Hello, Thanks for signing up for MarketBeat Daily Ratings—we’re excited to have you on board. Every weekday, you’ll get a curated summary of new “Buy” and “Sell” ratings from Wall Street’s top-rated analysts, the latest stock news, and bonus investing content—all delivered straight to your inbox. You’re just two quick steps away from completing your sign-up: 1. Make sure our emails go to your inbox Gmail users:
Mobile: Tap the three dots (…) in the top right and select Move to Inbox or Move to Primary
Desktop: Click the folder icon at the top and select Move to Inbox or Primary Apple Mail users:
Tap our email address at the top (next to From: on mobile), then select Add to VIP Other providers:
Reply to this message and add newsletters@analystratings.net to your contacts 2. Confirm your subscription Click this link to confirm your subscription. This verifies your account and ensures you receive your newsletters without interruption instead of getting stuck in your spam filter. Confirm your subscription here. After you confirm, feel free to download our popular free report, "7 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever" with this link. Thanks again for subscribing—we look forward to being part of your investing journey. 
Matthew Paulson
Founder and CEO, MarketBeat. P.S. If you didn’t mean to subscribe, no problem—you can unsubscribe here.
Just For You Merck Just Made a Big Bet on a New Cancer Growth Engine By Jessica Mitacek. Article Posted: 3/31/2026. 
Key Points - Merck is set to acquire Terns Pharmaceutical for $6.7 billion, adding its promising leukemia treatment to its growing hematology and cancer pipeline.
- This is Merck’s third multi-billion dollar deal in a year, a bolt-on strategy projected to drive a $70 billion commercial opportunity by the mid-2030s.
- With an average five-year gross margin of 73% and 14 consecutive years of dividend increases, Merck remains a top-tier performer with a Moderate Buy rating.
- Special Report: Elon Musk already made me a "wealthy man"
While the health care sector has struggled this year, that hasn't been true for all of Big Pharma. Shares of New Jersey-based Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) have outperformed the sector and the broader market, rising more than 12%. BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Fidelity are accumulating shares of one scarce resource - the fuel powering a new $382 trillion digital financial infrastructure. With $909 billion migrating onto these new digital rails every single day, demand is projected to climb 12,000% by April 2027. The Nasdaq has SEC approval to move stocks onto blockchain rails, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink dedicated his entire 2026 annual letter to this shift. Veteran tech investor Andy Howard has identified the single asset positioned to power the entire grid - and the free ticker is available now. See the scarce asset behind the $382 trillion money grid today The drugmaker's stock received a boost after news of its agreement to acquire Terns Pharmaceuticals—a move that will bolster Merck's cancer-treatment pipeline and reinforce its reputation as a top-tier serial acquirer. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been a major driver of Merck's steady growth and market-cap expansion. The company's market value is now more than $296 billion, trailing only Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), at roughly $830 billion and $370 billion, respectively. Merck's Terns Acquisition Is a Pivotal Oncology Play On March 25, Merck announced it had reached an agreement to buy Terns, a clinical-stage oncology company developing therapies including TERN-701, an oral allosteric BCR–ABL1 inhibitor for chronic myeloid leukemia. According to the press release, Merck will acquire Terns for $53 per share in cash, for an approximate equity value of $6.7 billion. Merck described TERN-701 as a "potential best-in-class candidate for the treatment of certain patients with chronic myeloid leukemia." The Terns deal is Merck's third multi–billion-dollar acquisition in the past year. Although still clinical-stage, TERN-701 has shown promising activity, with "encouraging rates of molecular response and deep molecular response," including in patients with high disease burden who have previously received multiple lines of therapy. M&A Activity Has Helped Support Merck's Earnings and Dividend Profile Merck's ability to close deals like Terns underscores its central role in the pharmaceutical industry and supports an impressive earnings track record. The company has missed analyst estimates only once in the past 19 quarters, dating back to Q2 2021. When Merck reported Q4 2025 financials on Feb. 3, it posted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.04 versus expectations of $2.01, and revenue of $16.40 billion versus expected $16.19 billion. With a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 16.45, Merck's EPS is forecast to grow nearly 10% over the next year, from $9.01 to $9.90. In his earnings call, CEO Rob Davis attributed the company's steady growth to new product launches, progress in key clinical programs, and added scale in respiratory and infectious-disease businesses from the Verona Pharma and Cidara Therapeutics acquisitions. "As a result of this progress, we now have line of sight to over $70 billion of potential commercial opportunity by the mid-2030s, $20 billion more than just a year ago and more than double consensus 2028 peak Keytruda revenue of $35 billion," Davis said. Beyond those headline revenue forecasts, the more important takeaway is how rapidly Merck has scaled through an acquisition strategy. The Verona Pharma and Cidara Therapeutics deals—valued at $10 billion and $9.2 billion, respectively—were followed by the $6.7 billion Terns agreement. Merck continues to pursue bolt-on acquisitions to diversify its oncology, immunology, and infectious-disease pipeline. Seamless integration of these biotech firms accelerates growth, expands market share, and reduces barriers as Merck enters new markets. As a result, the company has maintained a five-year average gross margin above 73%. Those high and expanding margins reflect strong pricing power and operational efficiency, enabling Merck to sustain and grow its dividend, which yields 2.84% (about $3.40 per share annually). While dividends are common among mature health-care companies—especially large pharmaceutical and established managed-care firms—Merck stands out. The company has raised its payout for 14 consecutive years and posts a five-year dividend growth rate of 5.75%. How Wall Street Feels About Merck Based on 18 analysts covering the stock, Merck carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating, with 11 analysts assigning a Buy. The average one-year price target of $127.13 implies more than 7% upside. Institutional ownership remains above average at over 76%, with inflows near $37 billion outpacing outflows of about $19 billion over the past 12 months. Current short interest is modest at 1.18% of the float—roughly 29 million of 2.47 billion shares outstanding—suggesting limited bearish pressure. Merck has remained in TradeSmith's "green zone" for more than six months, and the company scores higher than 93% of firms evaluated by MarketBeat, ranking 39th out of 858 medical-sector stocks. | 
