating a $12.59 spread across the cited figures rather than a complete consensus range. The evidence does not identify the single most or least bullish analyst. It also provides no attributable analyst rating actions or target revisions during the week, so revision direction cannot be established. The substantive disagreement is whether oncology and newer-product momentum, plus the raised sales outlook and HIV opportunity, outweigh the quarterly GAAP loss, acquisition costs and Gardasil or Keytruda-related portfolio risks.

Rating Actions

No individual rating actions have been captured for MRKyet. Consensus figures above come from Nasdaq's aggregate feed.

Rating actions are extracted from published reporting. Each row links to its source.

Research Reports

Covering Firms

B OF A GLBL RES

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DEUTSCHE BK SEC

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HSBC GLOBAL RES

JEFFERIES & CO.

JP MORGAN SECUR

Merck & Co. Posts Loss In Q2; Raises, Narrows FY Sales Guidance RangeRTTNews

Uncertain

Merck Spotlights Weekly HIV Treatment, Monthly PrEP as $5B Growth OpportunityMarketBeat

Bullish

Should You Buy, Sell or Hold Merck Stock Ahead of Q2 Earnings?Zacks

Uncertain

Links to freely available third-party research. Outlook labels are our classification of each article's stance, not a rating of our own.

LEERINK PARTNRS

MIZUHO SECURITI

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WOLFE RESEARCH

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