Mitrade Insights is dedicated to providing investors with rich, timely and most valuable financial information to help investors grasp the market situation and find timely trading opportunities.

2021

Best News & Analysis Provider

FxDailyInfo

2022

Best Forex Educational Resources Global

International Business Magazine

Insights

News

HSBC upgrades Merck stock to Buy on 2025 opportunities

Source Investing

Investing.com -- HSBC (LON:HSBA) analysts raised their rating on Merck &Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) shares to Buy from Hold while maintaining a price target of $130.

The move comes amid a growing market confidence in the company’s ability to navigate through upcoming patent expirations. Merck (NS:PROR)'s credible strategy for dealing with the loss of exclusivity (LOEs) for key drugs later in the decade has been a contributing factor to the upgrade.

Merck's expertise in oncology and a rich clinical pipeline are seen as key strengths. The company's success in developing cancer treatments, particularly in the field of oncology, has been well-documented.

However, HSBC notes that the true value of Merck's pipeline is expected to be recognized only when early evidence of clinical success emerges, which is not yet reflected in current estimates and stock multiples.

One of the main opportunities identified for Merck in 2025 is the stabilization of Gardasil revenues in China, updates on subcutaneous Keytruda, and the launch trajectory of Winrevir.

“There is a dearth of significant readouts for Merck’s pipeline for 2025 that could change the trajectory of growth,” HSBC analysts said in a report.

“However, updates on Phase II Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADC) assets might help the market appreciate the potential of these pipeline assets whilst including them in valuation and estimates,” they added.

Key risks for Merck in 2025, according to HSBC, include any signs of Gardasil's growth slowing in developed markets and challenges with the subcutaneous version of Keytruda. If these materialize, they could cast doubt on the market's expectation that Keytruda's patent cliff will level off rather than decline sharply.

The investment bank has adjusted its estimates for Merck downward to account for lower growth potential in Gardasil, particularly regarding its adoption in second-tier Chinese cities and among males.

Even with these revised estimates, HSBC believes that Merck's current valuation offers a significant margin of safety, “especially given its strategy to extend its oncology portfolio’s earning potential in the medium term,” analysts noted.

Looking ahead to the first half of 2025, the bank notes that there may be few clinical catalysts capable of significantly changing Merck's equity story. Nonetheless, Keytruda combination clinical trials could help the company maintain its volume and revenue share in the immuno-oncology market.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Recommended Articles

Bitcoin falls below $75,000 as the CLARITY Act fails in the Senate — what the vote means for crypto The US Senate blocked the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act in a 49-50 procedural vote, sending Bitcoin briefly below $75,000 — its biggest one-day drop since June. Ethereum fell more than 8%, Coinbase slid 10% and $75 billion of crypto market value evaporated. Here is what the vote was, why it failed, and the levels that matter now.

Author Suzie

Sep 16, Wed

The US Senate blocked the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act in a 49-50 procedural vote, sending Bitcoin briefly below $75,000 — its biggest one-day drop since June. Ethereum fell more than 8%, Coinbase slid 10% and $75 billion of crypto market value evaporated. Here is what the vote was, why it failed, and the levels that matter now.

US to delay new "overcapacity" tariffs on China — what the pause means for trade, inflation and the dollar Washington is expected to hold off announcing new tariffs over Chinese "overcapacity" until after the 24 September summit, according to Bloomberg. The postponed plan would have added 7.5% to Chinese goods, taking second-term US tariffs to around 20%. Here is what is on the table, and what a deal versus no deal would mean for the yuan, Hong Kong equities and the dollar.

Author Mitrade

Sep 18, Fri

Washington is expected to hold off announcing new tariffs over Chinese "overcapacity" until after the 24 September summit, according to Bloomberg. The postponed plan would have added 7.5% to Chinese goods, taking second-term US tariffs to around 20%. Here is what is on the table, and what a deal versus no deal would mean for the yuan, Hong Kong equities and the dollar.

Gold ends three-week slide at the $4,400 line — eight straight days of ETF inflows vs a 5% 10-year and a 100 dollar Spot gold closed Friday at $4,378.39, up 0.84% on the day and about 0.8% for the week — its first weekly gain in four weeks — with the intraday high of $4,399.67 leaving it 33 cents shy of the $4,400 line. Gold ETFs have now logged eight straight sessions of inflows, but with the 10-year back above 5% and the dollar index near 100, here is what decides whether this is a reversal or a bounce.

Author Suzie

Sep 20, Sun

Spot gold closed Friday at $4,378.39, up 0.84% on the day and about 0.8% for the week — its first weekly gain in four weeks — with the intraday high of $4,399.67 leaving it 33 cents shy of the $4,400 line. Gold ETFs have now logged eight straight sessions of inflows, but with the 10-year back above 5% and the dollar index near 100, here is what decides whether this is a reversal or a bounce.

Bitcoin squeezes back above $80,000 — 110,000 traders liquidated as the hawkish Fed and CLARITY setback fail to hold it down; is $83,000 next?Bitcoin closed above $80,000 on Friday for the first time since September 7, and pushed to $81,299 over the weekend, triggering about $603 million of liquidations — $523 million of them shorts — across more than 110,000 traders. With the Fed's hike already priced and the SEC and CFTC advancing crypto rules after the CLARITY Act failed, here is what stands between BTC and the $83,000 gate.

Author Suzie

Sep 20, Sun

Bitcoin closed above $80,000 on Friday for the first time since September 7, and pushed to $81,299 over the weekend, triggering about $603 million of liquidations — $523 million of them shorts — across more than 110,000 traders. With the Fed's hike already priced and the SEC and CFTC advancing crypto rules after the CLARITY Act failed, here is what stands between BTC and the $83,000 gate.

Brent slides below $102 after Houthis' first strike on Riyadh — why oil can't hold $100 Houthi forces struck Riyadh for the first time on September 19 and hit Yanbu facilities — yet Brent opened at $104.71, peaked at $104.90 and settled at $101.68 (-1.63% on the day). Here is the four-way data tug-of-war between strike escalation and supply recovery, and the two switches that decide where oil goes next.

Author Irene Q.

Yesterday 02: 59

Houthi forces struck Riyadh for the first time on September 19 and hit Yanbu facilities — yet Brent opened at $104.71, peaked at $104.90 and settled at $101.68 (-1.63% on the day). Here is the four-way data tug-of-war between strike escalation and supply recovery, and the two switches that decide where oil goes next.

Popular Symbols