Meta Platforms (META) Competitors

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, community ranking, media sentiment, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in META or GOOGL?

Meta Platforms received 2010 more outperform votes than Alphabet when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 84.48% of users gave Alphabet an outperform vote while only 81.03% of users gave Meta Platforms an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Meta Platforms	Outperform Votes 4715 81.03%	Underperform Votes 1104 18.97%
Alphabet	Outperform Votes 2705 84.48%	Underperform Votes 497 15.52%

Does the media favor META or GOOGL?

In the previous week, Alphabet had 7 more articles in the media than Meta Platforms. MarketBeat recorded 93 mentions for Alphabet and 86 mentions for Meta Platforms. Meta Platforms' average media sentiment score of 0.44 beat Alphabet's score of 0.31 indicating that Meta Platforms is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Meta Platforms	31 Very Positive mention(s)	8 Positive mention(s)	26 Neutral mention(s)	12 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Alphabet	33 Very Positive mention(s)	18 Positive mention(s)	23 Neutral mention(s)	11 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend META or GOOGL?

Meta Platforms presently has a consensus target price of $598.08, suggesting a potential upside of 4.77%. Alphabet has a consensus target price of $201.14, suggesting a potential upside of 22.29%. Given Alphabet's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alphabet is more favorable than Meta Platforms.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meta Platforms	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	35 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90
Alphabet	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	28 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.84

Is META or GOOGL a better dividend stock?

Meta Platforms pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Meta Platforms pays out 11.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alphabet pays out 12.3% 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.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, META or GOOGL?

Alphabet has higher revenue and earnings than Meta Platforms. Alphabet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Meta Platforms, 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
Meta Platforms	$149.78B	9.71	$39.10B	$17.41	32.94
Alphabet	$328.28B	6.21	$73.80B	$6.52	25.31

Which has more risk & volatility, META or GOOGL?

Meta Platforms has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alphabet has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in META or GOOGL?

79.9% of Meta Platforms shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.0% of Alphabet shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.7% of Meta Platforms shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of Alphabet shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is META or GOOGL more profitable?

Meta Platforms has a net margin of 34.34% compared to Alphabet's net margin of 26.70%. Meta Platforms' return on equity of 34.16% beat Alphabet's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meta Platforms	34.34%	34.16%	22.89%
Alphabet	26.70%	30.49%	21.63%

Summary

Meta Platforms beats Alphabet on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.