ELAN vs NEOG vs MRK Stock Comparison

Elanco Animal Health, Neogen and Merck Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NEOG Neogen Corp
$12.26 -3.7% 1M +96.8% 1Y
Market cap
$2.56B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$883.99M
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Equipment Healthcare
1 win
MRK Merck & Co., Inc.
$146.34 -2.0% 1M +69.0% 1Y
Market cap
$370.60B
P/E
151.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$67.38B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Elanco Animal Health leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Elanco Animal Health 6, Merck 3, Neogen 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELANNEOGMRKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.51B $2.56B $370.60B MRK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -57.9x -45.6x 151.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.3x 38.3x 59.0x ELAN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.0% -0.3% +4.9% ELAN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.0% -6.3% — ELAN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.1% -0.2% — ELAN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 5.4x — ELAN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.9% +96.8% +69.0% NEOG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.7%/yr -22.0%/yr +10.7%/yr MRK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.3% 55.7% 29.8% MRK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 57/100 61/100 ELAN

Percentile Scorecard

ELANNEOGMRK

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

AxisELANNEOGMRK
Valuation 94 #39 of 624 73 #62 of 227 91 #60 of 624
Growth 56 #265 of 601 49 #111 of 218 21 #478 of 601
Profitability 84 #89 of 541 63 #76 of 202 –
Financial Health 32 #441 of 647 47 #125 of 233 –
Shareholder Returns – 55 #59 of 130 71 #104 of 359
Overall 66 57 61
  • ELAN ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • NEOG ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • MRK 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

PeriodELANNEOGMRKSPY
1 month +2.8%-3.7%-2.0% +0.7%
3 months -12.2%+6.3%+12.8% +3.7%
6 months +3.9%+30.4%+34.0% +7.1%
Year to date +2.7%+75.4%+39.0% +12.8%
1 year +2.9%+96.8%+69.0% +11.9%
3 years +163.8%-18.6%+42.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +38.2%-6.6%+12.5% +22.8%
5 years -29.3%-71.0%+66.2% +67.6%
5 years, per year -6.7%-22.0%+10.7% +10.9%
10 years —-37.3%+148.7% +262.0%
10 years, per year —-4.6%+9.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureELANNEOGMRKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.3%55.7%29.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.8%46.7%24.6% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.291.440.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.071.742.32 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.3%-90.6%-44.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.4%-12.3%-6.5% -1.2%
52-week high $26.84$13.98$156.45 $779.14
52-week low $19.80$5.41$82.49 $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.

MultipleELANNEOGMRK
P/E now vs peer median -58.3xmedian 17.8x -47.7xmedian 28.7x 147.4xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 9.1x 3.0xmedian 3.0x 5.4xmedian 9.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 15.0x 29.6xmedian 17.8x —median 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.6xmedian 21.7x 53.7xmedian 26.4x 22.9xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 2.2x 1.3xmedian 2.4x —median 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.96median 0.35 1.70median 0.99 -8.13median 0.35

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 monthsELANNEOGMRK
Revenue $5.02B $883.99M $67.38B
Gross profit $2.78B $418.98M –
Operating income $637.00M -$7.38M –
Net income -$199.00M -$56.10M –
Free cash flow $379.00M $49.80M –
R&D $371.00M $19.76M $30.76B
EPS (diluted) $-0.39 $-0.26 $0.99
Cash & equivalents $530.00M $172.00M –
Total debt $3.92B $774.20M –
Shares (diluted) 505.90M 218.10M 2.47B
Enterprise value $9.50B $1.89B $370.60B

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
MetricELANNEOGMRK
P/E -58.3x -47.7x 147.4x
P/FCF 30.6x 53.7x 22.9x
P/Operating cash flow 18.8x 31.4x –
P/S 2.3x 3.0x 5.4x
P/B 1.8x 1.3x –
P/Tangible book 3.4x 3.4x –
EV/EBITDA 11.3x 29.6x –
EV/EBIT 23.5x -444.4x –
EV/Revenue 3.0x 3.7x 5.4x
EV/FCF 39.6x 65.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.3x 38.4x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.96 1.70 -8.13

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELANNEOGMRK
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.0% -0.3% 4.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% -1.3% 4.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.2% 1.8% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.9% -3.1% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 22.0% 99.3% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 59.8% -29.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) -145.9% 94.6% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -20.8% -28.3% –
EPS growth (1Y) -145.3% 94.6% -87.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -19.7% -28.0% -18.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.9% -1.9% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 73.6% 2.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 5.0% 1,631% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 101.8% 126.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELANNEOGMRK
Gross margin 55.4% 47.4% –
EBITDA margin 26.5% 12.5% –
Operating margin 12.7% -0.8% –
Pretax margin -3.3% -7.7% –
Net margin -4.0% -6.3% –
FCF margin 7.5% 5.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 12.3% 9.6% –
Return on equity -3.0% -2.7% –
Return on assets -1.5% -1.7% –
Return on invested capital 6.1% -0.2% –
Return on capital employed 5.5% -0.2% –
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.3x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -3.1x -1.5x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.5% 1.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELANNEOGMRK
Debt / assets 28.9% 23.4% –
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 5.4x –
Debt / FCF 10.3x 15.5x –
Liabilities / assets 51.4% 36.8% –
Equity / assets 48.6% 63.2% –
Interest coverage 2.6x – –
Current ratio 2.1x 3.9x –
Quick ratio 0.9x 2.1x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.2x –
Altman Z-score 1.48 1.50 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELANNEOGMRK
Dividend yield – – 2.3%
Net buyback yield – -0.1% –
Shareholder yield – -0.1% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusELANNEOGMRK
Forward P/E 21.3xFY2026 38.3xFY2026 59.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.09FY2026 $0.32FY2026 $2.48FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.0%FY2026 0.0%FY2026 -72.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.9% +31.3% +257.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.79BFY2026 $847.28MFY2026 $69.45BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.6%FY2026 -2.7%FY2026 +6.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.7% -1.5% -3.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELANNEOGMRK
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 79.9%
Institutions holding 524 315 3,798
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% +1.6% +2.6%
Institutions buying 246 151 1,843
Institutions selling 210 106 1,465
Buyers to sellers 1.17 1.42 1.26

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.

ELANNEOGMRK
ELAN 1.00 0.26 0.21
NEOG 0.26 1.00 0.15
MRK 0.21 0.15 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ELAN, NEOG and MRK?

Merck (MRK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) $11.51B, Neogen (NEOG) $2.56B, Merck (MRK) $370.60B.

Which company is growing faster?

Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +12.0%, Neogen (NEOG) -0.3%, Merck (MRK) +4.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) has the highest net margin (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -4.0%, Neogen (NEOG) -6.3%). On return on invested capital, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) leads (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 6.1%, Neogen (NEOG) -0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Neogen (NEOG) returned the most: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +2.9%, Neogen (NEOG) +96.8%, Merck (MRK) +69.0%. Over five years, Merck (MRK) compounded fastest (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -6.7%/yr, Neogen (NEOG) -22.0%/yr, Merck (MRK) +10.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Merck (MRK) has been the steadiest (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 42.3%, Neogen (NEOG) 55.7%, Merck (MRK) 29.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) leads on 6. 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.