We continue to view the stock as undervalued with the market not appreciating Merck’s strong immuno-oncology position and developing pipeline, key areas that reinforce our wide moat rating.
We expect the pause to be temporary because of the rarity of the adverse events—six cases among the more than 6.8 million doses administered in the U.S.
We plan to moderately increase our fair value estimate based on the improving outlook.
Damien Conover, CFA
More About Damien Conover
Damien Conover, CFA, is director of equity research, North America, for Morningstar.
Before joining Morningstar in 2007, Conover was an equity research analyst covering the healthcare sector for Raymond James, Bank of Montreal, and Tucker Anthony.
Conover holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from the University of Wisconsin and was a member of its Applied Security Analysis Program. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.