Merck & Co.'s Stock Gains Momentum as Analysts Raise Price Targets
Merck & Co., Inc.'s (MRK) stock has gained analyst support after fresh updates and solid earnings figures, trading around USD 147 on the New York Stock Exchange as of September 10, 2026.
Analysts have raised their price targets for Merck & Co. with several houses reiterating positive views and lifting their targets in early September 2026. According to MarketBeat, Leerink Partners increased its price target to USD 161 while maintaining an Outperform rating, while HSBC raised its target from USD 150 to USD 172 and kept a Buy rating.
The company's recent quarterly figures provide the fundamental backdrop for the optimism. Merck & Co.'s Q2 2026 earnings posted revenue of USD 16.61 billion against analyst expectations of USD 16.37 billion, with an earnings per share figure of negative USD 0.13 beating the consensus estimate by USD 0.13 per share.
The pipeline progress is another pillar of the bullish case, with Merck raising its estimate of potential human-health revenue to more than USD 70 billion by the mid-2030s, backed by investments across oncology, cardiometabolic diseases, ophthalmology, immunology and HIV as well as acquisitions such as Cidara and Terns.