NetApp (NTAP) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NTAP or WDC?

Western Digital received 939 more outperform votes than NetApp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 73.92% of users gave Western Digital an outperform vote while only 53.40% of users gave NetApp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NetApp	Outperform Votes 1147 53.40%	Underperform Votes 1001 46.60%
Western Digital	Outperform Votes 2086 73.92%	Underperform Votes 736 26.08%

Which has more risk and volatility, NTAP or WDC?

NetApp has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Digital has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer NTAP or WDC?

NetApp currently has a consensus price target of $121.40, indicating a potential upside of 20.13%. Western Digital has a consensus price target of $64.15, indicating a potential upside of 26.70%. Given Western Digital's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Western Digital is more favorable than NetApp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NetApp	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41
Western Digital	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	18 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in NTAP or WDC?

92.2% of NetApp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Western Digital shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of NetApp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Western Digital shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is NTAP or WDC a better dividend stock?

NetApp pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Western Digital pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. NetApp pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Digital pays out 7.6% 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. NetApp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. NetApp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer NTAP or WDC?

In the previous week, NetApp and NetApp both had 34 articles in the media. NetApp's average media sentiment score of 1.25 beat Western Digital's score of 0.97 indicating that NetApp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NetApp	21 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Western Digital	19 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, NTAP or WDC?

NetApp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Western Digital. Western Digital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NetApp, 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
NetApp	$6.51B	3.16	$986M	$5.40	18.71
Western Digital	$15.61B	1.13	-$798M	$5.28	9.59

Is NTAP or WDC more profitable?

NetApp has a net margin of 17.78% compared to Western Digital's net margin of 9.95%. NetApp's return on equity of 123.63% beat Western Digital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NetApp	17.78%	123.63%	13.03%
Western Digital	9.95%	15.68%	7.13%

Summary

NetApp beats Western Digital on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.