Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) fails to deliver

• What a fail is. A fail-to-deliver occurs when the seller in a trade doesn’t deliver the shares by the settlement date. The figure here is the aggregate number of shares of MRK that failed to deliver on each settlement date, as reported by the SEC.
• Settlement is T+1. US equities settle one business day after the trade (T+1 since May 2024), so the settlement date shown is one business day after the trade that failed.
• The SEC publishes twice a month. Fails data is released in two files per month — the first and second halves — on a lag, so the most recent settlement dates appear only after the next publication.
• Reg SHO close-out. Participants must generally close out short-sale fails by the next settlement day after they arise (longer windows apply to long-sale and bona-fide market-making fails, and a 35-calendar-day window only to certain deemed-to-own securities). Names whose fails stay large for 5 consecutive settlement days join the exchange threshold-security list, which brings stricter close-out duties — so persistent large fails are the exception, not the norm.
• Not short interest. Fails arise from settlement mechanics and market making as well as short selling, and are not a direct measure of how heavily a stock is shorted. The SEC price column is the prior-day closing price the SEC ships in the same file — we use it only to approximate a dollar value; no market-data feed is involved.

Source: SEC fails-to-deliver data (public domain).

What are fails-to-deliver (FTD) for MRK?

A fail-to-deliver happens when a trade in MRK isn't settled by the delivery date — the seller doesn't hand over the shares on time. The SEC publishes the aggregate number of MRK shares that failed to deliver on each settlement date. The latest published figure is 1.58K shares (settled 2026-06-12).

Does a high FTD mean MRK is heavily shorted?

Not directly. Fails-to-deliver is a settlement metric, not short interest — fails arise from mechanical settlement issues, market-making, and long as well as short sellers. A persistent, large fail relative to a name's own history can be worth noting, but FTD alone is not a measure of how shorted a stock is.

How often is MRK FTD data updated?

The SEC releases fails-to-deliver data twice a month — one file for the first half of each month and one for the second — with a lag. Settlement itself is T+1 (the business day after the trade). Under Regulation SHO, participants must generally close out short-sale fails by the next settlement day (longer windows exist for long sales, bona-fide market making, and certain deemed-to-own securities), and names with large persistent fails can join the exchange threshold-security list after 5 consecutive settlement days. This page rebuilds as new files publish.

Is MRK's fails-to-deliver a buy or sell signal?

On its own, no — FTD is context, not a verdict. Our current SEC-grounded rating on MRK is HOLD, based on the company's filings rather than settlement mechanics. Use the fails history as one input alongside the fundamentals.