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NVS vs MRK

Comparison between Novartis AG (NVS, Company) and Merck & Co Inc (MRK, Company).

Both NVS and MRK are from the Healthcare sector.

5-Year PerformanceNVS has outperformed MRK, delivering a return of +14.9% compared to +11.7%

NVS vs MRK - Performance Comparison

Key Characteristics

Financial metrics and valuation ratios

Market Cap
Winner
NVS
$284B
MRK
$281B
Max Drawdown
Winner
NVS
44.55%
MRK
77.88%
Sharpe Ratio
Winner
NVS
1.38
MRK
1.38
5Y Beta
Winner
NVS
0.27
MRK
0.33
Industry
NVS
Drug Manufacturers - General
MRK
Drug Manufacturers - General
P/E Ratio
Winner
NVS
21.25
MRK
25.92
Forward P/E
Winner
NVS
16.58
MRK
22.42
PEG Ratio
Winner
NVS
2.28
MRK
3.46
Dividend Yield
Winner
NVS
3.25%
MRK
2.92%
5Y Dividends CAGR
Winner
NVS
21.01%
MRK
11.42%
5Y EPS CAGR
Winner
NVS
14.96%
MRK
4.39%
Debt to Equity
NVS
122.03%
Winner
MRK
107.06%
Free Cash Flow Yield
Winner
NVS
5.75%
MRK
5.03%
P/S Ratio
NVS
5.00
Winner
MRK
4.26
P/B Ratio
NVS
7.17
Winner
MRK
5.31

NVS vs MRK - Historical Returns

Returns include dividend reinvestment.

1M
Winner
NVS
-5.43%
MRK
-9.58%
3M
Winner
NVS
-4.17%
MRK
-4.63%
6M
NVS
+19.12%
Winner
MRK
+31.14%
1Y
NVS
+36.66%
Winner
MRK
+48.65%
5Y(CAGR)
Winner
NVS
+14.87%
MRK
+11.73%
10Y(CAGR)
NVS
+10.94%
Winner
MRK
+11.37%
Max(CAGR)
Winner
NVS
+8.73%
MRK
+5.15%

NVS vs MRK - Annual Returns (1999 - 2026)

Returns include dividend reinvestment.

YearNVSMRK
2026+8.64%+5.40%
2025+47.15%+10.13%
2024-0.05%-9.75%
2023+14.25%+0.82%
2022+7.57%+48.94%
2021-3.56%+2.80%
2020+3.07%-8.31%
2019+16.26%+23.59%
2018+5.03%+40.12%
2017+19.42%-3.57%
2016-11.84%+15.80%
2015-4.25%-4.54%
2014+21.64%+18.27%
2013+30.51%+25.58%
2012+13.71%+11.35%
2011+0.66%+9.54%
2010+16.07%+1.56%
2009+14.72%+24.28%
2008-6.02%-44.64%
2007-4.79%+36.05%
2006+9.20%+38.56%
2005+6.25%+6.97%
2004+12.02%-29.07%
2003+26.10%-13.85%
2002+3.81%-2.84%
2001-17.60%-35.51%
2000+27.78%+40.86%
1999-0.50%-15.23%

NVS vs MRK Drawdown Comparison

The maximum drawdown for NVS was -41.93%, occurring on Mar 3, 2009. Recovery took 536 trading sessions.

The maximum drawdown for MRK was -68.70%, occurring on Mar 9, 2009. Recovery took 3297 trading sessions.

The current NVS drawdown is -10.74%. The current MRK drawdown is -11.16%.

RankNVSMRK
#1-41.93%
Aug 4, 2008 - Sep 20, 2010
-68.70%
Dec 28, 2000 - Feb 10, 2014
#2-33.89%
Jul 20, 2015 - Mar 15, 2019
-43.45%
Jun 24, 2024 - May 14, 2025
#3-26.03%
Feb 12, 2020 - Jan 15, 2021
-32.31%
Nov 5, 1999 - Oct 20, 2000
#4-25.86%
Jan 3, 2001 - Dec 3, 2003
-27.28%
Jan 2, 2020 - Oct 4, 2021
#5-25.15%
Dec 3, 1999 - Jun 30, 2000
-21.30%
Jan 16, 2015 - Aug 5, 2016
#6-21.57%
Mar 29, 2019 - Feb 5, 2020
-20.17%
Nov 4, 2021 - May 11, 2022
#7-20.65%
Nov 7, 2006 - Jul 22, 2008
-18.23%
Sep 15, 2017 - Jul 30, 2018
#8-20.42%
Apr 11, 2022 - Mar 27, 2023
-14.23%
May 8, 2023 - Jan 4, 2024
#9-19.95%
Aug 30, 2024 - Jun 2, 2025
-12.14%
Apr 1, 2019 - Jun 12, 2019
#10-19.95%
May 31, 2011 - Oct 1, 2012
-12.03%
Sep 5, 2014 - Dec 2, 2014
#11-16.23%
Aug 17, 2021 - Apr 7, 2022
-10.36%
Jan 6, 2023 - Apr 13, 2023
#12-12.76%
Jan 25, 2021 - Aug 17, 2021
-10.28%
Jul 15, 2022 - Oct 18, 2022
#13-12.63%
Feb 27, 2026 - Apr 29, 2026
-10.19%
May 24, 2022 - Jun 27, 2022
#14-12.23%
Jul 20, 2023 - Jan 4, 2024
-9.68%
Nov 30, 2018 - Feb 13, 2019
#15-11.81%
Feb 11, 2004 - Sep 1, 2004
-8.69%
Nov 10, 2016 - Feb 6, 2017

Correlation

Correlation between NVS and MRK is 0.91 which considered as a very strong positive correlation - the stocks move almost identically together.

0.91
-101

Dividend Comparison (1999 - 2026)

NVS vs MRK dividend yield comparison.

YearNVSMRK
20263.27%0.76%
20252.90%3.12%
20243.84%3.14%
20233.44%2.72%
20223.70%2.52%
20213.86%3.41%
20203.22%3.03%
20193.03%2.48%
20183.47%2.60%
20173.24%3.36%
20163.73%3.14%
20153.10%3.43%
20142.98%3.12%
20133.02%3.46%
20123.92%4.13%
20114.13%4.14%
20103.31%4.22%
20093.15%4.16%
20083.09%5.00%
20072.02%2.62%
20061.53%3.49%
20051.68%4.78%
20041.55%4.67%
20031.54%9.39%
20021.24%2.51%
20011.15%2.35%
20003.33%1.35%
19990.00%0.43%

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