Western Digital (WDC) Competitors

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) and NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) 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 community ranking, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment and valuation.

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

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

Which has more risk and volatility, 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.

Do analysts recommend WDC or NTAP?

Western Digital currently has a consensus target price of $86.33, indicating a potential upside of 43.32%. NetApp has a consensus target price of $139.20, indicating a potential upside of 17.52%. Given Western Digital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly 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 favor 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%

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 3.3%. 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.

Does the media prefer WDC or NTAP?

In the previous week, NetApp had 4 more articles in the media than Western Digital. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for NetApp and 24 mentions for Western Digital. NetApp's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Western Digital's score of 0.55 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	8 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NetApp	11 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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 higher valuation & earnings, 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	1.45	-$798M	$1.70	35.44
NetApp	$6.47B	3.72	$986M	$5.44	21.77

Summary

Western Digital and NetApp tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.