Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Competitors

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of CRWD or PANW?

71.2% of CrowdStrike shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.8% of Palo Alto Networks shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of CrowdStrike shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Palo Alto Networks shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend CRWD or PANW?

CrowdStrike presently has a consensus target price of $460.81, suggesting a potential upside of 9.57%. Palo Alto Networks has a consensus target price of $211.52, suggesting a potential upside of 13.80%. Given Palo Alto Networks' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Palo Alto Networks is more favorable than CrowdStrike.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CrowdStrike	1 Sell rating(s)	19 Hold rating(s)	26 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
Palo Alto Networks	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	28 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Is CRWD or PANW more profitable?

Palo Alto Networks has a net margin of 12.30% compared to CrowdStrike's net margin of -4.17%. Palo Alto Networks' return on equity of 17.66% beat CrowdStrike's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CrowdStrike	-4.17%	0.43%	0.17%
Palo Alto Networks	12.30%	17.66%	5.56%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CRWD or PANW?

Palo Alto Networks has higher revenue and earnings than CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Palo Alto Networks, 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
CrowdStrike	$3.95B	26.51	-$19.27M	-$0.69	-609.49
Palo Alto Networks	$9.22B	13.44	$1.13B	$1.60	116.18

Does the media favor CRWD or PANW?

In the previous week, Palo Alto Networks had 79 more articles in the media than CrowdStrike. MarketBeat recorded 145 mentions for Palo Alto Networks and 66 mentions for CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike's average media sentiment score of 1.15 beat Palo Alto Networks' score of 0.89 indicating that CrowdStrike is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CrowdStrike	39 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Palo Alto Networks	72 Very Positive mention(s)	13 Positive mention(s)	37 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, CRWD or PANW?

CrowdStrike has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palo Alto Networks has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Palo Alto Networks beats CrowdStrike on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.