ELAN vs MRK vs ICCC Stock Comparison

Elanco Animal Health, Merck and Immucell Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MRK Merck & Co., Inc.
$145.28 -1.9% 1M +66.6% 1Y
Market cap
$346.73B
P/E
109.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$66.57B
Div. yield
0.02%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
4 wins
ICCC Immucell Corp /De/
$10.25 +2.6% 1M +69.1% 1Y
Market cap
$92.57M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$26.76M
Div. yield
–
Animal Health Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Merck leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Merck 4, Immucell 4, Elanco Animal Health 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELANMRKICCCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.47B $346.73B $92.57M MRK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -57.6x 109.3x -141.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.5x 58.3x — ELAN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.0% +4.6% -5.3% ELAN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.0% 4.8% -2.4% MRK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.1% 3.6% 6.5% ICCC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 3.6x -0.1x ICCC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.4% +66.6% +69.1% ICCC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.9%/yr +12.4%/yr +2.8%/yr MRK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.2% 29.4% 50.4% MRK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 61/100 73/100 ICCC

Percentile Scorecard

ELANMRKICCC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisELANMRKICCC
Valuation 94 #39 of 624 79 #134 of 624 87 #85 of 624
Growth 58 #252 of 603 36 #387 of 603 65 #213 of 603
Profitability 83 #93 of 555 91 #53 of 555 83 #95 of 555
Financial Health 32 #447 of 657 20 #528 of 657 58 #279 of 657
Shareholder Returns – 81 #71 of 370 –
Overall 67 61 73
  • ELAN ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • MRK ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • ICCC ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodELANMRKICCCSPY
1 month -0.3%-1.9%+2.6% -1.0%
3 months -9.6%+10.8%-7.1% +2.9%
6 months -1.1%+29.8%+22.6% +6.4%
Year to date -0.5%+38.0%+66.7% +11.4%
1 year +3.4%+66.6%+69.1% +13.1%
3 years +147.9%+41.0%+113.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year +35.4%+12.1%+28.8% +21.5%
5 years -33.6%+79.0%+15.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year -7.9%+12.4%+2.8% +10.9%
10 years —+137.4%+70.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+9.0%+5.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureELANMRKICCCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.2%29.4%50.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.0%24.2%47.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.300.130.41 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.082.271.37 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.3%-44.7%-67.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.1%-7.1%-12.5% -2.5%
52-week high $26.84$156.45$11.72 $779.14
52-week low $19.80$82.49$4.56 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleELANMRKICCC
P/E now vs peer median -56.5xmedian 17.2x 113.1xmedian 17.2x -142.4xmedian 17.2x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 8.8x 5.4xmedian 8.8x 3.5xmedian 8.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.0xmedian 16.0x 30.9xmedian 16.0x 18.2xmedian 16.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.7xmedian 17.8x 22.3xmedian 17.8x —median 17.8x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.1x 8.5xmedian 2.1x 3.0xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.87median 0.32 71.19median 0.32 -2.59median 0.32

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsELANMRKICCC
Revenue $5.02B $66.57B $26.76M
Gross profit $2.78B $48.57B $10.53M
Operating income $637.00M $6.38B $2.47M
Net income -$199.00M $3.17B -$652.35K
Free cash flow $379.00M $16.06B –
R&D $371.00M $30.45B $2.40M
EPS (diluted) $-0.39 $1.28 $-0.07
Cash & equivalents $530.00M $6.85B $8.86M
Total debt $3.92B $193.74B $8.30M
Shares (diluted) 505.90M 2.47B 9.19M
Enterprise value $9.46B $301.10B $70.01M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricELANMRKICCC
P/E -56.5x 113.1x -142.4x
P/FCF 29.7x 22.3x –
P/Operating cash flow 18.2x 18.0x –
P/S 2.2x 5.4x 3.5x
P/B 1.7x 8.5x 3.0x
P/Tangible book 3.3x 21.1x 3.0x
EV/EBITDA 11.0x 30.9x 18.2x
EV/EBIT 23.0x 63.5x 37.5x
EV/Revenue 2.9x 6.1x 3.5x
EV/FCF 38.6x 25.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 23.7x 20.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.87 71.19 -2.59

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELANMRKICCC
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.0% 4.6% -5.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% 4.5% 19.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.2% -0.3% -0.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.9% 4.5% 36.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 2,648% -66.6% 42.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.5% 1.9% 34.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -145.9% -80.7% -137.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -20.8% 0.5% 52.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -145.3% -80.3% -136.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -19.7% 1.6% 55.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.9% 7.7% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 73.6% 9.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 5.0% 9.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 101.8% 14.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELANMRKICCC
Gross margin 55.4% 73.0% 39.3%
EBITDA margin 26.5% 19.7% 19.0%
Operating margin 12.7% 9.6% 9.2%
Pretax margin -3.3% 8.9% -2.2%
Net margin -4.0% 4.8% -2.4%
FCF margin 7.5% 24.1% –
Operating cash flow margin 12.3% 30.0% –
Return on equity -3.0% 7.2% -2.2%
Return on assets -1.5% 2.5% -1.5%
Return on invested capital 6.1% 3.6% 6.5%
Return on capital employed 5.5% 6.3% 6.1%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -3.1x 6.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.5% 1.3% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELANMRKICCC
Debt / assets 28.9% 41.5% 17.8%
Debt / equity 0.6x 1.3x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 3.6x -0.1x
Debt / FCF 10.3x 3.4x –
Liabilities / assets 51.4% 67.7% 32.7%
Equity / assets 48.6% 32.3% 67.3%
Interest coverage 2.6x – 5.3x
Current ratio 2.1x 1.3x 4.8x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.7x 2.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 2.0x
Altman Z-score 1.45 3.89 4.50

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELANMRKICCC
Dividend yield – 2.3% –
Net buyback yield – 1.1% –
Shareholder yield – 3.4% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 261.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 51.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 4.7% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusELANMRKICCC
Forward P/E 20.5xFY2026 58.3xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.10FY2026 $2.49FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +17.0%FY2026 -72.3%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +23.6% +257.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.78BFY2026 $69.45BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +1.4%FY2026 +6.8%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +19.9% -3.8% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELANMRKICCC
Held by institutions 100.0% 79.9% 14.7%
Institutions holding 523 3,794 31
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% +2.6% -2.6%
Institutions buying 246 1,840 14
Institutions selling 209 1,464 7
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.26 2.00

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ELANMRKICCC
ELAN 1.00 0.21 -0.03
MRK 0.21 1.00 0.02
ICCC -0.03 0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ELAN, MRK and ICCC?

Merck (MRK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) $11.47B, Merck (MRK) $346.73B, Immucell (ICCC) $92.57M.

Which company is growing faster?

Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +12.0%, Merck (MRK) +4.6%, Immucell (ICCC) -5.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Merck (MRK) has the highest net margin (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -4.0%, Merck (MRK) 4.8%, Immucell (ICCC) -2.4%). On return on invested capital, Immucell (ICCC) leads (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 6.1%, Merck (MRK) 3.6%, Immucell (ICCC) 6.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Immucell (ICCC) returned the most: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +3.4%, Merck (MRK) +66.6%, Immucell (ICCC) +69.1%. Over five years, Merck (MRK) compounded fastest (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -7.9%/yr, Merck (MRK) +12.4%/yr, Immucell (ICCC) +2.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 0.00%, Merck (MRK) 0.02%, Immucell (ICCC) 0.00%. Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) and Immucell (ICCC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Merck (MRK) has been the steadiest (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 42.2%, Merck (MRK) 29.4%, Immucell (ICCC) 50.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ELAN, MRK and ICCC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Merck (MRK) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.