New York, February 9, 2026, 14:27 (EST) — Regular session
- Merck shares took a steep hit, with the rest of the market staying resilient.
- Big drugmakers and health care stocks lagged, and the move follows that softer tape.
- Patent risk won’t go away, and the 2026 earnings outlook keeps investors on edge.
Merck & Co slipped 3.9% to $117.16 by the afternoon, trailing a market that managed slight gains. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged up, but health care stocks struggled.
Merck, typically a heavyweight in the Dow, put pressure on the index earlier, dragging it lower as shares slipped. Amgen wasn’t far behind—its losses also added to the Dow’s slide, according to MarketWatch data. 1
This wasn’t isolated to Merck—Amgen dropped roughly 2.2%. Pfizer and AbbVie, too, each lost almost 1% during that stretch.
Merck shares slumped a week after the drugmaker set a 2026 sales target in the range of $65.5 billion to $67.0 billion, with non-GAAP EPS guidance between $5.00 and $5.15, according to its latest earnings report. The company’s fourth-quarter sales ticked up 5% year-over-year to $16.4 billion. Keytruda and Keytruda QLEX delivered a 7% jump to $8.37 billion, while Gardasil and Gardasil 9 tumbled 34% to $1.03 billion—Merck cited weaker Chinese demand for the vaccine drop. Also in the release: a U.S. FDA filing update for WINREVAIR, with a September 21, 2026 decision date flagged as the agency’s target for action on the label update. 2
Merck has told investors it’s bracing for a $2.5 billion hit in 2026, Reuters reported, citing generic rivals, Medicare negotiations, and slumping sales of its COVID-19 treatment Lagevrio. CEO Rob Davis pointed to a “disconnect” with analyst forecasts, saying expiring patents on older drugs were the main factor. BMO Capital’s Evan Seigerman said the results gave a “reasonable foundation,” but flagged that Merck’s revenue outlook might cool expectations. 3
Merck is eyeing respiratory prevention as a growth area. On this day, its Canadian division announced that Health Canada cleared ENFLONSIA (clesrovimab), a lab-developed monoclonal antibody, for the prevention of RSV lower respiratory tract disease in infants and newborns. 4
Right now, traders seem to care less about a single product victory and more about how today’s blockbusters transition to whatever comes next. Merck shares had rallied ahead of earnings, but Monday’s decline suggests some investors just pared back positions.
But the downside isn’t hard to spot. If old brands lose steam faster than hoped, or new products take longer to catch on—and pricing gets any uglier—Merck could end up leaning more on Keytruda, with that patent deadline still looming.
This week, attention turns to two big U.S. data points: the February 11 jobs numbers and the February 13 CPI, both listed on the BLS calendar. Whether the readings move the needle for rate bets could shake up trades in defensive names. Merck, for its part, has its next earnings call set for April 30. 5
