MRK
Merck & Co., Inc.Evidence as of 2026-09-12The desk's Snapshot
3 of 15 open to everyone · members see allRead the full desk report on MRK
Seven analysts, the debate, the risk review, every claim cited. And the same for every name you hold.
Free plan, no credit card required. Silver opens the full report, $19.99 a month. AI-written · every claim cites a source · Insight, not advice.
Overview · Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. The Animal Heal…
Management team
- Ms. Jennifer L. Zachary J.D. · Executive VP & General CounselFind on LinkedIn
- Dr. Dean Y. Li M.D., Ph.D. · Executive VP & President of Merck Research LaboratoriesFind on LinkedIn
- Mr. Richard R. DeLuca Jr. · Executive VP & President of Merck Animal HealthFind on LinkedIn
- Ms. Betty D. Larson · Executive VP & Chief Human Resources OfficerFind on LinkedIn
Start free to see the full management team.
Links open LinkedIn searches, not verified profiles. Team data from our market-data vendor's company profile.
Moneyta sentiment
Where the published evidence leans after the desk debated it, not a rating or a recommendation.
−0.5 on a −2 to +2 scale.
What builds the score
Solid bars are analyst rubric scores; faded bars are computed directly from data. Claims dropped in debate count for nothing; weakened claims count at half weight.
Editor's note
Written after the debate settled. The rest of the page is the evidence behind it.
The evidence balance is Cautious (‑0.5 of a possible +2; was ‑0.5 before debate) with high confidence. Share count fell from 2,511,031,253 shares as of 2025-04-30 to 2,467,171,638 shares as of 2026-07-31, and trailing twelve‑month FCF is reported at $6,660,000,000 (FCF per share $2.6964) with P/FCF of 53.38 and a trailing P/E of 79.08, implying the current price embeds a very high implied FCF growth requirement of about 34.85%.
On the operating side, reported revenues were USD 15,806,000,000 for Q2 2025 (fiscal quarter ended 2025-07-31), USD 17,276,000,000 for Q3 2025 (fiscal quarter ended 2025-10-31), USD 16,286,000,000 for Q1 2026 (fiscal quarter ended 2026-04-30), and USD 16,607,000,000 for Q2 2026 (fiscal quarter ended 2026-07-31). Net income and diluted EPS swung from positive in Q2 2025 and Q3 2025 (net income USD 4,427,000,000 and USD 5,785,000,000; diluted EPS USD 1.76 and USD 2.32) to negative in Q1 2026 and Q2 2026 (net income USD (4,240,000,000) and USD (1,335,000,000); diluted EPS USD (1.72) and USD (0.54)). Long-term noncurrent debt rose across the periods to USD 51,081,000,000 as of 2026-06-30, while cash and cash equivalents were volatile, ranging from USD 8,007,000,000 to USD 18,169,000,000 then down to USD 6,849,000,000 as of 2026-06-30.
How this note was made
every stage ran before the note was writtenAnalyst desk
Mercer, Oakes, Nash, Ellis, Yates, Talbot and Archer. The desk: named AI agents, not people. Each reads one slice of the evidence and nothing else (no outside knowledge, no browsing), so every finding traces to a source you can open.
Reads the XBRL figures companies file with the SEC (revenue, margins, income, debt and share count, quarter by quarter) and reports which way the trend is running.
Entity common shares outstanding declined from 2,511,031,253 shares as of 2025-04-30 to 2,467,171,638 shares as of 2026-07-31.
XBRL companyfacts · 0001628280-25-021834Reported revenues: USD 15,806,000,000 for fiscal Q2 2025 (2025-04-01 to 2025-06-30, 3mo); USD 17,276,000,000 for fiscal Q3 2025 (2025-07-01 to 2025-09-30, 3mo); USD 16,286,000,000 for fiscal Q1 2026 (2026-01-01 to 2026-03-31, 3mo); and USD 16,607,000,000 for fiscal Q2 2026 (2026-04-01 to 2026-06-30, 3mo).
XBRL companyfacts · 0000310158-25-000014Reads the filings themselves, above all the year-over-year diff of Item 1A risk factors: which risks a company added, dropped or quietly reworded since its last annual report.
Which filings the desk reads
The desk reads the annual 10-K in full: its risk factors, and how they changed since last year. Quarterly 10-Qs and event filings (8-Ks, insider Form 4s) are listed for context but not read line by line: the 10-K is where the material risk disclosures live. A brand-new company, or one we have only just begun tracking, may have no annual report on file yet; its risk analysis fills in once that lands.
The company states that its business in China experienced significantly lower sales of Gardasil/Gardasil 9 in 2025 and that shipments to China were paused beginning in February 2025 due to above-normal inventory levels at its commercialization partner, with the company stating it will not resume shipments until inventory levels return to normal and that it expects sales of Gardasil/Gardasil 9 in China will not materially increase in 2026.
Item 1A risk-factor diff · 0000310158-26-000063 vs 0001628280-25-007732The company added a risk disclosure that it is increasing its use of artificial intelligence systems to automate processes, analyze data, and support decision-making, and that this deployment 'poses inherent risks' including increased cybersecurity exposure.
Item 1A risk-factor diff · 0000310158-26-000063 vs 0001628280-25-007732Reads the signal panel above (momentum, volatility, drawdown, relative strength and beta) and ranks each against the whole research universe rather than judging it in isolation.
Momentum over the 12-month, 1-month gap metric (momentum_12_1) is +70.4% and ranks in the 89th percentile of the 558-stock research universe as of 2026-09-11.
Moneyta signal set · 2026-09-11weakened in debateMomentum over the past 6 months is +25.1% and ranks in the 79th percentile of the 558-stock research universe as of 2026-09-11.
Moneyta signal set · 2026-09-11weakened in debateReads which funds hold the name and at what weight, plus insider Form 4 filings, to show the exposure you may already carry through index funds.
13F-reported institutional holdings total $228.29B as of 2026-03-31, with 3,764 holders and an aggregate value change of +11.3% quarter-over-quarter; the report also shows 197 exited positions and 2 new positions for that period.
13F holdings · 3764 filers · as of 2026-03-31The largest 13F-reported holders listed for the period ended 2026-03-31 include BlackRock, Inc. ($27.18B), VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC ($19.37B), STATE STREET CORP ($14.45B), WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP ($10.14B), and VANGUARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT LLC ($8.10B).
13F holdings · 3764 filers · as of 2026-03-31Reads recent headlines that are genuinely about this company, ignoring rating chatter and market-wide stories. Findings argue in the debate but never move the sentiment score.
Two headlines noted that Moderna rallied 8% on 11 September 2026 while Merck 'stayed flat' during the same session, characterizing the move as a single-name surge amid relatively quiet biotech-group trading.
News · 247wallst.com · 2026-09-11A syndicated version of the same item repeated that Moderna surged 8% on 11 September 2026 with no clear company announcement explaining the move, mentioning that Merck barely moved in that session.
News · finance.yahoo.com · 2026-09-11Reads parsed Forms 3/4/5: who bought or sold, at what size, and whether a 10b5-1 plan was involved. Flags clustered open-market officer buying; treats plan sales as routine and never counts a fund or 10%-holder as an officer.
Zachary Jennifer (EVP, General Counsel) sold 80,315 shares for "$10.7M" on 2026-08-12 (the filing shows no trading-plan flag).
Form 4 · Zachary Jennifer (EVP, General Counsel) · $4.9M code M · 2026-08-12Guindo Chirfi (EVP, Access, Policy & Comms) sold 10,000 shares for "$1.4M" on 2026-08-13 (the filing shows no trading-plan flag).
Form 4 · Guindo Chirfi (EVP, Access, Policy & Comms) · $1.4M sold · 2026-08-13Reads the implied-expectations math built from the company's own filings (the growth rate today's price would justify, and the multiples beside it) and argues whether the market's bar looks high or low for this business. Never turns the math into a target.
The model input shows an implied free-cash-flow (FCF) growth rate of 34.85% that today’s price would justify under the stated discount and terminal assumptions.
Valuation inputs · SEC XBRL + stored EOD closeTrailing twelve-month price-to-free-cash-flow (P/FCF) is 53.38 and FCF on a TTM basis is $6,660,000,000 (FCF per share $2.6964).
Valuation inputs · SEC XBRL + stored EOD closeDebate and risk review
A bull and a bear contest the claims and the chair rules on each; the risk review stress-tests what survived.
A bull and a bear argue the analysts' claims across two rounds, then a chair rules on each one. Only what survives feeds the score. The argument is shown, not hidden, so you can judge the reasoning yourself.
Several contemporaneous data points support a favorable read: the company materially reduced its diluted share count (fundamentals-0) while reported quarterly revenues have stayed in a relatively tight range across the sampled quarters (fundamentals-1), suggesting per-share metrics may benefit from share reduction alongside ongoing top-line durability. Large, concentrated institutional ownership and ETF inclusion (ownership-0, ownership-1, ownership-2) plus a strong 12-month momentum rank and constructive technicals (market-0, market-1, market-2) indicate market participants and passive exposures are aligned with a positive sentiment profile. High R&D spend (fundamentals-6) paired with multiple sell-side Buy initiations and reiterations in the street consensus snapshot provide corroborating evidence that the company’s pipeline focus is a central element of the bullish narrative. These supportive claims are evidentially robust (SEC filings, 13F/ETF reports, and objective market-signal metrics) and jointly offset some headline-level negatives when the emphasis is on share-count improvement, demand/ownership dynamics, and momentum.
Chair's verdict, claim by claim
Fragility · computed, not argued
balanced0.30
40 surviving claims rest on 21 distinct sources; the heaviest analyst carries 18% of them, and 96% of what the desk raised survived the debate.
The evidence base is moderately broad (21 distinct sources) but the desk’s conclusions are somewhat fragile because a single analyst accounts for a meaningful share of surviving claims and an unusually high 96% survival rate suggests limited effective challenge during review. Readings grounded in primary filings (10‑Q/10‑K items) are more robust here, while computed signals and model-derived valuation inferences carry more weight sensitivity to price moves and modeling inputs.
Peer context · computed, not argued
12-1 momentum ranks 2nd of 10 in Drug Manufacturers—General (as of 2026-09-11).
90-day volatility ranks 1st of 10 in Drug Manufacturers—General (as of 2026-09-11).
dividend yield ranks 7th of 10 in Drug Manufacturers—General (as of 2026-09-11).
Disconfirming evidence · base rates · falsifiers
Context
Outside consensus, and where this name already sits in your own portfolio.
Third-party consensus shown for context. It never enters Moneyta sentiment. When the two diverge, the debate above is where the why lives.
What this was built from
Every figure on this page traces to one of these. The desk reads only what is listed here (no outside knowledge, no browsing), and each card shows who read it and what it contributed to the score.
12 filings· 3 cited
SEC XBRL filings
Quarterly figures as filed with the SEC, read straight from EDGAR's structured data, not retyped or estimated.
Read by Mercer−0.6 to the score
13 documents· 1 cited
SEC filing documents
The filings themselves, including the year-over-year comparison of Item 1A risk factors.
Read by Oakes−0.7 to the score
1 signal set
Moneyta signal set
Computed from our own end-of-day price history and ranked against the whole research universe. No AI involved.
Read by Nash+0.3 to the score
3 holdings records· 1 cited
Fund holdings
Which funds hold this name and at what weight, plus insider Form 4 filings.
Read by Ellis+0.8 to the score
7 headlines· 2 cited
News coverage
Recent headlines about this company, rating chatter excluded and nothing published after the report date.
Read by Yatesnothing survived
7 filings· 2 cited
Insider filings
Parsed Forms 3/4/5 from EDGAR: named insiders, share counts, prices, and 10b5-1 plan state, with stated and inferred flags kept apart.
Read by Talbot−1.0 to the score
1 computation
Valuation inputs
TTM cash-flow figures from the company's own XBRL filings, priced with the stored closing price. Implied growth and multiples only; no fair-value dollar figure reaches the desk, by design.
Read by Archercontext only
1 record· 0 cited
Company profile
Sector, industry and company details.
1 record· 0 cited
Analyst consensus
Third-party consensus, shown for context only; it never enters Moneyta sentiment.
Read means we pulled and handed it to an analyst; cited means a claim on this page points at it. Reading twelve quarters to state one trend is normal; the gap is shown rather than hidden.
Written by AI, checked against sources
The analysts, the bull–bear debate and the editor's note are AI agents reading only the evidence listed on this page. They can misread a filing or a headline, which is why every claim cites a source you can open and check yourself. The sentiment score is arithmetic over the claims that survived the debate, not a language model's opinion.
Educational analysis of published data. Moneyta does not give investment advice or make recommendations. Past patterns do not indicate future results.
The full terminal on MRK Gold
Who holds it, who's buying, what the Street thinks: live behind the lock, updated as filings land.
Institutional holders
Net institutional flow, Q/Q
Largest holder position
Insider buys, 90 days
Clustered insider value
Street target range
The real figures are for members. Educational analysis, not advice.
Get this for the names you actually hold
Every name in your portfolio, researched the same way, plus the one thing no sample can show: how each one sits inside what you already own.
Educational analysis of published data. Moneyta does not give investment advice or make recommendations.