Alphabet (GOOGL) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, AAPL or GOOGL?

Apple has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alphabet has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AAPL or GOOGL?

67.7% of Apple shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.0% of Alphabet shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apple shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of Alphabet shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is AAPL or GOOGL more profitable?

Alphabet has a net margin of 30.86% compared to Apple's net margin of 24.30%. Apple's return on equity of 167.24% beat Alphabet's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apple	24.30%	167.24%	31.35%
Alphabet	30.86%	34.54%	25.07%

Is AAPL or GOOGL a better dividend stock?

Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Alphabet pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple pays out 16.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alphabet pays out 9.4% 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. Apple has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Alphabet has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Apple is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer AAPL or GOOGL?

Apple currently has a consensus price target of $235.11, suggesting a potential upside of 10.42%. Alphabet has a consensus price target of $203.19, suggesting a potential upside of 6.70%. Given Apple's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Apple is more favorable than Alphabet.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58
Alphabet	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	28 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Which has better valuation & earnings, AAPL or GOOGL?

Alphabet has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Apple. Alphabet 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
Apple	$391.04B	8.13	$93.74B	$6.42	33.17
Alphabet	$350.02B	6.60	$100.12B	$8.97	21.23

Does the media prefer AAPL or GOOGL?

In the previous week, Apple had 48 more articles in the media than Alphabet. MarketBeat recorded 254 mentions for Apple and 206 mentions for Alphabet. Alphabet's average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Apple's score of 0.91 indicating that Alphabet is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Apple	154 Very Positive mention(s)	22 Positive mention(s)	56 Neutral mention(s)	17 Negative mention(s)	4 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alphabet	126 Very Positive mention(s)	26 Positive mention(s)	32 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Apple beats Alphabet on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.