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MRK · NYSE · Financial statements

Merck & Co., Inc.: cash-flow calculator

A discounted cash flow model turns assumptions about future free cash flow into a single amount today. Here the assumptions are yours: the page shows what they add up to, and, the other way round, what yearly growth a share price takes for granted.

Free cash flow
$12.4B
FY 2025
5-year average
$12.6B
FY 2021–2025
Net debt
$34.8B
FY 2025
Diluted shares
2.51B
FY 2025

Your assumptions

money in USD
Starting free cash flow

Operating cash flow minus capital expenditure, from the annual reports.

%
%

Growth usually slows as a company gets bigger.

%

For ever, so it is usually kept at or below long-run growth of the economy, often 0–3%.

%

The yearly return you require: a risk-free rate plus a premium for risk. Higher means later cash counts for less.

M USD

From the FY 2025 balance sheet. Negative means more cash than debt.

M

Weighted average, diluted, FY 2025.

USD

EdgeScore has no licensed price feed for US shares yet. Type the current share price yourself.

Present value per share, with your assumptions

70.40 USD

Starting from 12.36B USD of free cash flow, growing 5.0% a year for five years, 3.0% for the next five and 2.0% after that, all discounted at 9.0%.

Years 1–10, discounted
98.71B
After year 10, discounted
112.56B
Minus net debt
-34.77B
For shareholders
176.50B
Divided by shares
2.51B

What the price implies

Enter a share price to see the growth it implies.

  • Your assumption, years 1–55.0%
  • Free cash flow, FY 2020–202516.2%
  • Free cash flow, FY 2022–2025-5.6%
  • Revenue, FY 2020–20259.4%
  • Revenue, FY 2022–20253.1%
Past growth is the compound yearly change between the fiscal years shown, from the annual reports. The past does not set the future; the comparison only shows how the price's assumption sits against what the company has done.

Sensitivity: value per share

Rows: terminal growth. Columns: discount rate. Other assumptions as entered, values in USD.

g \ r7%8%9%10%11%
1.0%91.8976.1764.4155.2848.01
1.5%97.9080.1867.2057.3149.51
2.0%105.1284.8670.4059.5851.18
2.5%113.9390.3874.0962.1653.04
3.0%124.9697.0278.4065.1055.14

“—”: terminal growth at or above the discount rate has no finite answer.

Year by year
YearGrowthFree cash flowDiscount factorDiscounted
15.0%12.98B0.91711.91B
25.0%13.63B0.84211.47B
35.0%14.31B0.77211.05B
45.0%15.02B0.70810.64B
55.0%15.77B0.65010.25B
63.0%16.25B0.5969.69B
73.0%16.74B0.5479.15B
83.0%17.24B0.5028.65B
93.0%17.75B0.4608.17B
103.0%18.29B0.4227.72B
After 102.0%266.47B0.422112.56B

Terminal value = free cash flow in year 10 × (1 + terminal growth) ÷ (discount rate − terminal growth). Amounts in millions of USD.

Where the starting figures come from

Operating cash flow and free cash flow

Operating cash flow 2016: $10.4BFree cash flow 2016: $8.8B2016Operating cash flow 2017: $6.5BFree cash flow 2017: $4.6B2017Operating cash flow 2018: $10.9BFree cash flow 2018: $8.3B2018Operating cash flow 2019: $13.4BFree cash flow 2019: $10.1B2019Operating cash flow 2020: $10.3BFree cash flow 2020: $5.8B2020Operating cash flow 2021: $13.1BFree cash flow 2021: $8.7B2021Operating cash flow 2022: $19.1BFree cash flow 2022: $14.7B2022Operating cash flow 2023: $13.0BFree cash flow 2023: $9.1B2023Operating cash flow 2024: $21.5BFree cash flow 2024: $18.1B2024Operating cash flow 2025: $16.5BFree cash flow 2025: $12.4B2025
Operating cash flowFree cash flow
FYRevenueOp. cash flowCapexFree cash flow
2025$65.0B$16.5B$4.1B$12.4B
2024$64.2B$21.5B$3.4B$18.1B
2023$60.1B$13.0B$3.9B$9.1B
2022$59.3B$19.1B$4.4B$14.7B
2021$48.7B$13.1B$4.4B$8.7B
2020$41.5B$10.3B$4.4B$5.8B
2019$39.1B$13.4B$3.4B$10.1B
2018$42.3B$10.9B$2.6B$8.3B
2017$40.1B$6.5B$1.9B$4.6B
2016$39.8B$10.4B$1.6B$8.8B

Free cash flow = operating cash flow − capital expenditure. Source: SEC EDGAR, annual reports.

How it works: free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital expenditure) grows at your stage 1 rate for years 1–5 and your stage 2 rate for years 6–10; after that, a terminal value assumes your terminal growth for ever. Each year is discounted at your rate, net debt (financial debt minus cash, latest balance sheet) is subtracted and the total is divided by diluted shares. The reverse calculation finds, by bisection, the stage 1 growth at which this equals the share price. Operating cash flow is after interest, so subtracting net debt as well is a simplification you can switch off.

The output is arithmetic on your inputs. It is not an EdgeScore estimate of what the shares are worth and not a price target. Figures: SEC EDGAR, annual reports, with the fiscal year shown next to each one.

For information and education only, not investment advice. Data may contain errors.