KLA (KLAC) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, AMAT or KLAC?

Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than KLA. Applied Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KLA, 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	$27.64B	4.29	$7.18B	$7.65	19.09
KLA	$10.85B	8.31	$2.76B	$23.78	28.54

Which has more volatility & risk, AMAT or KLAC?

Applied Materials has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KLA has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AMAT or KLAC a better dividend stock?

Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. KLA pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials pays out 24.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KLA pays out 28.6% 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. KLA has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Applied Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AMAT or KLAC?

80.6% of Applied Materials shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of KLA shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Applied Materials shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of KLA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to AMAT or KLAC?

In the previous week, Applied Materials had 18 more articles in the media than KLA. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Applied Materials and 26 mentions for KLA. KLA's average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat Applied Materials' score of 1.30 indicating that KLA is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Applied Materials	34 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
KLA	20 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend AMAT or KLAC?

Applied Materials currently has a consensus price target of $208.86, indicating a potential upside of 43.00%. KLA has a consensus price target of $804.67, indicating a potential upside of 18.56%. Given Applied Materials' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Applied Materials is more favorable than KLA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Applied Materials	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70
KLA	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is AMAT or KLAC more profitable?

KLA has a net margin of 29.58% compared to Applied Materials' net margin of 22.95%. KLA's return on equity of 108.60% beat Applied Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Applied Materials	22.95%	39.50%	22.12%
KLA	29.58%	108.60%	24.20%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AMAT or KLAC?

Applied Materials received 1123 more outperform votes than KLA when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.97% of users gave Applied Materials an outperform vote while only 62.21% of users gave KLA an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Applied Materials	Outperform Votes 1928 71.97%	Underperform Votes 751 28.03%
KLA	Outperform Votes 805 62.21%	Underperform Votes 489 37.79%

Summary

Applied Materials beats KLA on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.