LRCX vs. AMAT, KLAC, ENTG, ONTO, MKSI, AMKR, FORM, AEIS, ACLS, and VECO
Should you be buying Lam Research stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Lam Research include Applied Materials (AMAT), KLA (KLAC), Entegris (ENTG), Onto Innovation (ONTO), MKS Instruments (MKSI), Amkor Technology (AMKR), FormFactor (FORM), Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS), Axcelis Technologies (ACLS), and Veeco Instruments (VECO). These companies are all part of the "semiconductor equipment" industry.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking and analyst recommendations.
In the previous week, Applied Materials had 12 more articles in the media than Lam Research. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Applied Materials and 14 mentions for Lam Research. Lam Research's average media sentiment score of 0.86 beat Applied Materials' score of 0.54 indicating that Applied Materials is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Applied Materials presently has a consensus price target of $219.04, indicating a potential downside of 1.21%. Lam Research has a consensus price target of $964.86, indicating a potential upside of 0.22%. Given Applied Materials' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lam Research is more favorable than Applied Materials.
Applied Materials received 502 more outperform votes than Lam Research when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 76.43% of users gave Lam Research an outperform vote while only 72.09% of users gave Applied Materials an outperform vote.
Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Lam Research pays an annual dividend of $8.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials pays out 18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lam Research pays out 29.4% 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. Applied Materials has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Lam Research has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years. Lam Research is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than Lam Research. Applied Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lam Research, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Applied Materials has a net margin of 27.57% compared to Applied Materials' net margin of 25.35%. Applied Materials' return on equity of 45.96% beat Lam Research's return on equity.
Applied Materials has a beta of 1.56, indicating that its stock price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lam Research has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.
80.6% of Applied Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.6% of Lam Research shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Applied Materials shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Lam Research shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Applied Materials beats Lam Research on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding LRCX and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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