MRK vs NVS vs OGN Stock Comparison

Merck, Novartis Ag and Organon Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MRK Merck & Co., Inc.
$141.84 -4.7% 1M +61.2% 1Y
Market cap
$347.53B
P/E
109.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$66.57B
Div. yield
0.02%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
5 wins
NVS Novartis Ag
$156.80 +7.8% 1M +21.4% 1Y
Market cap
$302.48B
P/E
17.9x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
2 wins
OGN Organon & Co.
$13.74 +0.1% 1M +94.6% 1Y
Market cap
$3.61B
P/E
17.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.13B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Merck leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Merck 5, Organon 4, Novartis Ag 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMRKNVSOGNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $347.53B $302.48B $3.61B MRK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 109.5x 17.9x 17.3x OGN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 57.2x 16.9x 3.9x OGN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.6% — -2.5% MRK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.8% — 3.4% MRK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% — 5.0% OGN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.6x — 5.0x MRK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +61.2% +21.4% +94.6% OGN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.4%/yr +13.5%/yr -17.8%/yr NVS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.6% 27.9% 56.8% NVS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 — 55/100 MRK

Percentile Scorecard

MRKNVSOGN

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

AxisMRKNVSOGN
Valuation 80 #124 of 625 97 #20 of 625 99 #9 of 625
Growth 36 #384 of 602 – 23 #462 of 602
Profitability 91 #53 of 551 – 88 #68 of 551
Financial Health 20 #526 of 656 – 17 #547 of 656
Shareholder Returns 82 #68 of 365 81 #69 of 365 50 #182 of 365
Overall 62 – 55
  • MRK ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • NVS ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • OGN ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMRKNVSOGNSPY
1 month -4.7%+7.8%+0.1% -0.2%
3 months +7.6%-1.9%+1.6% +3.9%
6 months +28.9%+7.8%+3.2% +8.2%
Year to date +34.8%+13.7%+91.6% +12.9%
1 year +61.2%+21.4%+94.6% +12.3%
3 years +37.9%+69.9%-8.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year +11.3%+19.3%-2.8% +23.3%
5 years +63.9%+88.2%-62.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year +10.4%+13.5%-17.8% +10.9%
10 years +131.4%+119.0%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +8.8%+8.2%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMRKNVSOGNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.6%27.9%56.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.6%30.7%39.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.120.340.76 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.070.771.67 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.7%-20.4%-85.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.3%-7.0%-0.5% -1.2%
52-week high $156.45$168.62$13.81 $779.14
52-week low $82.49$121.80$5.70 $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.

MultipleMRKNVSOGN
P/E now vs peer median 110.4xmedian 17.2x 17.9xmedian 17.2x 17.3xmedian 17.2x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 9.0x 5.1xmedian 9.0x 0.6xmedian 9.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 30.3xmedian 16.3x —median 16.3x 7.5xmedian 16.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.8xmedian 18.7x 14.3xmedian 18.7x 6.4xmedian 18.7x
P/B now vs peer median 8.3xmedian 2.2x —median 2.2x 3.6xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 69.50median 0.33 —median 0.33 -0.48median 0.33

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 monthsMRKNVSOGN
Revenue $66.57B – $6.13B
Gross profit $48.57B – $3.23B
Operating income $6.38B – $1.13B
Net income $3.17B – $209.00M
Free cash flow $16.06B – $567.00M
R&D $30.45B – $358.00M
EPS (diluted) $1.28 – $0.77
Cash & equivalents $6.85B $400.00M $1.13B
Total debt $53.91B – $8.55B
Shares (diluted) 2.47B 1.96B 270.45M
Enterprise value $301.91B $275.72B $118.21M

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
MetricMRKNVSOGN
P/E 110.4x 17.9x 17.3x
P/FCF 21.8x 14.3x 6.4x
P/Operating cash flow 17.5x – 4.9x
P/S 5.3x 5.1x 0.6x
P/B 8.3x – 3.6x
P/Tangible book 20.6x – -34.0x
EV/EBITDA 30.3x – 7.5x
EV/EBIT 62.2x – 9.8x
EV/Revenue 6.0x – 1.8x
EV/FCF 24.7x – 19.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.9x – 15.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 69.50 – -0.48

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMRKNVSOGN
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.6% – -2.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.5% – -0.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.3% – -8.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.5% – -5.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% – -9.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.9% – -8.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -80.7% – -70.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.5% – -34.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -80.3% – -71.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 1.6% – -36.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.7% – -10.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.8% – 0.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 9.1% – -13.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.0% – 5.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMRKNVSOGN
Gross margin 73.0% – 52.7%
EBITDA margin 19.7% – 24.2%
Operating margin 9.6% – 18.4%
Pretax margin 8.9% – 8.0%
Net margin 4.8% – 3.4%
FCF margin 24.1% – 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin 30.0% – 12.0%
Return on equity 7.2% – 21.9%
Return on assets 2.5% – 1.6%
Return on invested capital 3.6% – 5.0%
Return on capital employed 6.3% – 10.8%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 6.3x – 3.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% – 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMRKNVSOGN
Debt / assets 41.5% – 64.9%
Debt / equity 1.3x – 8.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.6x – 5.0x
Debt / FCF 3.4x – 15.1x
Liabilities / assets 67.7% – 92.4%
Equity / assets 32.3% – 7.6%
Interest coverage – – 2.4x
Current ratio 1.3x – 2.0x
Quick ratio 0.7x – 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.3x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 3.83 – 1.30

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMRKNVSOGN
Dividend yield 2.4% 3.0% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 1.1% – –
Shareholder yield 3.5% 3.0% 0.6%
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.

ConsensusMRKNVSOGN
Forward P/E 57.2xFY2026 16.9xFY2026 3.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.48FY2026 $9.26FY2026 $3.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -72.4%FY2026 +3.1%FY2026 -2.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +257.3% +1.2% 0.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $69.45BFY2026 $53.95BFY2026 $5.89BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.8%FY2026 -1.1%FY2026 -5.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.8% +19.1% +3.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMRKNVSOGN
Held by institutions 79.9% 7.0% 84.3%
Institutions holding 3,796 1,607 631
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% -5.9% +10.8%
Institutions buying 1,842 662 244
Institutions selling 1,464 560 186
Buyers to sellers 1.26 1.18 1.31

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.

MRKNVSOGN
MRK 1.00 0.46 0.01
NVS 0.46 1.00 0.03
OGN 0.01 0.03 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MRK, NVS and OGN?

Merck (MRK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Merck (MRK) $347.53B, Novartis Ag (NVS) $302.48B, Organon (OGN) $3.61B.

Which stock is cheaper, MRK, NVS and OGN?

Organon (OGN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Merck (MRK) 109.5x, Novartis Ag (NVS) 17.9x, Organon (OGN) 17.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Organon (OGN) is cheapest (Merck (MRK) 57.2x, Novartis Ag (NVS) 16.9x, Organon (OGN) 3.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Merck (MRK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Merck (MRK) +4.6%, Organon (OGN) -2.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Merck (MRK) has the highest net margin (Merck (MRK) 4.8%, Organon (OGN) 3.4%). On return on invested capital, Organon (OGN) leads (Merck (MRK) 3.6%, Organon (OGN) 5.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Organon (OGN) returned the most: Merck (MRK) +61.2%, Novartis Ag (NVS) +21.4%, Organon (OGN) +94.6%. Over five years, Novartis Ag (NVS) compounded fastest (Merck (MRK) +10.4%/yr, Novartis Ag (NVS) +13.5%/yr, Organon (OGN) -17.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Merck (MRK) 0.02%, Novartis Ag (NVS) 0.00%, Organon (OGN) 0.00%. Novartis Ag (NVS) and Organon (OGN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Novartis Ag (NVS) has been the steadiest (Merck (MRK) 29.6%, Novartis Ag (NVS) 27.9%, Organon (OGN) 56.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MRK, NVS and OGN?

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 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.