KLA (KLAC) Competitors

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, community ranking, earnings, risk, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Is KLAC or AMAT a better dividend stock?

KLA pays an annual dividend of $7.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. KLA pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Applied Materials pays out 22.4% 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. KLA has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Applied Materials has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Applied Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is KLAC or AMAT more profitable?

KLA has a net margin of 29.58% compared to Applied Materials' net margin of 22.95%. KLA's return on equity of 108.60% beat Applied Materials' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KLA	29.58%	108.60%	24.20%
Applied Materials	22.95%	39.50%	22.12%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in KLAC or AMAT?

86.7% of KLA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.6% of Applied Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of KLA shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Applied Materials shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in KLAC or AMAT?

Applied Materials received 1128 more outperform votes than KLA when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.99% of users gave Applied Materials an outperform vote while only 62.02% of users gave KLA an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
KLA	Outperform Votes 810 62.02%	Underperform Votes 496 37.98%
Applied Materials	Outperform Votes 1938 71.99%	Underperform Votes 754 28.01%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, KLAC or AMAT?

Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than KLA. Applied Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KLA, 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
KLA	$11.55B	9.81	$2.76B	$27.51	31.14
Applied Materials	$28.09B	4.96	$7.18B	$8.22	21.14

Does the media refer more to KLAC or AMAT?

In the previous week, Applied Materials had 26 more articles in the media than KLA. MarketBeat recorded 66 mentions for Applied Materials and 40 mentions for KLA. KLA's average media sentiment score of 1.58 beat Applied Materials' score of 1.20 indicating that KLA is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
KLA	35 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Applied Materials	41 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate KLAC or AMAT?

KLA presently has a consensus price target of $795.39, indicating a potential downside of 7.14%. Applied Materials has a consensus price target of $199.29, indicating a potential upside of 14.68%. Given Applied Materials' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Applied Materials is more favorable than KLA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KLA	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53
Applied Materials	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Which has more risk & volatility, KLAC or AMAT?

KLA has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Materials has a beta of 1.67, suggesting that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Applied Materials beats KLA on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.