MRK vs COR vs IDXX Stock Comparison

Merck, Cencora and Idexx Laboratories 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
COR Cencora, Inc.
$330.91 +6.0% 1M +0.7% 1Y
Market cap
$63.77B
P/E
24.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$332.77B
Div. yield
0.01%
Drug Distribution Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Idexx Laboratories leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Idexx Laboratories 5, Merck 4, Cencora 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMRKCORIDXXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $346.73B $63.77B $45.01B MRK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 109.3x 24.3x 39.5x COR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 58.3x 19.4x 35.9x COR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.6% +5.1% +12.8% IDXX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.8% 0.8% 25.0% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% 14.4% 45.6% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.6x 2.2x 0.5x IDXX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.01% 0.00% MRK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +66.6% +0.7% -12.2% MRK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.4%/yr +21.8%/yr -3.0%/yr COR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.4% 32.8% 32.0% MRK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 52/100 77/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

MRKCORIDXX

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

AxisMRKCORIDXX
Valuation 79 #134 of 624 63 #10 of 25 75 #159 of 624
Growth 36 #387 of 603 74 #7 of 24 75 #149 of 603
Profitability 91 #53 of 555 57 #11 of 24 97 #17 of 555
Financial Health 20 #528 of 657 24 #20 of 26 46 #355 of 657
Shareholder Returns 81 #71 of 370 44 #10 of 17 93 #27 of 370
Overall 61 52 77
  • MRK ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • COR ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • IDXX 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

PeriodMRKCORIDXXSPY
1 month -1.9%+6.0%+7.3% -1.0%
3 months +10.8%+6.8%+3.0% +2.9%
6 months +29.8%+7.4%-1.0% +6.4%
Year to date +38.0%-2.0%-17.2% +11.4%
1 year +66.6%+0.7%-12.2% +13.1%
3 years +41.0%+75.1%+30.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +12.1%+20.5%+9.2% +21.5%
5 years +79.0%+168.3%-14.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year +12.4%+21.8%-3.0% +10.9%
10 years +137.4%+313.5%+407.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +9.0%+15.3%+17.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMRKCORIDXXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.4%32.8%32.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.2%39.8%31.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.13-0.130.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.270.02-0.38 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.7%-32.6%-51.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.1%-11.7%-26.9% -2.5%
52-week high $156.45$374.75$766.68 $779.14
52-week low $82.49$252.74$504.70 $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.

MultipleMRKCORIDXX
P/E now vs peer median 113.1xmedian 17.2x 24.4xmedian 24.5x 38.8xmedian 17.2x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 8.8x 0.2xmedian 0.3x 9.7xmedian 8.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 30.9xmedian 16.0x 17.5xmedian 14.4x 27.9xmedian 16.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.3xmedian 17.8x 15.6xmedian 15.8x 35.2xmedian 17.8x
P/B now vs peer median 8.5xmedian 2.1x 19.5xmedian 2.5x 27.4xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 71.19median 0.32 1.36median 1.35 2.57median 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 monthsMRKCORIDXX
Revenue $66.57B $332.77B $4.55B
Gross profit $48.57B $13.22B $2.84B
Operating income $6.38B $3.04B $1.46B
Net income $3.17B $2.65B $1.14B
Free cash flow $16.06B $4.06B $1.25B
R&D $30.45B – $261.47M
EPS (diluted) $1.28 $13.53 $14.37
Cash & equivalents $6.85B $2.82B $196.93M
Total debt $193.74B $11.72B $4.03B
Shares (diluted) 2.47B 193.94M 79.31M
Enterprise value $301.10B $52.66B $44.23B

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
MetricMRKCORIDXX
P/E 113.1x 24.4x 38.8x
P/FCF 22.3x 15.6x 35.2x
P/Operating cash flow 18.0x 13.1x 32.2x
P/S 5.4x 0.2x 9.7x
P/B 8.5x 19.5x 27.4x
P/Tangible book 21.1x -23.5x 29.2x
EV/EBITDA 30.9x 17.5x 27.9x
EV/EBIT 63.5x 23.7x 30.8x
EV/Revenue 6.1x 0.2x 9.9x
EV/FCF 25.2x 17.7x 35.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.3x 14.9x 32.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 71.19 1.36 2.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMRKCORIDXX
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.6% 5.1% 12.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 9.4% 9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.3% 20.0% 14.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 15.0% 10.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% 11.1% 16.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.9% 9.5% 11.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -80.7% 38.9% 15.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.5% 16.2% 12.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -80.3% 39.3% 18.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 1.6% 17.9% 15.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.7% 176.7% 51.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.8% 14.1% 22.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 9.1% 255.7% 59.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.0% 13.3% 28.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMRKCORIDXX
Gross margin 73.0% 4.0% 62.4%
EBITDA margin 19.7% 1.2% 35.4%
Operating margin 9.6% 0.9% 32.0%
Pretax margin 8.9% 1.1% 31.3%
Net margin 4.8% 0.8% 25.0%
FCF margin 24.1% 1.2% 27.5%
Operating cash flow margin 30.0% 1.4% 30.1%
Return on equity 7.2% 77.4% 71.9%
Return on assets 2.5% 3.2% 33.4%
Return on invested capital 3.6% 14.4% 45.6%
Return on capital employed 6.3% 12.9% 68.6%
Asset turnover 0.5x 4.0x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 6.3x 1.8x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 0.0% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMRKCORIDXX
Debt / assets 41.5% 14.0% 28.1%
Debt / equity 1.3x 3.6x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.6x 2.2x 0.5x
Debt / FCF 3.4x 2.9x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 67.7% 96.1% 53.2%
Equity / assets 32.3% 3.9% 46.8%
Interest coverage – – 38.6x
Current ratio 1.3x 0.9x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.5x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.89 4.66 20.14

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMRKCORIDXX
Dividend yield 2.3% 0.7% –
Net buyback yield 1.1% 1.6% 2.4%
Shareholder yield 3.4% 2.3% 2.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 261.8% 17.7% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 51.7% 11.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.3% 8.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.7% 5.7% –

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.

ConsensusMRKCORIDXX
Forward P/E 58.3xFY2026 19.4xFY2026 35.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.49FY2026 $17.08FY2026 $15.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -72.3%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026 +19.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +257.4% +11.8% +13.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $69.45BFY2026 $328.67BFY2026 $5.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 +2.3%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.8% -0.5% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMRKCORIDXX
Held by institutions 79.9% 94.7% 93.6%
Institutions holding 3,794 1,342 1,289
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +15.7% +4.1%
Institutions buying 1,840 542 587
Institutions selling 1,464 609 496
Buyers to sellers 1.26 0.89 1.18

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.

MRKCORIDXX
MRK 1.00 0.18 0.11
COR 0.18 1.00 0.12
IDXX 0.11 0.12 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MRK, COR and IDXX?

Merck (MRK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Merck (MRK) $346.73B, Cencora (COR) $63.77B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $45.01B.

Which stock is cheaper, MRK, COR and IDXX?

Cencora (COR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Merck (MRK) 109.3x, Cencora (COR) 24.3x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 39.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cencora (COR) is cheapest (Merck (MRK) 58.3x, Cencora (COR) 19.4x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 35.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Merck (MRK) +4.6%, Cencora (COR) +5.1%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +12.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Merck (MRK) 4.8%, Cencora (COR) 0.8%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.0%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Merck (MRK) 3.6%, Cencora (COR) 14.4%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Merck (MRK) returned the most: Merck (MRK) +66.6%, Cencora (COR) +0.7%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -12.2%. Over five years, Cencora (COR) compounded fastest (Merck (MRK) +12.4%/yr, Cencora (COR) +21.8%/yr, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -3.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Merck (MRK) has the highest dividend yield: Merck (MRK) 0.02%, Cencora (COR) 0.01%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 0.00%. Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Merck (MRK) has been the steadiest (Merck (MRK) 29.4%, Cencora (COR) 32.8%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 32.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MRK, COR and IDXX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads on 5. 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.