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STOCK COMPARISON

Merck KGaA vs Photocure: Fair Value & Quality

Both stocks run through our valuation models. Here is how Merck KGaA (MRK) and Photocure (PHO) compare, as of Sep 25, 2026.

As of Sep 25, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees Merck KGaA as the less overvalued of the two: Merck KGaA trades at €134 versus a fair value of €109 (-19%), while Photocure trades at NOK 50.80 versus NOK 26.58 (-48%).
Merck KGaA
MRK.XETRA · EUR · Health Care
-19%
upside to fair value
overvalued
Price€134
Fair Value€109
Quality62/100
Photocure
PHO.OL · NOK · Health Care
-48%
upside to fair value
overvalued
PriceNOK 50.80
Fair ValueNOK 26.58
Quality65/100
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Head-to-head numbers

Green is the better side of a row, red the weaker one (for valuation multiples: lower = cheaper). Grey rows are for reference only and are not scored.

betterweakerfor reference, not scored

Merck KGaAPhotocure
Valuation
24.1×P/E (TTM)16.1×
3.16×P/S (TTM)2.34×
2.32×P/B3.24×
13.0×EV/EBITDA9.7×
2.76×PEG14.90×
−18.9%Fair value upside−47.7%
1.6%Dividend yieldn/a
€2.20Dividend per sharen/a
Profitability
18%Operating margin46%
1.07×EBIT margin trend (5Y)n/a
9%Return on equity16%
5%Return on assets11%
Growth
-3%Revenue growth (YoY)111%
-1.7%Avg. growth/yr (3Y)10.6%
3.8%Avg. growth/yr (5Y)15.7%
+7.2%Value creation/yrn/a
Balance & size
15.5×Interest coverage (EBIT/interest)n/a
0.36×Debt / equity0.21×
$66BMarket cap$165M
mixedGrowth qualitymixed

Photocure leads: 3 to 8 metric wins.

n/a = 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.

Merck KGaAof which business quality 61 · market factors 66 Photocureof which business quality 59 · market factors 34
ProfitabilityMargins and returns on capital today
41
39
Quality GrowthAre margins and returns improving?
40
35
CashflowEarnings quality: real cash, not paper profit
57
16
Fin. StrengthBalance sheet, leverage, solvency risk
76
97
InvestmentDisciplined investing over empire-building
80
94
Low VolatilityCalm price path (market factor)
72
70
MomentumPrice trend over the last 3–12 months (market factor)
61
23
52W MomentumDistance to the 52-week high (market factor)
68
14
Net IssuanceShare count: buybacks or dilution?
82
94

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 familyMerck KGaAPrice €134PhotocurePrice NOK 50.80
DCF Models-20%below the price€107-51%below the priceNOK 24.80
Earnings-Based-60%below the price€53.25n/a
Dividend Discount-70%below the price€40.71n/a
Multiples-12%close to the price€118-72%below the priceNOK 14.06
Asset-Based-67%below the price€44.06-76%below the priceNOK 12.19
Growth DCF-29%below the price€94.57-50%below the priceNOK 25.36
Economic Profit-50%below the price€66.44n/a
Growth Earnings-14%close to the price€115n/a
Minimum-70%below the price€40.71-76%below the priceNOK 12.19
Maximum-12%close to the price€118-50%below the priceNOK 25.36
Median-40%below the price€80.50-62%below the priceNOK 19.43
Geometric mean-45%below the price€73.75-64%below the priceNOK 18.12

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%.

Merck KGaA: 23 of 26 models see the stock below the current price.

Photocure: 10 of 10 models see the stock below the current price.

Scenario ranges

From our cautious bear scenario to the optimistic bull scenario. The white tick is the current price (value above it), the green tick the fair value (value below it): if the price sits left of the fair value, there is room to rise.

Merck KGaA
Price €134
Fair Value €109
Bear €59.91Bull €150
Photocure
Price NOK 50.80
Fair Value NOK 26.58
Bear NOK 18.72Bull NOK 39.30

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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.

Merck KGaA · Health Care

Quality score62 · above median
Fair value upside-19% · above median

Photocure · Health Care

Quality score65 · Top 25%
Fair value upside-48% · below median

Bottom line

As of Sep 25, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees Merck KGaA as the less overvalued of the two: Merck KGaA trades at €134 versus a fair value of €109 (-19%), while Photocure trades at NOK 50.80 versus NOK 26.58 (-48%).

Photocure has the higher quality score (65/100).

Open Merck KGaA live analysis →

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