Merck & Co., Inc. · MRK · FY2024 Q4 · Calendar Q1 2025

Merck growth holds, but China vaccines and KEYTRUDA risks remain

The supplied analysis supports a constructive but qualified view: Merck's growth is being supported by KEYTRUDA, Animal Health and newer products such as WINREVAIR, while China vaccine weakness, KEYTRUDA exclusivity and pipeline execution create material offsets.

Reported Before market openNYSEHealthcare $360.12B market cap
80quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS — Consensus $1.85
EPS surprise — Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue — Consensus $15.55B
Revenue surprise — Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move -9.1% Event window
SPY move +0.7% Same window
Abnormal move -9.7% Stock minus SPY
Volume 4.5× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +2.7% Up to 20 sessions
MRKSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

The current analysis highlights a temporary pause in GARDASIL shipments to China, FDA acceptance of the clesrovimab filing, and licensing of oral GLP-1 and PD-1/VEGF assets. It also continues to emphasize WINREVAIR growth and the late-stage pipeline.

Guidance delta

Management analysis says 2025 guidance was maintained; no numerical guidance change is supplied.

Key takeaways

  • 2024 revenue grew 7% to $15.6 billion, led by KEYTRUDA and Animal Health.
  • Management highlighted WINREVAIR momentum, CAPVAXIVE rollout and a pipeline of more than 20 late-stage programs.
  • GARDASIL shipments to China were temporarily paused to help reduce elevated partner inventory.

Management priorities

  • Advance oncology, cardiometabolic, infectious-disease and vaccine pipeline programs.
  • Expand WINREVAIR and launch CAPVAXIVE commercially.
  • Pursue disciplined business development and potential acquisitions.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
MRK REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 3 future estimate-only quarters. Q1 '24 estimate $15B Q1 '24 actual $16B, beat Q2 '24 estimate $16B Q2 '24 actual $16B, beat Q3 '24 estimate $16B Q3 '24 actual $17B, beat Q2 '25 estimate $16B Q2 '25 actual $16B, miss Q3 '25 estimate $17B Q3 '25 actual $17B, beat Q4 '25 estimate $16B Q4 '25 actual $16B, beat Q1 '26 estimate $16B Q1 '26 actual $16B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $16B Q2 '26 actual $17B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $17B Q4 '26 estimate $17B Q1 '27 estimate $17B
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy38 ratings
Bullish2668.4%
Neutral1129.0%
Bearish12.6%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$143.63Current
$80Low
$137.25Average
$180High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 20, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
RBC Capital Sector Perform Sector PerformMaintainOct 12, 2026
Citigroup Neutral NeutralMaintainOct 12, 2026
Cantor Fitzgerald Neutral NeutralMaintainOct 8, 2026
Morgan Stanley Overweight OverweightMaintainOct 7, 2026
JP Morgan Overweight OverweightMaintainOct 5, 2026
Show 33 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $143.63. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
RBC CapitalTrung Huynh$145$145.6 +1.0%Oct 12, 2026
Cantor FitzgeraldCarter Gould$145$142.79 +1.0%Oct 8, 2026
ScotiabankAnalyst unavailable$180$147.15 +25.3%Sep 29, 2026
Berenberg BankLuisa Hector$137$144.71 -4.6%Sep 11, 2026
HSBCAnalyst unavailable$172$147.6 +19.8%Sep 10, 2026
See 87 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Merck & Co., Inc. is a global healthcare leader with operations spanning two core divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment is dedicated to human health, offering a broad spectrum of medicinal products. These cover crucial therapeutic areas such as oncology, acute hospital care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular conditions, and diabetes. This division also develops vital preventive vaccines for pediatric, adolescent, and adult populations. Meanwhile, the Animal Health segment focuses on the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of veterinary medications, vaccines, and comprehensive health management solutions for animals. This division further provides innovative digital products designed for animal identification, traceability, and continuous monitoring.…

Historical context

All MRK earnings

Latest beats and misses

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2025-01-21T00:01:13.267231+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-19T23:50:41.434147+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-19T23:50:41.431162+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-10-19. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.