We recently published a list of 12 Best Dow Stocks to Buy Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) stands against other best dow stocks to buy right now.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is among the most popular stock market indices globally. Known as the Dow, the index monitors the performance of 30 blue-chip companies listed on the US stock exchanges. In 2024, the Dow index returned over 16%, compared to a 25% return for the broader market.
Historically, the Dow has performed better compared to the broader market. According to S&P Global, in the past 30 years up until June 2021, the Dow index returned approximately 11.16% compared to the market’s return of 10.6%. This growth is mainly due to the Dow’s stable, industry-leading companies that offer reliable dividends and returns.
Read More: 7 Most Undervalued Financial Stocks To Buy According to Analysts.
Since the beginning of 2025, Dow Jones has soared over 4% as mega-cap tech stocks surged following their positive earnings. Whereas, the S&P 500 index has jumped by 3.70% year-to-date, as of January 23.
Trump’s AI startup initiative is already pumping the tech stocks. The $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project led by Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank will accelerate the AI demand. Tech stocks are already dominating the market driven by the huge demand for AI. Nasdaq Composite returned nearly 30% in 2024, outperforming the Dow and the S&P 500.
The U.S. economy is expected to perform better this year compared to 2024 followed by lower interest rates and PCE inflation expected around 2.1%. Economists anticipate a suitable atmosphere for mergers and acquisitions.
Investing in Dow Jones stocks can be appealing in 2025 as they offer huge dividends and returns. The Dow stocks have strong balance sheets and have a proven track record of high yields.
Our Methodology
We shifted through the Dow Jones Index and selected the 12 best Dow stocks based on hedge fund sentiment around each stock using Insider Monkey’s data for Q3 2024. The best Dow stocks are ranked in ascending order of their hedge fund holdings.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A close-up of a person’s hand holding a bottle of pharmaceuticals.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 86
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a leading global pharmaceutical company engaged in discovering, developing, and delivering innovative medicines and vaccines for untreated illnesses. The company has been at the forefront of medical advancements, addressing some of the most critical health issues.
Mad Money’s Jim Cramer recently pointed out the significance of Merck & Co., Inc.’s (NYSE:MRK) anti-cancer franchise, Keytruda. In addition, Cramer highlighted that the company’s acquisition of Acceleron in 2021 hasn’t gotten enough credit. Acceleron’s Winrevair is an FDA-approved drug that treats a fatal disease known as pulmonary arterial hypertension. Cramer talked about other medicines that add to Merck’s advantage and market competitiveness. To find more about Cramer’s view on MRK, you can read it here.
Merck & Co., Inc. has had a successful past year, driven by development in pipeline diversification. At the start of 2024, the company projected an additional $35 billion in revenue from its new drug portfolio, which has since increased to $50 billion. This growth was mainly driven by expansion in its clinical trials, with 26 ongoing phase III trials, up from just nine in 2021. Moreover, Merck & Co. is working in collaboration with Gilead Sciences to develop a combination therapy that could revolutionize HIV treatment. The partnership is expected to generate over $5 billion in revenue for MRK.
Overall, MRK ranks 10th on our list of best dow stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential of MRK to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MRK but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
