Microsoft (MSFT) Competitors

$414.74
+2.42 (+0.59%)
(As of 05/10/2024 ET)

MSFT vs. AAPL, NVDA, GOOG, GOOGL, AMZN, META, ORCL, CSCO, IBM, and NOW

Should you be buying Microsoft stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Microsoft include Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOG), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Oracle (ORCL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), International Business Machines (IBM), and ServiceNow (NOW).

Microsoft vs.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

In the previous week, Apple had 83 more articles in the media than Microsoft. MarketBeat recorded 189 mentions for Apple and 106 mentions for Microsoft. Microsoft's average media sentiment score of 0.53 beat Apple's score of 0.32 indicating that Microsoft is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment
Microsoft
46 Very Positive mention(s)
14 Positive mention(s)
25 Neutral mention(s)
17 Negative mention(s)
3 Very Negative mention(s)
Positive
Apple
58 Very Positive mention(s)
24 Positive mention(s)
66 Neutral mention(s)
32 Negative mention(s)
6 Very Negative mention(s)
Neutral

Microsoft has a net margin of 36.43% compared to Apple's net margin of 26.31%. Apple's return on equity of 148.33% beat Microsoft's return on equity.

Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Microsoft36.43% 37.54% 19.02%
Apple 26.31%148.33%29.13%

Microsoft has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apple has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

71.1% of Microsoft shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.4% of Apple shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Microsoft shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Apple shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

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

CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings Ratio
Microsoft$236.58B13.03$72.36B$11.5535.91
Apple$383.29B7.32$97.00B$6.4328.47

Apple received 4086 more outperform votes than Microsoft when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 82.24% of users gave Apple an outperform vote while only 72.55% of users gave Microsoft an outperform vote.

CompanyUnderperformOutperform
MicrosoftOutperform Votes
3159
72.55%
Underperform Votes
1195
27.45%
AppleOutperform Votes
7245
82.24%
Underperform Votes
1565
17.76%

Microsoft pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Apple pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Microsoft pays out 26.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Apple pays out 14.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Microsoft presently has a consensus target price of $452.61, indicating a potential upside of 9.13%. Apple has a consensus target price of $204.11, indicating a potential upside of 11.51%. Given Apple's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Apple is more favorable than Microsoft.

Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Microsoft
0 Sell rating(s)
2 Hold rating(s)
32 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.94
Apple
1 Sell rating(s)
12 Hold rating(s)
21 Buy rating(s)
1 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.63

Summary

Apple beats Microsoft on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.

New MarketBeat Followers Over Time

This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding MSFT and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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Media Sentiment Over Time

This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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MSFT vs. The Competition

MetricMicrosoftPrepackaged software IndustryComputer SectorNASDAQ Exchange
Market Cap$3.08T$22.02B$20.95B$7.79B
Dividend Yield0.73%2.05%2.74%3.91%
P/E Ratio35.9175.22258.6517.73
Price / Sales13.039.52535.2675.94
Price / Cash35.1465.2829.3235.71
Price / Book12.189.536.574.38
Net Income$72.36B$368.27M$638.31M$217.54M
7 Day Performance1.99%-0.55%0.42%-0.14%
1 Month Performance-3.08%-3.72%-0.76%-1.62%
1 Year Performance33.74%16.20%30.93%8.90%

Microsoft Competitors List

CompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)
AAPL
Apple
4.917 of 5 stars
$182.40
+0.4%
$204.11
+11.9%
+5.4%$2.82T$383.29B28.37161,000Buyback Announcement
Short Interest ↓
NVDA
NVIDIA
4.7327 of 5 stars
$905.54
-1.7%
$941.55
+4.0%
+214.5%$2.26T$60.92B75.8429,600Analyst Forecast
GOOG
Alphabet
3.5876 of 5 stars
$172.98
+1.9%
$165.67
-4.2%
+45.7%$2.14T$307.39B26.53182,502
GOOGL
Alphabet
4.135 of 5 stars
$171.25
+1.9%
$190.60
+11.3%
+44.7%$2.12T$307.39B26.27182,502Short Interest ↓
AMZN
Amazon.com
4.9585 of 5 stars
$188.76
+0.0%
$211.62
+12.1%
+67.1%$1.96T$574.79B52.871,525,000Insider Selling
Options Volume
META
Meta Platforms
3.8581 of 5 stars
$468.24
+0.5%
$509.80
+8.9%
+102.0%$1.19T$134.90B26.8967,317Insider Selling
ORCL
Oracle
4.8332 of 5 stars
$117.93
-0.3%
$130.76
+10.9%
+19.7%$324.13B$49.95B31.12164,000Analyst Upgrade
Insider Selling
Short Interest ↑
CSCO
Cisco Systems
4.8444 of 5 stars
$47.28
+0.4%
$55.53
+17.4%
+3.6%$191.45B$57.00B14.3784,900Upcoming Earnings
IBM
International Business Machines
4.5252 of 5 stars
$168.38
-0.1%
$181.29
+7.7%
+38.3%$154.67B$61.86B19.07305,300Options Volume
NOW
ServiceNow
4.8875 of 5 stars
$713.33
-1.8%
$807.28
+13.2%
+61.3%$146.50B$8.97B76.2922,668Analyst Forecast
Insider Selling

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This page (NASDAQ:MSFT) was last updated on 5/12/2024 by MarketBeat.com Staff

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