AT&T (T) Competitors

AT&T (NYSE:T) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Which has better valuation & earnings, T or AAPL?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than AT&T. AT&T is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, 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
AT&T	$122.34B	1.67	$10.95B	$1.63	17.42
Apple	$400.37B	7.83	$93.74B	$6.42	32.70

Which has more volatility & risk, T or AAPL?

AT&T has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apple has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is T or AAPL a better dividend stock?

AT&T pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. AT&T pays out 68.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Apple pays out 16.2% 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. Apple has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend T or AAPL?

AT&T currently has a consensus price target of $29.05, indicating a potential upside of 2.32%. Apple has a consensus price target of $234.95, indicating a potential upside of 11.91%. Given Apple's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Apple is more favorable than AT&T.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AT&T	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.72
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

Do institutionals and insiders believe in T or AAPL?

57.1% of AT&T shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of Apple shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of AT&T shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Apple shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is T or AAPL more profitable?

Apple has a net margin of 24.30% compared to AT&T's net margin of 9.64%. Apple's return on equity of 167.24% beat AT&T's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AT&T	9.64%	13.63%	4.08%
Apple	24.30%	167.24%	31.35%

Does the media prefer T or AAPL?

In the previous week, Apple had 182 more articles in the media than AT&T. MarketBeat recorded 265 mentions for Apple and 83 mentions for AT&T. AT&T's average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat Apple's score of 0.79 indicating that AT&T is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AT&T	53 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Apple	147 Very Positive mention(s)	18 Positive mention(s)	60 Neutral mention(s)	28 Negative mention(s)	10 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Apple beats AT&T on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.