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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.barrons.com/articles/merck-upgrade-pfizer-stock-51551113959\nDow’s Best-Performing Stock in 2018 Gets Vote of Confidence\nTeresa Rivas\nFeb. 25, 2019 12:00 pm ET\nPhotograph by Dmitry Bayer\nUBS analyst Navin Jacob reinstated coverage of Merck (ticker: MRK) and Pfizer (PFE) on Monday, although he only recommends buying one of the Dow’s two best 2018 performers.\nThe back story: Last year was not a good one for stocks, but amid the tumult, Merck and Pfizer shone, delivering the best and second-best performances in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. However, 2018 is old news.\nStocks have rallied year to date, and assets seen as riskier are back in vogue, leaving safer calls, like Merck and Pfizer, lagging. Merck is up 5.1% since the start of 2019, less than half the gains seen by the broader market, while Pfizer has slipped 1.4% over the same period. Investors have been seeking other options, but the stocks have also been hit by worries about drug-pricing pressures, not to mention downgrades from analysts. However, Pfizer rose after reporting results in late January and Merck got a post-earnings bump, too.\nThe plot twist: UBS’s Jacob reinstated a Buy rating on Merck and a Neutral rating on Pfizer Monday, following a change to his valuation methodology and after incorporating the companies’ fourth-quarter results into his model. He added $3 to his price target on Merck, lifting it to $89, while shaving $1 off his Pfizer price target, to $45.\nMoving forward: For Merck, Jacob’s bull case rests on his optimism for two key products: cancer blockbuster Keytruda and Gardasil, a vaccine for human papillomavirus, or HPV. He believes that the products’ potential hasn’t been fully priced into the stock or consensus estimates. His estimates for sales of Keytruda are higher than the Street’s, and he writes that Gardasil should see “unprecedented demand driven by its potential to eradicate the HPV virus (preventing certain cancers).”\nHe like’s Pfizer’s drug profile as well. Jacob highlighted Tanezumab, a non-opioid pain treatment, as one of any promising products in Pfizer’s pipeline that should allow the company to delivery growth and meet its long-term guidance.\nStill, Jacob said he prefers to stay on the sidelines because losses of patent protection for Pfizer drugs next decade are expected to weigh on the stock. He cited a $20 billion “patent cliff in the 2026-2030 period” as limiting his valuation for the company.\nMerck was down 0.3% to $80.52 in morning trading, while Pfizer was up 0.5% to $43.16.\nWrite to Teresa Rivas at teresa.rivas@barrons.com"