Published: November 29, 2025
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) heads into the last month of 2025 riding a powerful wave of oncology wins, big‑ticket acquisitions and fresh analyst upgrades that have pushed the stock to new 52‑week highs.
As of the close on Friday, November 28, Merck shares finished at $104.83, just off a record intraday high of $105.84 set earlier in the week. [1] The stock is up roughly 21% over the past month and about 7–8% year‑to‑date, according to recent performance data and independent valuation analysis. [2]
Today’s update pulls together the most important Merck stock news as of November 29, 2025, with a focus on what actually matters for current and prospective MRK shareholders.
Merck stock today: price, momentum and valuation
- Last close (Nov 28, 2025): $104.83
- 52‑week high: $105.84 (set November 25, 2025) [3]
- Market cap: about $260 billion
- 1‑month move: ~20–21% gain
- Year‑to‑date total return: roughly 8% [4]
A key technical milestone came on November 25, when MarketBeat reported that Merck “set a new 52‑week high” after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to overweight and lifted its price target to $125 from $90. The upgrade helped drive a 5.24% one‑day gain, with MRK closing at $105.66. [5]
Fundamentally, Merck still trades at a discount to peers despite the rally. Simply Wall St estimates a P/E around 13.6× versus roughly 20× for the wider pharma group, and even their conservative discounted‑cash‑flow model suggests the shares trade at more than a 50% discount to intrinsic value. [6]
That mix of defensive earnings, new growth drivers and still‑modest multiples is a big part of why Wall Street is paying attention again.
Fresh news for November 29, 2025: institutional moves and ongoing mini‑tender story
There are no new earnings or regulatory bombshells on this Saturday, but a few filings and follow‑ups are hitting the tape:
- Scotia Capital Inc. trims its Merck stake. A new 13F‑linked note from MarketBeat on November 29 reports that Scotia Capital has reduced its MRK holdings, while reiterating that analysts still expect full‑year 2025 EPS of about $9.01, in line with company guidance. [7]
- Level Four Advisory Services also lightens up. Another MarketBeat item today highlights that Level Four Advisory Services LLC has modestly decreased its position in Merck. [8]
These kinds of incremental position changes are routine and don’t materially alter the investment case, but they are snapshots of how some professional money managers are repositioning after the recent run‑up.
More structurally important is an unsolicited mini‑tender offer that Merck continues to warn shareholders about:
- Tutanota LLC mini‑tender at a steep discount. Earlier this month, Tutanota launched an offer to buy up to 1 million Merck shares at $65, a price more than 25–30% below where the stock has recently traded. [9]
- Merck urges investors to reject and withdraw. In a follow‑up article on November 22, GuruFocus reported that Merck is formally advising shareholders not to tender their shares, stressing that the offer skirts normal tender‑offer protections because it targets less than 5% of outstanding stock. Shareholders who already tendered are urged to withdraw by December 15. [10]
For retail investors, the message is simple: this is not a special premium deal. It is an opportunistic bid at a deep discount to the market price.
Key growth driver #1: Keytruda and its new subcutaneous forms
If MRK has a gravitational center, it’s Keytruda, one of the world’s top‑selling cancer drugs. Much of the current rally comes from making Keytruda easier to give and expanding where it can be used.
FDA approval of subcutaneous Keytruda (Keytruda Qlex) in the U.S.
On September 19, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new under‑the‑skin formulation of Keytruda, branded Keytruda Qlex, that can be injected in as little as one to two minutes instead of a 30‑minute IV infusion. [11]
Key points from Reuters and BioSpace:
- Qlex is approved for most of the solid tumor indications already covered by IV Keytruda, spanning dozens of cancer types. [12]
- Merck expects the SC formulation to reach 30–40% adoption of the Keytruda patient base over the next couple of years. [13]
- The company is explicitly positioning Qlex as part of its strategy to defend Keytruda’s franchise ahead of 2028 patent expirations. [14]
Beyond convenience, a widely adopted subcutaneous form can blunt the impact of future biosimilar competition if those rivals can’t easily match the delivery format and supporting data.
European Commission approval of “Keytruda SC” for all adult indications
Just days later, on November 19, 2025, the European Commission approved Keytruda SC, the EU branding of the same pembrolizumab/berahyaluronidase alfa formulation, for all 33 adult Keytruda indications across Europe. [15]
Data from the pivotal phase 3 3475A‑D77 trial showed:
- Non‑inferior drug exposure versus standard IV Keytruda
- Similar response rates (~45% vs ~42%) and no meaningful differences in progression‑free or overall survival in first‑line metastatic lung cancer
- Administration time of about 1 minute every three weeks or 2 minutes every six weeks [16]
Europe now has the first subcutaneous immune checkpoint inhibitor covering a broad pan‑tumor label, and Merck has a global playbook for shifting patients to more convenient injections.
New perioperative approval in bladder cancer
On November 21, 2025, Merck announced that the FDA approved Keytruda and Keytruda Qlex, each in combination with Padcev (enfortumab vedotin), as a perioperative regimen for cisplatin‑ineligible muscle‑invasive bladder cancer. [17]
In the phase 3 KEYNOTE‑905 / EV‑303 trial, the Keytruda + Padcev combo:
- Cut the risk of event‑free survival events by 60% vs surgery alone
- Improved overall survival with a 50% reduction in the risk of death
- Raised pathologic complete response rates to 57% vs 9% for surgery alone [18]
Clinically, this is a practice‑changing result in a setting with few options. Commercially, it cements Keytruda’s role deeper into earlier‑stage disease, which tends to extend treatment duration and revenue.
Key growth driver #2: $9.2 billion Cidara deal and the flu franchise of the future
To offset the looming Keytruda patent cliff in 2028, Merck is buying growth aggressively.
The biggest move this month:
- On November 14, Merck announced a deal to acquire Cidara Therapeutics for $9.2 billion in cash, or $221.50 per share, more than double Cidara’s prior close. [19]
The attraction is CD388, a long‑acting antiviral designed to provide season‑long protection against influenza A and B in a single dose, particularly for older adults and people who don’t respond well to vaccines. [20]
Merck’s own and third‑party commentary suggest:
- The company sees a commercial opportunity above $5 billion annually for CD388. [21]
- Analysts cited by MarketWatch estimate the drug could generate up to $3.1 billion in annual sales by 2040 in the U.S. alone. [22]
- The target population could exceed 100 million people in the U.S., including high‑risk seniors and immunocompromised patients. [23]
The acquisition will temporarily knock about $0.30 off Merck’s EPS in the first year due to development and financing costs, but management clearly views CD388 as a post‑Keytruda growth pillar. [24]
Cidara follows another big respiratory deal this year: a roughly $10 billion purchase of Verona Pharma to obtain Ohtuvayre, a newly approved drug for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). [25]
Together, these moves show Merck deliberately building a second act in respiratory and antiviral medicine.
Q3 2025 earnings: big profit jump, dividend hike and solid guidance
Merck’s fundamental backdrop is one of steady growth with improving profitability.
In Q3 2025, Merck:
- Reported net income of $5.78 billion, up from $3.16 billion a year earlier — an 83% profit jump. [26]
- Delivered adjusted EPS of $2.58, handily beating consensus expectations around $2.35. [27]
- Generated revenue of $17.28 billion, up about 4% year‑over‑year and ahead of forecasts. [28]
- Saw Keytruda sales climb to roughly $8.1 billion, an 8–10% increase versus Q3 2024. [29]
Management reaffirmed full‑year 2025 guidance of:
- Worldwide sales:$64.5–65.0 billion
- Adjusted EPS:$8.93–8.98 [30]
On top of that, Merck hiked its dividend:
- MarketBeat notes a new quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share, up from $0.81, implying an annualized $3.40 per share and a yield of about 3.2% at recent prices. [31]
The company is also targeting $3 billion in annual cost savings by 2027, a figure highlighted by Wells Fargo’s analyst as part of Merck’s playbook for managing the Keytruda patent transition. [32]
Other pipeline and product catalysts
Beyond Keytruda and Cidara, several other developments are shaping the MRK story:
- Sotatercept / Winrevair in pulmonary hypertension. Investor’s Business Daily recently reported a “surprise win” for Merck’s drug sotatercept (marketed as Winrevair) in pulmonary hypertension, which helped push the stock higher. [33] This builds on Merck’s earlier Acceleron acquisition and strengthens its cardiovascular and rare‑disease credentials.
- ESMO 2025 oncology showcase. At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in October, STAT reported that Merck wowed oncologists with new bladder‑cancer data featuring Keytruda and positive results from a next‑generation antibody‑drug conjugate (ADC) in lung cancer. [34] ADCs are a major area of oncology innovation, and Merck clearly aims to be a serious player.
Analyst ratings, price targets and forecasts
Sell‑side sentiment on Merck has improved meaningfully in recent weeks:
- Wells Fargo: Upgraded MRK from Hold to Buy (overweight), boosting the price target from $90 to $125. The analyst highlighted Merck’s “catalyst‑rich” 12–18‑month period and argued that the pipeline can more than compensate for Keytruda’s loss of exclusivity. [35]
- Bank of America: Reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $105, noting Merck among its “best medium‑term ideas.” [36]
- Morgan Stanley: Maintains Equal Weight with a $100 target, acknowledging strong execution but taking a more cautious stance on long‑term growth assumptions. [37]
Across Wall Street, data compiled by StockAnalysis show:
- 14 analysts currently cover MRK
- Consensus rating:Buy
- Average 12‑month price target:$108.21 (range: $85–$125), implying a modest ~3% upside from the latest close after the big November rally. [38]
On the fundamentals, analysts collectively model:
- 2025 revenue:$65.3 billion, up about 1.8% vs 2024
- 2026 revenue:$68.7 billion, another ~5.1% growth
- EPS rising from 6.74 (2024) to 9.03 (2025) and 9.52 (2026), reflecting operating leverage, cost cuts and ongoing mix shift toward oncology and specialty drugs. [39]
In short: consensus expects low‑single‑digit top‑line growth and mid‑single‑digit EPS growth past the 2025 step‑up, with plenty of debate around how much the pipeline plus M&A can accelerate that trajectory.
Valuation and risk: Keytruda’s patent cliff still matters
Even bullish analysts are clear that Merck is not a risk‑free bond substitute.
Key risks repeatedly flagged in earnings transcripts and independent coverage include: [40]
- Keytruda patent expiry around 2028. A substantial share of Merck’s profits still comes from this single drug. Biosimilar competition later in the decade is all but certain.
- Gardasil volatility, especially in China. HPV vaccine sales have already shown they can swing sharply based on local conditions and policy, and analysts expect further pressure in that franchise.
- Execution risk on Cidara and Verona. Paying nearly $19 billion combined for late‑stage respiratory assets only pays off if those drugs win broad adoption, reimbursement and sustained clinical relevance.
- Regulatory and pricing pressure. From U.S. drug‑pricing reforms to European cost‑containment, Merck is heavily exposed to political as well as scientific risk.
That said, Merck has nearly tripled its late‑stage pipeline since 2021 and is layering on multi‑billion‑dollar growth bets outside oncology. [41] The combination of new Keytruda formulations, earlier‑stage cancer indications, and non‑oncology assets like CD388 and Ohtuvayre is exactly the kind of diversified response investors wanted to see.
What the November 29 snapshot means for MRK shareholders
As of today, the investment narrative around Merck stock looks something like this:
- Momentum: MRK has broken out to new highs after a month‑long surge driven by Keytruda news, Cidara, and a cluster of analyst upgrades.
- Fundamentals: Q3 confirmed that Merck can still grow revenue and profits even as some legacy vaccines wobble, while also returning more cash via a higher dividend. [42]
- Strategy: Management is actively re‑wiring the portfolio for the post‑Keytruda era, not just hoping the patent cliff will be gentle.
- Valuation: Despite the rally, many fundamental screens still flag MRK as undervalued versus peers, though the easy value case is less obvious than it was a month ago. [43]
For investors, the key questions from here are how durable Keytruda’s dominance will be, and how many of Merck’s newer bets (CD388, ADCs, pulmonary hypertension, COPD and beyond) can scale into true blockbusters.
Whatever your view, the story as of November 29, 2025 is clear: Merck is no longer trading like a sleepy dividend‑only pharma giant. It’s being priced — cautiously — as a company trying to engineer a second growth wave before its first one crests.
References
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