Where is Merck & Co. (MRK) Headed?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is one of the best affordable stocks with good earnings growth for 2026. On December 19, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) announced a historic agreement with the Trump administration to ensure the accessibility and affordability of its medicines for Americans, and reported that it plans to provide key products at affordable prices for eligible patients in the US through a direct-to-patient program. The plan currently includes JANUVIA, JANUMET, and JANUMET XR, and would be expanded in the future to include enlicitide decanoate after FDA approval. The direct-to-patient program would allow the availability of JANUVIA, JANUMET, and JANUMET XR to eligible American patients at a cash price, which reflects an approximately 70% discount from the current list price.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) announced another development on December 17, reporting positive topline results from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-B15 trial in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer eligible for cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The trial showed that when administered as a neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment (before and after surgery), KEYTRUDA plus Padcev exhibited a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in event-free survival, overall survival, and pathologic complete response rates compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery.

The trial was conducted in collaboration with Pfizer and Astellas, building on the clinical success of the combination in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (la/mUC) and cisplatin-ineligible MIBC.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a biopharmaceutical company that delivers health solutions to advance the treatment and prevention of diseases in animals and people. Its Pharmaceutical segment offers vaccines and human health pharmaceutical products, typically therapeutic and preventive agents. Its Animal Health segment develops, discovers, manufactures, and markets a range of vaccines and veterinary pharmaceutical products.

While we acknowledge the potential of MRK as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.