MRK vs TAK vs LLY Stock Comparison

Merck, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Eli Lilly Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MRK Merck & Co., Inc.
$146.90 +3.5% 1M +74.1% 1Y
Market cap
$361.81B
P/E
147.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$67.38B
Div. yield
0.02%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
1 win
LLY ELI LILLY & Co
$1,367.37 +18.1% 1M +47.7% 1Y
Market cap
$1.22T
P/E
44.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$86.46B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Eli Lilly leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Eli Lilly 8, Takeda Pharmaceutical 2, Merck 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMRKTAKLLYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $361.81B $66.12B $1.22T LLY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 147.5x 209.4x 44.1x LLY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 56.5x 40.8x 40.9x TAK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.9% -35.4% +45.5% LLY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.6% 1.1% 31.9% LLY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.9% 0.0% 38.2% LLY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 4.8x 1.0x LLY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +74.1% +56.0% +47.7% MRK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.5%/yr +8.3%/yr +38.9%/yr LLY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.0% 21.4% 35.2% TAK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 60/100 72/100 LLY

Percentile Scorecard

MRKTAKLLY

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

AxisMRKTAKLLY
Valuation 86 #90 of 634 95 #30 of 634 76 #151 of 634
Growth 29 #431 of 608 13 #530 of 608 96 #24 of 608
Profitability 90 #59 of 557 85 #82 of 557 98 #11 of 557
Financial Health 21 #519 of 654 33 #442 of 654 27 #477 of 654
Shareholder Returns 79 #87 of 403 72 #115 of 403 62 #155 of 403
Overall 61 60 72
  • MRK ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • TAK ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • LLY 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

PeriodMRKTAKLLYSPY
1 month +3.5%+17.1%+18.1% -5.9%
3 months +14.5%+24.5%+14.7% -4.6%
6 months +30.8%+27.4%+40.2% +0.2%
Year to date +39.6%+36.0%+27.2% +7.5%
1 year +74.1%+56.0%+47.7% +8.2%
3 years +40.8%+54.6%+129.7% +68.3%
3 years, per year +12.1%+15.6%+32.0% +19.0%
5 years +80.0%+48.8%+416.0% +56.5%
5 years, per year +12.5%+8.3%+38.9% +9.4%
10 years +149.7%-4.2%+1,786.3% +251.5%
10 years, per year +9.6%-0.4%+34.1% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureMRKTAKLLYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.0%21.4%35.2% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.4%19.1%30.2% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.180.030.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.472.621.36 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.7%-26.4%-34.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.1%0.0%-3.6% -5.9%
52-week high $156.45$21.20$1,417.72 $779.14
52-week low $84.39$13.59$851.21 $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.

MultipleMRKTAKLLY
P/E now vs peer median 147.8xmedian 17.8x 211.5xmedian 17.8x 44.2xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 8.1x 2.2xmedian 8.1x 14.9xmedian 8.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 31.7xmedian 15.7x 17.1xmedian 15.7x 29.5xmedian 15.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.6xmedian 21.0x 14.8xmedian 21.0x 65.4xmedian 21.0x
P/B now vs peer median 8.1xmedian 2.0x 1.4xmedian 2.0x 31.9xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median -8.11median 0.36 -3.64median 0.36 0.57median 0.36

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 monthsMRKTAKLLY
Revenue $67.38B $30.00B $86.46B
Gross profit $48.35B $19.76B $72.31B
Operating income $5.46B $1.13B $42.95B
Net income $2.45B $244.16M $27.58B
Free cash flow $14.75B $4.55B $19.66B
R&D $30.76B $4.51B $15.38B
EPS (diluted) $0.99 $0.10 $30.87
Cash & equivalents $9.55B $2.66B $4.89B
Total debt $53.78B $31.49B $49.50B
Shares (diluted) 2.48B 3.15B 893.40M
Enterprise value $324.75B $44.33B $1.19T

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
MetricMRKTAKLLY
P/E 147.8x 211.5x 44.2x
P/FCF 24.6x 14.8x 65.4x
P/Operating cash flow 19.4x 12.0x 42.0x
P/S 5.4x 2.2x 14.9x
P/B 8.1x 1.4x 31.9x
P/Tangible book 17.7x 2.5x 58.0x
EV/EBITDA 31.7x 17.1x 29.5x
EV/EBIT 74.4x 82.8x 31.0x
EV/Revenue 6.0x 3.1x 15.4x
EV/FCF 27.6x 20.6x 67.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.7x 16.7x 43.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -8.11 -3.64 0.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMRKTAKLLY
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.9% -35.4% 45.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.3% -13.1% 39.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -2.5% -36.3% 46.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.8% -13.3% 42.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -74.8% -76.7% 67.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -11.1% -43.6% 66.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -87.1% -6.2% 49.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -19.1% -44.1% 76.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -87.0% -86.9% 50.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -18.2% -58.1% 77.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.6% -30.2% 90.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.9% -6.9% 70.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 13.0% -31.3% 112.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.8% -8.4% 80.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMRKTAKLLY
Gross margin 71.8% 65.9% 83.6%
EBITDA margin 19.0% 18.2% 52.2%
Operating margin 8.1% 3.8% 49.7%
Pretax margin 7.1% 0.3% 40.2%
Net margin 3.6% 1.1% 31.9%
FCF margin 21.9% 15.2% 22.7%
Operating cash flow margin 27.8% 18.7% 35.4%
Return on equity 5.6% 0.7% 74.4%
Return on assets 1.9% 0.3% 19.0%
Return on invested capital 2.9% 0.0% 38.2%
Return on capital employed 5.3% 1.2% 43.7%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 7.6x 23.0x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 1.6% 1.6% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMRKTAKLLY
Debt / assets 40.5% 32.5% 33.4%
Debt / equity 1.2x 0.7x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x 4.8x 1.0x
Debt / FCF 3.6x 6.9x 2.5x
Liabilities / assets 66.1% 51.4% 72.8%
Equity / assets 33.9% 48.6% 27.2%
Interest coverage – 0.6x –
Current ratio 1.4x 3.1x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.8x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.9x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.91 1.40 9.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMRKTAKLLY
Dividend yield 2.3% 1.5% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 0.8% 1.0% 0.5%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 2.4% 0.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 341.6% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 56.7% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.2% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.4% – –

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.

ConsensusMRKTAKLLY
Forward P/E 56.5xFY2026 40.8xFY2026 40.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.60FY2026 $0.52FY2026 $33.41FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -71.0%FY2026 +36.8%FY2026 +38.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +231.2% +28.8% +45.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $69.61BFY2026 $28.46BFY2026 $87.27BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.1%FY2026 -0.1%FY2026 +33.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.5% +12.3% +18.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMRKTAKLLY
Held by institutions 79.9% 65.5% 83.7%
Institutions holding 3,803 380 4,635
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +6.2% +1.5%
Institutions buying 1,843 214 2,636
Institutions selling 1,469 98 1,472
Buyers to sellers 1.25 2.18 1.79

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.

MRKTAKLLY
MRK 1.00 0.42 0.44
TAK 0.42 1.00 0.40
LLY 0.44 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MRK, TAK and LLY?

Eli Lilly (LLY) is the largest by market capitalisation: Merck (MRK) $361.81B, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) $66.12B, Eli Lilly (LLY) $1.22T.

Which stock is cheaper, MRK, TAK and LLY?

Eli Lilly (LLY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Merck (MRK) 147.5x, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 209.4x, Eli Lilly (LLY) 44.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) is cheapest (Merck (MRK) 56.5x, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 40.8x, Eli Lilly (LLY) 40.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Eli Lilly (LLY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Merck (MRK) +4.9%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) -35.4%, Eli Lilly (LLY) +45.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Eli Lilly (LLY) has the highest net margin (Merck (MRK) 3.6%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 1.1%, Eli Lilly (LLY) 31.9%). On return on invested capital, Eli Lilly (LLY) leads (Merck (MRK) 2.9%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 0.0%, Eli Lilly (LLY) 38.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Merck (MRK) returned the most: Merck (MRK) +74.1%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) +56.0%, Eli Lilly (LLY) +47.7%. Over five years, Eli Lilly (LLY) compounded fastest (Merck (MRK) +12.5%/yr, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) +8.3%/yr, Eli Lilly (LLY) +38.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Merck (MRK) 0.02%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 0.00%, Eli Lilly (LLY) 0.00%. Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) and Eli Lilly (LLY) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) has been the steadiest (Merck (MRK) 30.0%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 21.4%, Eli Lilly (LLY) 35.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MRK, TAK and LLY?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Eli Lilly (LLY) leads on 8. 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.