NetApp (NTAP) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate NTAP or WDC?

NetApp presently has a consensus price target of $137.33, indicating a potential upside of 10.33%. Western Digital has a consensus price target of $84.42, indicating a potential upside of 22.87%. Given Western Digital's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Western Digital is more favorable than NetApp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NetApp	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.35
Western Digital	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NTAP or WDC?

Western Digital received 926 more outperform votes than NetApp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 74.04% of users gave Western Digital an outperform vote while only 53.51% of users gave NetApp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NetApp	Outperform Votes 1142 53.51%	Underperform Votes 992 46.49%
Western Digital	Outperform Votes 2068 74.04%	Underperform Votes 725 25.96%

Does the media refer more to NTAP or WDC?

In the previous week, NetApp had 20 more articles in the media than Western Digital. MarketBeat recorded 48 mentions for NetApp and 28 mentions for Western Digital. Western Digital's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat NetApp's score of 0.86 indicating that Western Digital is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NetApp	22 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Western Digital	18 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of NTAP or WDC?

92.2% of NetApp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Western Digital shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of NetApp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Western Digital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, NTAP or WDC?

NetApp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Western Digital. Western Digital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NetApp, 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
NetApp	$6.27B	4.04	$986M	$5.44	22.88
Western Digital	$13.00B	1.84	-$798M	$4.20	16.36

Which has more volatility & risk, NTAP or WDC?

NetApp has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Digital has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NTAP or WDC more profitable?

NetApp has a net margin of 17.78% compared to Western Digital's net margin of 9.95%. NetApp's return on equity of 123.63% beat Western Digital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NetApp	17.78%	123.63%	13.03%
Western Digital	9.95%	15.68%	7.13%

Summary

NetApp and Western Digital tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.