Microsoft (MSFT) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate ORCL or MSFT?

Oracle currently has a consensus target price of $177.35, suggesting a potential downside of 0.15%. Microsoft has a consensus target price of $511.57, suggesting a potential upside of 8.63%. Given Microsoft's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Microsoft is more favorable than Oracle.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oracle	0 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Microsoft	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	29 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Which has better valuation and earnings, ORCL or MSFT?

Microsoft has higher revenue and earnings than Oracle. Microsoft is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Oracle, 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
Oracle	$55.78B	8.91	$10.47B	$4.26	41.69
Microsoft	$270.01B	12.96	$88.14B	$12.94	36.39

Is ORCL or MSFT more profitable?

Microsoft has a net margin of 35.43% compared to Oracle's net margin of 21.16%. Oracle's return on equity of 133.25% beat Microsoft's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oracle	21.16%	133.25%	9.55%
Microsoft	35.43%	33.36%	18.07%

Which has more risk and volatility, ORCL or MSFT?

Oracle has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Microsoft has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ORCL or MSFT a better dividend stock?

Oracle pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Microsoft pays an annual dividend of $3.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Oracle pays out 46.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Microsoft pays out 25.7% 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. Oracle has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Microsoft has raised its dividend for 23 consecutive years.

Does the media prefer ORCL or MSFT?

In the previous week, Microsoft had 147 more articles in the media than Oracle. MarketBeat recorded 256 mentions for Microsoft and 109 mentions for Oracle. Microsoft's average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat Oracle's score of 1.12 indicating that Microsoft is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Oracle	69 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	24 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Microsoft	194 Very Positive mention(s)	21 Positive mention(s)	28 Neutral mention(s)	7 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in ORCL or MSFT?

42.4% of Oracle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.1% of Microsoft shares are held by institutional investors. 42.2% of Oracle shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Microsoft shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ORCL or MSFT?

Microsoft received 1122 more outperform votes than Oracle when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.95% of users gave Microsoft an outperform vote while only 69.63% of users gave Oracle an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Oracle	Outperform Votes 2141 69.63%	Underperform Votes 934 30.37%
Microsoft	Outperform Votes 3263 72.95%	Underperform Votes 1210 27.05%

Summary

Microsoft beats Oracle on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.