Merck & Co. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Merck & Co. had return on equity of 36.9%, a net margin of 28.1%, debt equal to 93.8% of equity and a current ratio of 1.54. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Merck & Co.: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2007Dec 2007	2008Dec 2008	2009Dec 2009	2010Dec 2010	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMJun 2026
Gross margin	—	—	—	—	64.8%	67.8%	68.1%	69.3%	67.2%	72.0%	70.6%	73.2%	76.3%	74.8%	73.0%
Net margin	13.5%	32.7%	47.0%	1.9%	9.8%	6.0%	14.7%	25.2%	17.0%	26.8%	24.5%	0.6%	26.7%	28.1%	4.8%
Free-cash-flow margin	24.7%	22.1%	7.0%	19.9%	22.0%	11.4%	19.6%	25.7%	14.0%	17.8%	24.8%	15.2%	28.2%	19.0%	24.1%
Return on equity	15.9%	39.7%	33.2%	1.5%	8.3%	6.4%	20.4%	37.4%	27.6%	41.1%	34.5%	0.9%	40.8%	36.9%	6.7%
Return on assets	—	16.5%	16.2%	0.8%	3.9%	2.6%	7.3%	11.8%	8.0%	13.2%	13.5%	0.3%	15.3%	14.4%	2.4%
Asset turnover	—	0.51	0.34	0.42	0.40	0.44	0.50	0.47	0.47	0.49	0.55	0.56	0.57	0.51	0.50
Current ratio	—	1.33	1.82	1.86	1.78	1.33	1.17	1.24	1.02	1.27	1.47	1.25	1.36	1.54	1.32
Debt to equity	0.0%	33.3%	29.6%	32.9%	62.0%	71.1%	94.1%	101.7%	125.6%	86.7%	66.8%	93.4%	80.1%	93.8%	128.6%
Effective tax rate	—	—	14.8%	40.6%	15.4%	62.9%	28.8%	21.8%	22.9%	11.0%	11.7%	80.0%	14.1%	13.3%	46.7%
R&D as % of revenue	20.2%	20.1%	21.3%	24.2%	25.8%	25.8%	23.1%	24.9%	32.3%	25.1%	22.9%	50.8%	28.0%	24.3%	45.7%
SG&A as % of revenue	31.2%	30.9%	31.1%	28.5%	25.2%	25.1%	23.9%	24.2%	21.6%	19.8%	16.9%	17.5%	16.9%	16.5%	16.7%
Capital spending as % of revenue	4.2%	5.4%	5.3%	3.6%	4.1%	4.7%	6.2%	8.6%	10.7%	9.1%	7.4%	6.4%	5.3%	6.3%	5.9%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	182.8%	67.5%	15.0%	>999%	223.5%	190.6%	133.6%	102.3%	82.4%	66.5%	101.3%	>999%	105.7%	67.7%	506.2%
Dividends ÷ net income	101.0%	42.0%	24.9%	549.8%	130.7%	215.8%	83.2%	57.9%	87.9%	50.7%	48.3%	>999%	45.8%	44.8%	261.5%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	79.1%	113.8%	166.5%	69.2%	97.7%	201.2%	171.7%	104.0%	128.7%	85.9%	47.7%	96.2%	50.5%	107.3%	77.8%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Merck & Co.: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q3Sept 2024	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Mar 2026	2026 Q2Jun 2026
Gross margin	75.5%	75.5%	78.0%	77.5%	77.7%	66.2%	74.2%	73.5%
Net margin	19.0%	24.0%	32.7%	28.0%	33.5%	18.1%	−26.0%	−8.0%
Free-cash-flow margin	51.1%	16.1%	7.5%	16.0%	39.6%	11.1%	18.0%	27.0%
Current ratio	1.36	1.36	1.41	1.42	1.66	1.54	1.30	1.32
Debt to equity	85.7%	80.1%	72.1%	72.3%	79.8%	93.8%	107.1%	128.6%
R&D as % of revenue	35.2%	29.3%	23.3%	25.6%	24.5%	23.7%	77.3%	58.7%
SG&A as % of revenue	16.4%	18.3%	16.4%	16.8%	15.2%	17.7%	16.6%	17.5%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 5 checks passed · June 30, 2026

What it owns · $129.8bn

Short-term assets $36.7bnLonger-term assets $93.1bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $69.7bn

Short-term liabilities $27.7bnShareholders' equity $41.9bn

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $36.7bn of assets due within a year against $27.7bn of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
More cash than debt $6.8bn of cash against $53.9bn of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 129% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 80% to 129% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $20.0bn of operating cash flow against $53.9bn of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Merck & Co.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

79 /100

Strong moat

How hard Merck &'s competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 20 / 20

Cash operating profit has been a median 26.1% of total assets over 9 years.
Pricing power 19 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 70.4%, moving by 3.1 percentage points (standard deviation) across 9 years.
Durability 8 / 20

Net margin has been a median 19.5%; its worst year was 3.3%.
Cash conversion 20 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 19.8% of revenue.
Discipline 17 / 20

The diluted share count fell 2.3% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.1% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (84 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: MRK vs PFE AZN vs MRK LLY vs MRK

More: Pharmaceuticals stocks compared, Health Care sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Merck & Co.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Merck & Co.