Can You Still Buy Merck Stock Today? Trefis Team Tue, November 10, 2026 at 8:11 AM EST 4 min read MRK +0.59% ^GSPC +2.35% PFE +0.38% JNJ +1.10% LLY +0.25% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
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Merck (MRK) stock has returned 78.5% over the past twelve months, compared with a 13.7% gain for the S&P 500. The shares closed on November 9 just 4.4% below their highest close of the past year. At that price, buyers appear to believe Merck can again earn margins like its latest quarter's while newer drugs replace older ones now facing generic competition. So has the share price already run ahead of the business?
On Sales, Merck Stock Is Near A Ten-Year High
Measured against sales, the stock price has run ahead of the business. Merck traded at 5.3 times sales at the end of September, putting it near a ten-year high of 5.9 times from the end of 2019. That valuation arrived alongside an operating margin of 9.2% over the twelve months to September, down from 34.9% a year earlier.
Those twelve months include operating losses in the first and second quarters of 2026, and in the third quarter Merck's operating margin was back at 31.9%. So the price appears to assume that the third quarter shows what Merck earns now. That margin is one quarter old, and still below the 37.9% of the same quarter a year earlier.
On earnings, the stock costs 149.7 times its twelve-month profit, which includes those two loss quarters. On cash, it costs 19.6 times operating cash flow, against 14.9 for the S&P 500. Cash and profit have moved apart here: Merck's operating cash flow rose over the past year while its profit fell.
What Merck's Own Guide Says About Sales
The top of Merck's guide for 2026 sales is $67.3 billion. Merck reported revenue of $67.4 billion over the twelve months to September, so even the top of the guide implies fourth-quarter sales below those of the same quarter a year earlier. Analysts expect about $16.5 billion for that quarter, above the $16.4 billion Merck reported a year earlier. That is a stronger quarter than Merck has guided to, even as a Keytruda purchase-timing benefit from the third quarter unwinds in full, as management expects.
Looking further out, management expects newer drugs to cover older ones. During the October 29 call, management said it expects moderate sales growth in 2027, as new launches and animal health more than offset over $2 billion of headwinds from generic competition on BRIDION, Januvia and Adempas, while Keytruda's growth moderates. So far the newer drugs are growing, and WINREVAIR sales rose 94% to $694 million in the third quarter, helped in part by channel inventory.
Merck Is Expected To Report Again In February
Merck is expected to report its fourth-quarter 2026 results in February 2027. Following six reports from April 2025 to August 2026, the stock rose four times, by as much as 4.2%, and fell twice, by as much as 5.5%, over the two trading days from each report date. That record does not include Merck's latest report, from October 29.
Not every timing benefit unwinds by the February report, since management expects most of a separate timing benefit from Gardasil to unwind in 2027. Holding through it also means holding through whatever the market does: in the 2024 and 2025 market shocks, Merck stock fell 13.0% from peak to low each time.
Merck's margin is back for one quarter, while its sales outlook remains less settled. Buying now is early if fourth-quarter sales fall short of the analysts' figure and land inside Merck's guide. It is late if those sales clear the analysts' figure even as the Keytruda timing benefit unwinds, and the operating margin stays close to the third quarter's, which buyers already appear to expect.
Does This Mean You Should Act On MRK?
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