Microsoft (MSFT) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend ORCL or MSFT?

Oracle presently has a consensus target price of $182.73, suggesting a potential upside of 13.46%. Microsoft has a consensus target price of $512.93, suggesting a potential upside of 19.56%. Given Microsoft's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Microsoft is more favorable than Oracle.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oracle	1 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Microsoft	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	26 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.97

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ORCL or MSFT?

Microsoft received 1089 more outperform votes than Oracle when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.78% of users gave Microsoft an outperform vote while only 69.87% of users gave Oracle an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Oracle	Outperform Votes 2120 69.87%	Underperform Votes 914 30.13%
Microsoft	Outperform Votes 3209 72.78%	Underperform Votes 1200 27.22%

Which has more risk & volatility, ORCL or MSFT?

Oracle has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Microsoft has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to ORCL or MSFT?

In the previous week, Microsoft had 135 more articles in the media than Oracle. MarketBeat recorded 226 mentions for Microsoft and 91 mentions for Oracle. Microsoft's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Oracle's score of 1.05 indicating that Microsoft is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Oracle	57 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	4 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Microsoft	153 Very Positive mention(s)	19 Positive mention(s)	34 Neutral mention(s)	17 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ORCL or MSFT more profitable?

Microsoft has a net margin of 35.61% compared to Oracle's net margin of 21.16%. Oracle's return on equity of 133.25% beat Microsoft's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oracle	21.16%	133.25%	9.55%
Microsoft	35.61%	34.56%	18.19%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, ORCL or MSFT?

Microsoft has higher revenue and earnings than Oracle. Microsoft is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Oracle, 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
Oracle	$52.96B	8.51	$10.47B	$4.09	39.38
Microsoft	$245.12B	13.01	$88.14B	$12.12	35.40

Is ORCL or MSFT a better dividend stock?

Oracle pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft pays an annual dividend of $3.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Oracle pays out 39.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Microsoft pays out 27.4% 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. Oracle has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Microsoft has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in ORCL or MSFT?

42.4% of Oracle shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.1% of Microsoft shares are owned by institutional investors. 42.2% of Oracle shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Microsoft shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Microsoft beats Oracle on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.