Apple (AAPL) Competitors

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) 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 earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, community ranking, media sentiment, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AAPL or ANET?

Apple received 6010 more outperform votes than Arista Networks when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 82.10% of users gave Apple an outperform vote while only 74.62% of users gave Arista Networks an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Apple	Outperform Votes 7324 82.10%	Underperform Votes 1597 17.90%
Arista Networks	Outperform Votes 1314 74.62%	Underperform Votes 447 25.38%

Is AAPL or ANET more profitable?

Arista Networks has a net margin of 40.29% compared to Apple's net margin of 23.97%. Apple's return on equity of 152.94% beat Arista Networks' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apple	23.97%	152.94%	29.98%
Arista Networks	40.29%	30.52%	22.24%

Which has more volatility and risk, AAPL or ANET?

Apple has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arista Networks has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer AAPL or ANET?

In the previous week, Apple had 215 more articles in the media than Arista Networks. MarketBeat recorded 244 mentions for Apple and 29 mentions for Arista Networks. Apple's average media sentiment score of 0.68 beat Arista Networks' score of 0.56 indicating that Apple is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Apple	144 Very Positive mention(s)	33 Positive mention(s)	31 Neutral mention(s)	28 Negative mention(s)	7 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Arista Networks	7 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AAPL or ANET?

67.7% of Apple shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.5% of Arista Networks shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apple shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Arista Networks shares are owned by 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.

Do analysts recommend AAPL or ANET?

Apple currently has a consensus price target of $239.85, suggesting a potential upside of 4.29%. Arista Networks has a consensus price target of $105.83, suggesting a potential downside of 11.64%. Given Apple's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Apple is more favorable than Arista Networks.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apple	3 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	23 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Arista Networks	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Which has higher earnings and valuation, AAPL or ANET?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apple	$391.04B	8.89	$93.74B	$6.08	37.83
Arista Networks	$6.61B	22.82	$2.09B	$2.08	57.59

Summary

Apple beats Arista Networks on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.