MSFT vs. ORCL, NOW, FTNT, AXON, CVLT, QLYS, AI, PRGS, SAP, and PLTR
Should you be buying Microsoft stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Microsoft include Oracle (ORCL), ServiceNow (NOW), Fortinet (FTNT), Axon Enterprise (AXON), Commvault Systems (CVLT), Qualys (QLYS), C3.ai (AI), Progress Software (PRGS), SAP (SAP), and Palantir Technologies (PLTR).
Microsoft vs.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) 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, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, community ranking, risk, profitability, media sentiment and institutional ownership.
Microsoft pays an annual dividend of $3.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Oracle pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Microsoft pays out 25.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Oracle pays out 46.9% 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. Microsoft has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Oracle has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Microsoft has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oracle has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Microsoft presently has a consensus price target of $510.30, suggesting a potential upside of 12.02%. Oracle has a consensus price target of $174.42, suggesting a potential upside of 8.98%. Given Microsoft's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Microsoft is more favorable than Oracle.
71.1% of Microsoft shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.4% of Oracle shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Microsoft shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 42.2% of Oracle shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
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.
Microsoft received 1118 more outperform votes than Oracle when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.90% of users gave Microsoft an outperform vote while only 69.65% of users gave Oracle an outperform vote.
In the previous week, Microsoft had 234 more articles in the media than Oracle. MarketBeat recorded 315 mentions for Microsoft and 81 mentions for Oracle. Oracle's average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat Microsoft's score of 0.91 indicating that Oracle is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
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.
Summary
Microsoft beats Oracle on 15 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
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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This page (NASDAQ:MSFT) was last updated on 5/21/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
