Merck (MRK), measured in bitcoin
One Merck share costs 170,769 sats today ($141.98). That's 130% more sats than a year ago, so over the past year the stock beat holding bitcoin. Since 2019, its shareholder return has been +13% a year in dollars, faster than the money supply grew (+6.6%), and −22% a year measured in bitcoin.
Next earnings: Thursday, October 29 before the open.
What one share costs in bitcoin today ($141.98). One bitcoin is 100 million sats.
More sats per share than a year ago. Above zero means the stock beat simply holding bitcoin.
Cash the business produces per share, plus how fast that grows, since 2019. Beat new dollars (+6.6%/yr); trailed bitcoin (+1.8%/yr new supply).
What each $1 it spent buying back its own stock since 2019 is worth today, versus the same $1 in bitcoin bought at the same times. Bitcoin wins.
$16.6 billion of revenue in the quarter to Jun 30, 2026, at that quarter's average price: ₿231,839 of the 21 million that will ever exist.
Since mid-2022 it kept $13.8 billion of free cash flow after dividends and buybacks.
How it compares: health care
Sorted by the past year in bitcoin. Within the same window every stock is divided by the same bitcoin price, so the order matches dollars; what bitcoin adds is the line at zero: above it, the stock beat holding bitcoin.
| Company | Sats per share | Past year, ₿ | Vs 2019 avg, ₿ | Shareholder return, ₿ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merck MRK | 170,769 | +130% | −86% | −22%/yr |
| Lilly LLY | 1,403,043 | +97% | −25% | – |
| Amgen AMGN | 496,552 | +96% | −84% | −24%/yr |
| Johnson & Johnson JNJ | 299,021 | +81% | −86% | −26%/yr |
| Bristol Myers Squibb BMY | 68,161 | +81% | −91% | −21%/yr |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO | 797,485 | +75% | −82% | −22%/yr |
| Gilead Sciences GILD | 177,914 | +74% | −83% | −20%/yr |
| AbbVie ABBV | 329,992 | +65% | −74% | −26%/yr |
| Pfizer PFE | 34,123 | +59% | −95% | −26%/yr |
| CVS Health CVS | 105,303 | +55% | −89% | −19%/yr |
| Danaher DHR | 268,025 | +51% | −85% | −23%/yr |
| UnitedHealth UNH | 454,358 | +46% | −89% | −19%/yr |
| Medtronic MDT | 111,870 | +35% | −93% | −24%/yr |
| Intuitive Surgical ISRG | 507,641 | +34% | −82% | −18%/yr |
| Abbott Laboratories ABT | 123,416 | +8.3% | −90% | −21%/yr |
Questions
- How many sats is one Merck share?
- 170,769 sats ($141.98) at the close on October 13, 2026, or 0.00171 bitcoin.
- Has Merck beaten bitcoin?
- Measured by share price, no: a share costs 86% fewer sats than its 2019 average (in dollars: +79%). Measured by the business (cash generated per share and its growth), −22% a year in bitcoin terms, behind bitcoin's supply growth.
- Did Merck's buybacks beat bitcoin?
- No. It spent $16.3 billion buying back its own stock since 2019. Each $1 is now worth $1.61 in shares; the same $1 in bitcoin, bought at the same times, would be worth $5.21. (Per dollar: at that size the buying itself would have moved bitcoin's price.)