Merck & Co., Inc. Revenue & Financials

Revenue ran at $48.7 billion in FY2021, $59.3 billion in FY2022, $58.5 billion in FY2023, and $63.6 billion in FY2024. The FY2024 increase was driven by Keytruda volume growth across expanding indications. Net income of $15.62 billion in FY2024 implied a 24.6% net margin — high for a company that invests approximately $16.4 billion annually in R&D, representing roughly 26% of net sales. Merck's R&D intensity — 26% of net sales dedicated to research — is one of the highest among large-cap pharmaceutical companies globally. The approximately $16.4 billion invested in FY2024 funds Keytruda's more than 1,600 active clinical studies, pipeline assets in cardiovascular disease, oncology, vaccines, and infectious disease, and the early-stage discovery programs that will define the company's revenue base after 2028. Market capitalization of $215 billion against $63.6 billion in revenue reflects both the current profitability and the market's assessment of the Keytruda cliff risk. Biosimilar pembrolizumab will eventually enter the market after the US exclusivity expires around 2028, and the revenue erosion curve for biosimilar biologics is genuinely uncertain — slower than small molecule generics, but real. Every acquisition Merck has made in recent years is partly an attempt to pre-fund the post-Keytruda revenue base. The Vioxx withdrawal in 2004 and the resulting $4.85 billion liability settlement remains the most financially damaging product safety event in the company's history. The Inflation Reduction Act legal challenge over Januvia pricing and the Gardasil China pullback in 2023 represent newer regulatory and market access risks that run in parallel with the Keytruda cliff as material financial considerations.