KLA (KLAC) Competitors

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

Is AMAT or KLAC a better dividend stock?

Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. KLA pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials pays out 18.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KLA pays out 31.1% 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 raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. KLA is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, AMAT or KLAC?

Applied Materials has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KLA has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in AMAT or KLAC?

80.6% of Applied Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of KLA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Applied Materials shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of KLA shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer AMAT or KLAC?

Applied Materials presently has a consensus price target of $220.29, suggesting a potential upside of 29.53%. KLA has a consensus price target of $816.63, suggesting a potential upside of 24.30%. Given Applied Materials' higher probable upside, 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)	6 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
KLA	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Is AMAT or KLAC more profitable?

KLA has a net margin of 28.92% compared to Applied Materials' net margin of 26.41%. KLA's return on equity of 105.16% beat Applied Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Applied Materials	26.41%	39.26%	21.92%
KLA	28.92%	105.16%	22.77%

Does the media favor AMAT or KLAC?

In the previous week, Applied Materials had 18 more articles in the media than KLA. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Applied Materials and 4 mentions for KLA. KLA's average media sentiment score of 0.52 beat Applied Materials' score of 0.42 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	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
KLA	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings & valuation, 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	$27.18B	5.09	$7.18B	$8.61	19.75
KLA	$10.26B	8.57	$2.76B	$21.90	30.00

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AMAT or KLAC?

Applied Materials received 1123 more outperform votes than KLA when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.95% of users gave Applied Materials an outperform vote while only 62.24% of users gave KLA an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Applied Materials	Outperform Votes 1916 71.95%	Underperform Votes 747 28.05%
KLA	Outperform Votes 793 62.24%	Underperform Votes 481 37.76%

Summary

KLA beats Applied Materials on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.