Western Digital (WDC) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer WDC or NTAP?

Western Digital currently has a consensus target price of $73.68, indicating a potential upside of 83.43%. NetApp has a consensus target price of $125.07, indicating a potential upside of 41.85%. Given Western Digital's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Western Digital is more favorable than NetApp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Digital	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
NetApp	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.35

Is WDC or NTAP 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
Western Digital	9.95%	15.68%	7.13%
NetApp	17.78%	123.63%	13.03%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, WDC or NTAP?

NetApp has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Western Digital	$15.60B	0.90	-$798M	$4.20	9.56
NetApp	$6.51B	2.76	$986M	$5.40	16.33

Which has more risk and volatility, WDC or NTAP?

Western Digital has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NetApp has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WDC or NTAP?

Western Digital received 930 more outperform votes than NetApp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 73.91% of users gave Western Digital an outperform vote while only 53.45% of users gave NetApp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Western Digital	Outperform Votes 2076 73.91%	Underperform Votes 733 26.09%
NetApp	Outperform Votes 1146 53.45%	Underperform Votes 998 46.55%

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 5.0%. NetApp pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Western Digital pays out 47.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NetApp pays out 38.5% 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.

Do insiders and institutionals believe 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of NetApp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to WDC or NTAP?

In the previous week, NetApp had 6 more articles in the media than Western Digital. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for NetApp and 22 mentions for Western Digital. NetApp's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Western Digital's score of 0.83 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	12 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NetApp	16 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

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