MRK vs IDXX vs AZN Stock Comparison

Merck, Idexx Laboratories and Astrazeneca Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
AZN Astrazeneca Plc
$174.51 +6.3% 1M +6.1% 1Y
Market cap
$288.69B
P/E
27.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$58.67B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionMRKIDXXAZNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $370.60B $43.52B $288.69B MRK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 151.1x 38.2x 27.6x AZN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 59.0x 36.9x 17.5x AZN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.9% +12.8% +9.4% IDXX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 25.0% 17.8% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 45.6% 23.3% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.5x 1.4x IDXX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +69.0% -8.2% +6.1% MRK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.7%/yr -2.9%/yr +6.9%/yr MRK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.8% 32.1% 27.5% AZN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 77/100 71/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

MRKIDXXAZN

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

AxisMRKIDXXAZN
Valuation 91 #60 of 624 75 #155 of 624 85 #96 of 624
Growth 21 #478 of 601 76 #148 of 601 70 #183 of 601
Profitability – 97 #17 of 541 94 #33 of 541
Financial Health – 46 #350 of 647 36 #415 of 647
Shareholder Returns 71 #104 of 359 93 #26 of 359 70 #110 of 359
Overall 61 77 71
  • MRK ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • IDXX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • AZN 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

PeriodMRKIDXXAZNSPY
1 month -2.0%+8.0%+6.3% +0.7%
3 months +12.8%+3.1%+1.8% +3.7%
6 months +34.0%+2.7%-6.9% +7.1%
Year to date +39.0%-14.9%-5.1% +12.8%
1 year +69.0%-8.2%+6.1% +11.9%
3 years +42.5%+45.3%+38.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year +12.5%+13.3%+11.5% +22.8%
5 years +66.2%-13.5%+39.9% +67.6%
5 years, per year +10.7%-2.9%+6.9% +10.9%
10 years +148.7%+448.3%+205.1% +262.0%
10 years, per year +9.5%+18.6%+11.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMRKIDXXAZNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.8%32.1%27.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.6%31.3%27.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.110.790.21 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.32-0.260.22 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.7%-51.3%-27.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.5%-24.9%-16.7% -1.2%
52-week high $156.45$766.68$209.48 $779.14
52-week low $82.49$504.70$155.60 $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.

MultipleMRKIDXXAZN
P/E now vs peer median 147.4xmedian 17.8x 39.9xmedian 17.8x 25.9xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 9.1x 10.0xmedian 9.1x 4.6xmedian 9.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 15.0x 28.6xmedian 15.0x 14.7xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.9xmedian 21.7x 36.2xmedian 21.7x 25.4xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median —median 2.2x 28.2xmedian 2.2x 5.4xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -8.13median 0.35 2.64median 0.35 1.35median 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 monthsMRKIDXXAZN
Revenue $67.38B $4.55B $58.67B
Gross profit – $2.84B $50.25B
Operating income – $1.46B $13.97B
Net income – $1.14B $10.45B
Free cash flow – $1.25B $10.67B
R&D $30.76B $261.47M $15.07B
EPS (diluted) $0.99 $14.37 $6.69
Cash & equivalents – $196.93M $4.90B
Total debt – $968.86M $32.35B
Shares (diluted) 2.47B 79.31M 1.56B
Enterprise value $370.60B $42.73B $262.37B

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
MetricMRKIDXXAZN
P/E 147.4x 39.9x 25.9x
P/FCF 22.9x 36.2x 25.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 33.1x 19.7x
P/S 5.4x 10.0x 4.6x
P/B – 28.2x 5.4x
P/Tangible book – 30.0x 21.4x
EV/EBITDA – 28.6x 14.7x
EV/EBIT – 31.7x 21.3x
EV/Revenue 5.4x 10.1x 5.1x
EV/FCF – 36.8x 27.9x
EV/Operating cash flow – 33.7x 21.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -8.13 2.64 1.35

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMRKIDXXAZN
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.9% 12.8% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.3% 9.0% 10.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 14.4% 9.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 10.5% 13.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 16.2% 23.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 11.7% 23.9%
Net income growth (1Y) – 15.6% 25.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 12.9% 19.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -87.0% 18.1% 26.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -18.1% 15.1% 19.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 51.4% 2.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 22.5% 13.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 59.9% -4.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 28.4% 8.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMRKIDXXAZN
Gross margin – 62.4% 85.6%
EBITDA margin – 35.4% 34.6%
Operating margin – 32.0% 23.8%
Pretax margin – 31.3% 21.5%
Net margin – 25.0% 17.8%
FCF margin – 27.5% 18.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 30.1% 23.3%
Return on equity – 71.9% 21.4%
Return on assets – 33.4% 9.1%
Return on invested capital – 45.6% 23.3%
Return on capital employed – 68.6% 16.8%
Asset turnover – 1.3x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMRKIDXXAZN
Debt / assets – 28.1% 27.9%
Debt / equity – 0.6x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.5x 1.4x
Debt / FCF – 0.8x 3.0x
Liabilities / assets – 53.2% 56.5%
Equity / assets – 46.8% 43.5%
Interest coverage – 38.6x 15.9x
Current ratio – 1.2x 0.9x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 20.55 3.50

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMRKIDXXAZN
Dividend yield 2.3% – 1.4%
Net buyback yield – 2.3% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 2.3% 1.4%
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.

ConsensusMRKIDXXAZN
Forward P/E 59.0xFY2026 36.9xFY2026 17.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.48FY2026 $15.63FY2026 $10.00FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -72.4%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +257.3% +12.9% +6.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $69.45BFY2026 $5.00BFY2026 $59.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026 +0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.8% +0.6% +8.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMRKIDXXAZN
Held by institutions 79.9% 93.6% 52.1%
Institutions holding 3,798 1,290 1,497
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +4.1% +7.8%
Institutions buying 1,843 588 809
Institutions selling 1,465 496 468
Buyers to sellers 1.26 1.19 1.73

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.

MRKIDXXAZN
MRK 1.00 0.19 0.50
IDXX 0.19 1.00 0.24
AZN 0.50 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MRK, IDXX and AZN?

Merck (MRK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Merck (MRK) $370.60B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $43.52B, Astrazeneca (AZN) $288.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, MRK, IDXX and AZN?

Astrazeneca (AZN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Merck (MRK) 151.1x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 38.2x, Astrazeneca (AZN) 27.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Astrazeneca (AZN) is cheapest (Merck (MRK) 59.0x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 36.9x, Astrazeneca (AZN) 17.5x). 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) +4.9%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +12.8%, Astrazeneca (AZN) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.0%, Astrazeneca (AZN) 17.8%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.6%, Astrazeneca (AZN) 23.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Merck (MRK) returned the most: Merck (MRK) +69.0%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -8.2%, Astrazeneca (AZN) +6.1%. Over five years, Merck (MRK) compounded fastest (Merck (MRK) +10.7%/yr, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -2.9%/yr, Astrazeneca (AZN) +6.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Astrazeneca (AZN) has been the steadiest (Merck (MRK) 29.8%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 32.1%, Astrazeneca (AZN) 27.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.