Lam Research (LRCX) Competitors

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) 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 community ranking, risk, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

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

84.6% of Lam Research shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.6% of Applied Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Lam Research shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Applied Materials shares are held 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.

Do analysts rate LRCX or AMAT?

Lam Research presently has a consensus target price of $95.77, indicating a potential upside of 18.79%. Applied Materials has a consensus target price of $217.41, indicating a potential upside of 13.57%. Given Lam Research's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lam Research is more favorable than Applied Materials.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lam Research	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Applied Materials	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Does the MarketBeat Community favor LRCX or AMAT?

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

Which has higher valuation & earnings, LRCX or AMAT?

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
Lam Research	$14.91B	6.96	$3.83B	$3.09	26.06
Applied Materials	$27.18B	5.73	$7.18B	$8.61	22.23

Is LRCX or AMAT a better dividend stock?

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

Is LRCX or AMAT 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
Lam Research	26.02%	50.60%	22.33%
Applied Materials	26.41%	39.26%	21.92%

Does the media refer more to LRCX or AMAT?

In the previous week, Lam Research had 19 more articles in the media than Applied Materials. MarketBeat recorded 68 mentions for Lam Research and 49 mentions for Applied Materials. Lam Research's average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat Applied Materials' score of 0.94 indicating that Lam Research is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lam Research	46 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	7 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Materials	36 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, LRCX or AMAT?

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

Summary

Lam Research beats Applied Materials on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.