Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKGAF) and Evotec (OTCMKTS:EVTCY) Critical Contrast

Risk & Volatility

Merck KGaA has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Evotec has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Merck KGaA and Evotec’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merck KGaA	12.60%	10.17%	5.74%
Evotec	20.85%	16.02%	7.81%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Merck KGaA shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Merck KGaA and Evotec”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merck KGaA	$22.72 billion	0.81	$3.06 billion	$6.81	20.98
Evotec	$572.16 million	1.56	$7.14 million	$0.41	6.59

Merck KGaA has higher revenue and earnings than Evotec. Evotec is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Merck KGaA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Merck KGaA

Merck KGaA operates as a science and technology company in Germany. It operates through Life Science, Healthcare, and Electronics segments. The company's Life Science segment offers tools, chemicals, and equipment for academic labs, biotech, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as industrial sector. This segment provides drug manufacturers with process development expertise and technologies, such as continuous bioprocessing; testing kits and services; reagents and services; testing solutions that analyze air, water, and soil; and testing and tools, as well as products that help test nutritional value and identify quality inconsistencies. Its Healthcare segment discovers, develops, manufacturers, and markets prescription drugs and biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of oncology, neurology and immunology, fertility, endocrinology, as well as cardiovascular, diabetes, thyroid disorders, and multiple sclerosis; general medicines; and injection device and disease monitoring software. The Electronics segment supplies materials for the semiconductor and display industries and surface design, such as delivery systems and services, as well as surface solutions, including cosmetics, effect pigments, and functional solutions. In addition, it has in-licensing agreement with Debiopharm International SA for developing and commercializing drug candidates for the treatment of head and neck cancer; Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. for developing, manufacturing, and commercializing drug candidates for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer; and Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. for developing and commercializing of drug candidates for the treatment of tenosynovial giant cell tumor, as well as license and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA to discover two targeted protein degraders against critical oncogenic proteins. The company was founded in 1668 and is headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany. Merck KGaA operates as a subsidiary of E. Merck KGaA.

About Evotec

Evotec SE engages in the discovery and development of new drugs for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It operates through the following segments: EVT Execute and EVT Innovate. The EVT Execute segment provides stand-alone or integrated drug discovery solutions for collaborators targets and programmers on a typical fee-for-service basis or through a variety of commercial structures, which may include performance-based components, such as milestones and royalties. The EVT Innovate develops drug discovery projects, assets and platforms, both internally or through academic collaborations. The company was founded by Manfred Eigen, Karsten Henco, Ulrich Aldag, Freimut Leidenberger, Heinrich Maria Schulte, Rudolf Rigler, and Charles Weissmann on December 8, 1993 and is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.