First Solar (FSLR) Competitors

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) and First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, community ranking, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, MCHP or FSLR?

Microchip Technology has higher revenue and earnings than First Solar. First Solar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Microchip Technology, 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
Microchip Technology	$5.50B	5.63	$1.91B	$1.43	40.33
First Solar	$3.85B	5.18	$830.78M	$11.61	16.06

Do analysts rate MCHP or FSLR?

Microchip Technology currently has a consensus target price of $89.63, suggesting a potential upside of 55.42%. First Solar has a consensus target price of $279.04, suggesting a potential upside of 49.68%. Given Microchip Technology's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Microchip Technology is more favorable than First Solar.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Microchip Technology	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.68
First Solar	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	23 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MCHP or FSLR?

91.5% of Microchip Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of First Solar shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Microchip Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of First Solar shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MCHP or FSLR more profitable?

First Solar has a net margin of 32.41% compared to Microchip Technology's net margin of 14.22%. Microchip Technology's return on equity of 19.47% beat First Solar's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Microchip Technology	14.22%	19.47%	8.10%
First Solar	32.41%	17.56%	11.46%

Which has more risk and volatility, MCHP or FSLR?

Microchip Technology has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Solar has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer MCHP or FSLR?

In the previous week, First Solar had 6 more articles in the media than Microchip Technology. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for First Solar and 5 mentions for Microchip Technology. First Solar's average media sentiment score of 0.53 beat Microchip Technology's score of 0.10 indicating that First Solar is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Microchip Technology	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Solar	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MCHP or FSLR?

First Solar received 206 more outperform votes than Microchip Technology when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 68.75% of users gave Microchip Technology an outperform vote while only 56.16% of users gave First Solar an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Microchip Technology	Outperform Votes 933 68.75%	Underperform Votes 424 31.25%
First Solar	Outperform Votes 1139 56.16%	Underperform Votes 889 43.84%

Summary

First Solar beats Microchip Technology on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.