Richard Sloan from the University of Michigan was first to document what is referred to as the "accrual anomaly". His 1996 paper found that shares of companies with small or negative accruals vastly outperform (+10%) those of companies with large ones.
Merck's Sloan Ratio for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 was 1.35%.
As of Dec. 2023, Merck has a Sloan Ratio of 1.35%, indicating the company is in the safe zone and there is no funny business with accruals.
Merck Sloan Ratio % Historical Data
The historical data trend for Merck's Sloan Ratio % can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
For the Drug Manufacturers - General subindustry, Merck's Sloan Ratio %, along with its competitors' market caps and Sloan Ratio % data, can be viewed below:
* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.
Merck's Sloan Ratio % Distribution in the Drug Manufacturers Industry
For the Drug Manufacturers industry and Healthcare sector, Merck's Sloan Ratio % distribution charts can be found below:
* The bar in red indicates where Merck's Sloan Ratio % falls into.
Merck Sloan Ratio % Calculation
Earnings contain a lot of non cash earnings which is called accruals. The Sloan ratio is a way to identify firms with low non-cash or accrual-derived earnings relative to their cash flow.
Merck's Sloan Ratio for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as
Merck's Net Income for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was 2821 (Mar. 2023 ) + -5975 (Jun. 2023 ) + 4745 (Sep. 2023 ) + -1226 (Dec. 2023 ) = $365 Mil.
Merck's Cash Flow from Operations for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was 1339 (Mar. 2023 ) + 3704 (Jun. 2023 ) + 7717 (Sep. 2023 ) + 246 (Dec. 2023 ) = $13,006 Mil.
Merck's Cash Flow from Investing for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was -2359 (Mar. 2023 ) + -11443 (Jun. 2023 ) + -334 (Sep. 2023 ) + 53 (Dec. 2023 ) = $-14,083 Mil.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Merck (NYSE:MRK) Sloan Ratio % Explanation
A former University of Michigan researcher, Richard Sloan's 1996 paper found that shares of companies with small or negative accruals vastly outperform (+10%) those of companies with large ones. In fact, for the 40-year period between 1962 and 2001, buying the lowest accrual companies and shorting the highest accrual companies resulted in an average annual compounded return of 18%, more than double the S&P 500's 7.4% annual return over the same period.
If the Sloan Ratio is between -10% and 10%, the company is in the safe zone and there is no funny business with accruals.
If the Sloan Ratio is less than between -25% and -10% on the negative side, and between 10% and 25% on the positive side, this is a warning stage of accrual build up.
If the Sloan Ratio is less than -25% or greater than 25%, and this ratio is consistent over several quarters or even years, be careful. Earnings are highly likely to be made up of accruals.
As of Dec. 2023, Merck has a Sloan Ratio of 1.35%, indicating the company is in the safe zone and there is no funny business with accruals.
Merck Sloan Ratio % Related Terms
Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Merck's Sloan Ratio % provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.
Merck makes pharmaceutical products to treat several conditions in a number of therapeutic areas, including cardiometabolic disease, cancer, and infections. Within cancer, the firm's immuno-oncology platform is growing as a major contributor to overall sales. The company also has a substantial vaccine business, with treatments to prevent pediatric diseases as well as human papillomavirus, or HPV. Additionally, Merck sells animal health-related drugs. From a geographical perspective, just under half of the company's sales are generated in the United States.
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