AbbVie vs Merck
ABBV and MRK side by side, both in drugs. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How ABBV and MRK compare
AbbVie is the larger company, worth 1.4 times as much as Merck ($521B against $363B).
On earnings, AbbVie is cheaper: it trades at 83.3× trailing earnings, against 151× for Merck.
AbbVie grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (10.4% versus 4.9% for Merck).
AbbVie keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 9.8% compared with 3.6% at Merck.
Both pay dividends: AbbVie yields 2.3% and Merck 2.3%.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | ABBV | MRK |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $521B | $363B |
| Share price | $295.03 | $146.95 |
| Change, 1 year | 26.5% | 61.6% |
| Change, 5 years | 154% | 82.1% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.28 | 0.22 |
| Employees | 57K | 75K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 10 | 10 |
| Valuation score | 0 | 0 |
| Growth score | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Performance score | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Health score | 2 | 4 (better) |
| Dividend score | 3 | 3 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 83.3× (better) | 151× |
| P/S | 8.1× | 5.4× (better) |
| P/B | – | 8.1× |
| EV/EBITDA | 34.7× | – |
| P/FCF | 28.6× | 24.6× (better) |
| PEG | – | 17.96 |
| FCF yield | 3.5% | 4.1% (better) |
| Fair value | $157.48 | $71.32 |
| Margin of safety | −87.3% (better) | −106% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 10.4% (better) | 4.9% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 6.0% | 9.4% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 67.7% (better) | −87.1% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 68.6% (better) | −87.2% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | −2.8% | 21.2% (better) |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 71.5% | 71.8% (better) |
| Operating margin | 26.2% | – |
| Net margin | 9.8% (better) | 3.6% |
| FCF margin | 28.3% (better) | 21.9% |
| Return on equity | – | 5.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 20.1% | – |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | – | 1.20 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.81 | – |
| Interest coverage | 5.8× | – |
| Current ratio | 0.81 | 1.35 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 2.86 | 3.77 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 (better) | 4 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 2.3% (better) | 2.3% |
| Payout ratio | 190% | 341% |
| Years of dividend growth | 11 | 15 (better) |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 6.6% (better) | 5.8% |
| Buyback yield | 0.29% | 0.98% (better) |
| Shareholder yield | 2.6% | 3.3% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 75.6% | 80.3% |
| Held by insiders | 0.09% | 0.05% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$30.8M (better) | −$70.7M |
| Superinvestors holding | 3 | 4 (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 0.90% | 1.1% |
Go deeper
- ABBV stock overview
- ABBV income statement
- ABBV valuation and score
- MRK stock overview
- MRK income statement
- MRK valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.