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STOCK COMPARISON

AstraZeneca vs Merck & Company: Fair Value & Quality

Both stocks run through our valuation models. Here is how AstraZeneca (AZN) and Merck & Company (MRK) compare, as of Sep 4, 2026.

As of Sep 4, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees Merck & Company as the less overvalued of the two: AstraZeneca trades at $165 versus a fair value of $127 (-23%), while Merck & Company trades at $152 versus $125 (-18%).
AstraZeneca
AZN · USD · Health Care
-23%
upside to fair value
overvalued
Price$165
Fair Value$127
Quality69/100
Merck & Company
MRK · USD · Health Care
-18%
upside to fair value
overvalued
Price$152
Fair Value$125
Quality70/100
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Head-to-head numbers

Green value = the better side for that row (for valuation multiples: lower = cheaper).

AstraZenecaMerck & Company
Valuation
24.8×P/E (TTM)44.1×
4.49×P/S (TTM)4.64×
5.58×P/B5.80×
14.5×EV/EBITDA11.4×
1.36×PEG6.10×
−22.7%Fair value upside−17.7%
1.9%Dividend yield2.2%
$3.20Dividend per share$3.28
Profitability
28%Operating margin39%
1.21×EBIT margin trend (5Y)2.70×
23%Return on equity19%
8%Return on assets13%
Growth
13%Revenue growth (YoY)5%
9.8%Avg. growth/yr (3Y)3.1%
17.2%Avg. growth/yr (5Y)9.4%
+46.8%Value creation/yr+16.0%
Balance & size
8.1×Interest coverage (EBIT/interest)17.3×
0.51×Debt / equity0.89×
$271BMarket cap$305B
healthyGrowth qualityhealthy

AstraZeneca leads: 8 to 7 metric wins.

Dash = not meaningfully computable, for example with negative equity.

Quality in detail

The quality score, broken down into the same factor families as on the stock page, 0 to 100 per family.

AstraZenecaof which business quality 65 · market factors 49 Merck & Companyof which business quality 68 · market factors 90
ProfitabilityMargins and returns on capital today
63
74
Quality GrowthAre margins and returns improving?
65
36
CashflowEarnings quality: real cash, not paper profit
63
65
Fin. StrengthBalance sheet, leverage, solvency risk
60
68
InvestmentDisciplined investing over empire-building
60
71
Low VolatilityCalm price path (market factor)
85
83
MomentumPrice trend over the last 3–12 months (market factor)
31
88
52W MomentumDistance to the 52-week high (market factor)
39
100
Net IssuanceBuybacks instead of dilution
82
91

What the models say

How far the median fair value (base case) per model family sits from the current price, in percent. The amount in the currency of the trading venue is shown underneath.

above the price, more than 15% above close to the price, 85% to 115% of the price below the price, more than 15% below

Model familyAstraZenecaPrice $165Merck & CompanyPrice $152
DCF Models-30%below the price$116-23%below the price$117
Earnings-Based-63%below the price$60.23-59%below the price$62.77
Dividend Discountn/a-60%below the price$60.35
Multiples-24%below the price$125-20%below the price$122
Asset-Based-87%below the price$21.03-91%below the price$14.27
Growth DCF-39%below the price$100-51%below the price$74.00
Economic Profit-54%below the price$75.73-45%below the price$83.85
Growth Earnings-22%below the price$129-9%close to the price$138
Minimum-87%below the price$21.03-91%below the price$14.27
Maximum-22%below the price$129-9%close to the price$138
Median-39%below the price$100-48%below the price$78.93
Geometric mean-52%below the price$78.30-53%below the price$71.25

Minimum, maximum, median and geometric mean refer to the family values in this table. Geometric because deviations are ratios: half the price and twice the price average to 100%, not 125%.

AstraZeneca: 24 of 24 models see the stock below the current price.

Merck & Company: 24 of 26 models see the stock below the current price.

Scenario ranges

From our cautious bear case to the optimistic bull case. The white tick is the current price: left of fair value means room to run.

AstraZeneca
Bear $72.51Fair Value $127Bull $173
$165 = current price (white tick)
Merck & Company
Bear $70.92Fair Value $125Bull $188
$152 = current price (white tick)

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Ranked within their sector

Where each stock sits within its sector peer group. Band = middle 50% of peers, tick = median, dot = this stock.

AstraZeneca · Health Care

Quality score69 · Top 25%
Fair value upside-23% · above median

Merck & Company · Health Care

Quality score70 · Top 25%
Fair value upside-18% · above median

Bottom line

As of Sep 4, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees Merck & Company as the less overvalued of the two: AstraZeneca trades at $165 versus a fair value of $127 (-23%), while Merck & Company trades at $152 versus $125 (-18%).

Merck & Company has the higher quality score (70/100).

See the full analysis →

More comparisons

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A model-based valuation snapshot from 26 models. Values change with price and fundamentals; the date shown above applies.