ARM vs MRK Comparison

Arm Holdings is the IP owner and developer of the Arm architecture, which is used in 99% of the world's smartphone CPU cores. It also has high market share in other battery-powered devices like wearables, tablets, and sensors. Arm licenses its architecture for a fee, offering different types of licenses depending on the flexibility the customer needs. Customers like Apple or Qualcomm buy architectural licenses, which allow them to modify the architecture and add or delete instructions to tailor the chips to their specific needs. Other clients directly buy off-the-shelf designs from Arm. Both off-the-shelf and architectural customers pay a royalty fee per chip shipped. In 2026, Arm announced the launch of its own CPU products on top of its existing royalty business.

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, led by Keytruda, is a major contributor to overall sales. The company also has a substantial vaccine business aimed at preventing pediatric diseases, as well as Gardasil for human papillomavirus. Additionally, Merck sells animal health-related drugs. From a geographical perspective, 47% of the company's sales are generated from US human health (pharmaceuticals and vaccines).