Applied Materials (AMAT) Competitors

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

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, AMAT or LRCX?

Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than Lam Research. Applied Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lam Research, 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
Applied Materials	$27.18B	5.75	$7.18B	$8.61	22.31
Lam Research	$14.91B	6.93	$3.83B	$3.09	25.95

Does the media prefer AMAT or LRCX?

In the previous week, Lam Research had 27 more articles in the media than Applied Materials. MarketBeat recorded 96 mentions for Lam Research and 69 mentions for Applied Materials. Lam Research's average media sentiment score of 1.20 beat Applied Materials' score of 1.07 indicating that Lam Research is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Applied Materials	53 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Lam Research	72 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AMAT or LRCX more profitable?

Applied Materials has a net margin of 26.41% compared to Lam Research's net margin of 26.02%. Lam Research's return on equity of 50.60% beat Applied Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Applied Materials	26.41%	39.26%	21.92%
Lam Research	26.02%	50.60%	22.33%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AMAT or LRCX?

Applied Materials received 513 more outperform votes than Lam Research when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 75.77% of users gave Lam Research an outperform vote while only 71.96% of users gave Applied Materials an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Applied Materials	Outperform Votes 1920 71.96%	Underperform Votes 748 28.04%
Lam Research	Outperform Votes 1407 75.77%	Underperform Votes 450 24.23%

Do analysts rate AMAT or LRCX?

Applied Materials currently has a consensus price target of $218.95, indicating a potential upside of 14.01%. Lam Research has a consensus price target of $95.77, indicating a potential upside of 19.26%. Given Lam Research's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lam Research is more favorable than Applied Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Applied Materials	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Lam Research	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AMAT or LRCX?

80.6% of Applied Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.6% of Lam Research shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Applied Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Lam Research shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AMAT or LRCX a better dividend stock?

Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Lam Research pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials pays out 18.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lam Research pays out 29.7% 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, AMAT or LRCX?

Applied Materials has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lam Research has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lam Research beats Applied Materials on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.