NetApp (NTAP) Competitors

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

Is WDC or NTAP more profitable?

NetApp has a net margin of 17.78% compared to Western Digital's net margin of 4.81%. NetApp's return on equity of 123.63% beat Western Digital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Digital	4.81%	8.57%	3.76%
NetApp	17.78%	123.63%	13.03%

Which has better earnings and valuation, WDC or NTAP?

NetApp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Western Digital. NetApp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western Digital, 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
Western Digital	$14.35B	1.49	-$798M	$1.70	36.29
NetApp	$6.47B	3.73	$986M	$5.44	21.85

Do analysts rate WDC or NTAP?

Western Digital presently has a consensus price target of $86.33, suggesting a potential upside of 39.92%. NetApp has a consensus price target of $139.20, suggesting a potential upside of 17.13%. Given Western Digital's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Western Digital is more favorable than NetApp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Digital	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
NetApp	1 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WDC or NTAP?

Western Digital received 918 more outperform votes than NetApp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 74.08% of users gave Western Digital an outperform vote while only 53.56% of users gave NetApp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Western Digital	Outperform Votes 2055 74.08%	Underperform Votes 719 25.92%
NetApp	Outperform Votes 1137 53.56%	Underperform Votes 986 46.44%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in WDC or NTAP?

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

Does the media favor WDC or NTAP?

In the previous week, Western Digital had 14 more articles in the media than NetApp. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Western Digital and 6 mentions for NetApp. NetApp's average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat Western Digital's score of 0.19 indicating that NetApp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Western Digital	4 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
NetApp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WDC or NTAP a better dividend stock?

Western Digital pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. NetApp pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Western Digital pays out 117.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. NetApp pays out 38.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Which has more volatility and risk, WDC or NTAP?

Western Digital has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NetApp has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Western Digital beats NetApp on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.