KLA (KLAC) Competitors

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

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

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

Do analysts rate KLAC or AMAT?

KLA presently has a consensus price target of $832.17, suggesting a potential upside of 18.32%. Applied Materials has a consensus price target of $214.67, suggesting a potential upside of 43.37%. Given Applied Materials' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Applied Materials is more favorable than KLA.

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor KLAC or AMAT?

Applied Materials received 1123 more outperform votes than KLA when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.96% of users gave Applied Materials an outperform vote while only 62.17% of users gave KLA an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
KLA	Outperform Votes 802 62.17%	Underperform Votes 488 37.83%
Applied Materials	Outperform Votes 1925 71.96%	Underperform Votes 750 28.04%

Is KLAC or AMAT a better dividend stock?

KLA pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. KLA pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Applied Materials pays out 24.1% 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. Applied Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has better earnings & valuation, KLAC or AMAT?

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
KLA	$10.85B	8.62	$2.76B	$23.78	29.58
Applied Materials	$27.64B	4.40	$7.18B	$7.65	19.57

Does the media refer more to KLAC or AMAT?

In the previous week, Applied Materials had 23 more articles in the media than KLA. MarketBeat recorded 55 mentions for Applied Materials and 32 mentions for KLA. Applied Materials' average media sentiment score of 1.25 beat KLA's score of 1.25 indicating that Applied Materials is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
KLA	24 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Materials	43 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is KLAC or AMAT 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
KLA	29.58%	108.60%	24.20%
Applied Materials	22.95%	39.50%	22.12%

Which has more volatility and risk, KLAC or AMAT?

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

Summary

Applied Materials beats KLA on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.