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STOCK COMPARISON

Gilead Sciences vs Merck & Company: Fair Value & Quality

Both stocks run through our valuation models. Here is how Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Merck & Company (MRK) compare, as of Sep 12, 2026.

As of Sep 12, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees Gilead Sciences as the more attractively valued of the two: Gilead Sciences trades at $144 versus a fair value of $147 (+2%), while Merck & Company trades at $144 versus $125 (-13%).
Gilead Sciences
GILD · USD · Health Care
+2%
upside to fair value
fairly valued
Price$144
Fair Value$147
Quality83/100
Merck & Company
MRK · USD · Health Care
-13%
upside to fair value
overvalued
Price$144
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).

Gilead SciencesMerck & Company
Valuation
18.5×P/E (TTM)43.5×
5.61×P/S (TTM)4.64×
7.37×P/B5.80×
12.3×EV/EBITDA11.4×
2.14×PEG6.10×
+1.9%Fair value upside−12.9%
2.1%Dividend yield2.2%
$3.19Dividend per share$3.28
Profitability
39%Operating margin39%
2.41×EBIT margin trend (5Y)2.70×
43%Return on equity19%
13%Return on assets13%
Growth
4%Revenue growth (YoY)5%
2.6%Avg. growth/yr (3Y)3.1%
3.6%Avg. growth/yr (5Y)9.4%
+10.5%Value creation/yr+16.0%
Balance & size
11.4×Interest coverage (EBIT/interest)17.3×
0.98×Debt / equity0.89×
$167BMarket cap$305B
healthyGrowth qualityhealthy

Merck & Company leads: 3 to 10 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.

Gilead Sciencesof which business quality 78 · market factors 68 Merck & Companyof which business quality 68 · market factors 87
ProfitabilityMargins and returns on capital today
77
74
Quality GrowthAre margins and returns improving?
67
36
CashflowEarnings quality: real cash, not paper profit
86
65
Fin. StrengthBalance sheet, leverage, solvency risk
64
68
InvestmentDisciplined investing over empire-building
97
71
Low VolatilityCalm price path (market factor)
87
83
MomentumPrice trend over the last 3–12 months (market factor)
55
82
52W MomentumDistance to the 52-week high (market factor)
71
100
Net IssuanceBuybacks instead of dilution
83
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 familyGilead SciencesPrice $144Merck & CompanyPrice $144
DCF Models+55%above the price$222-19%below the price$117
Earnings-Based+1%close to the price$145-56%below the price$62.77
Dividend Discount-61%below the price$56.73-58%below the price$60.35
Multiples-19%below the price$116-15%below the price$122
Asset-Based-92%below the price$12.21-90%below the price$14.27
Growth DCF+16%above the price$167-49%below the price$74.00
Economic Profit-32%below the price$98.10-42%below the price$83.85
Growth Earnings+38%above the price$199-4%close to the price$138
Minimum-92%below the price$12.21-90%below the price$14.27
Maximum+55%above the price$222-4%close to the price$138
Median-9%close to the price$130-45%below the price$78.93
Geometric mean-32%below the price$97.83-50%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%.

Gilead Sciences: 11 of 26 models see the stock below the current price.

Merck & Company: 23 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.

Gilead Sciences
Bear $106Fair Value $147Bull $258
$144 = current price (white tick)
Merck & Company
Bear $70.92Fair Value $125Bull $188
$144 = 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.

Gilead Sciences · Health Care

Quality score83 · Top 25%
Fair value upside+2% · above median

Merck & Company · Health Care

Quality score70 · Top 25%
Fair value upside-13% · above median

Bottom line

As of Sep 12, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees Gilead Sciences as the more attractively valued of the two: Gilead Sciences trades at $144 versus a fair value of $147 (+2%), while Merck & Company trades at $144 versus $125 (-13%).

Gilead Sciences has the higher quality score (83/100).

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.