Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) Vs. CSCO, QCOM, MSI, FFIV, JNPR, CIEN, VSAT, CALX, IDCC, and SATS
Should you be buying Palo Alto Networks stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Palo Alto Networks include Cisco Systems (CSCO), QUALCOMM (QCOM), Motorola Solutions (MSI), F5 (FFIV), Juniper Networks (JNPR), Ciena (CIEN), Viasat (VSAT), Calix (CALX), InterDigital (IDCC), and EchoStar (SATS). These companies are all part of the "communications equipment" industry.
Palo Alto Networks vs.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) 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 media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, community ranking, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.
In the previous week, Cisco Systems had 3 more articles in the media than Palo Alto Networks. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Cisco Systems and 4 mentions for Palo Alto Networks. Cisco Systems' average media sentiment score of 0.29 beat Palo Alto Networks' score of -0.06 indicating that Cisco Systems is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Cisco Systems has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palo Alto Networks has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.
73.2% of Cisco Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.3% of Palo Alto Networks shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Cisco Systems shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Palo Alto Networks shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Cisco Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Palo Alto Networks. Palo Alto Networks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cisco Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Cisco Systems presently has a consensus price target of $62.59, suggesting a potential upside of 27.73%. Palo Alto Networks has a consensus price target of $634.26, suggesting a potential upside of 35.47%. Given Palo Alto Networks' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Palo Alto Networks is more favorable than Cisco Systems.
Cisco Systems received 363 more outperform votes than Palo Alto Networks when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 81.77% of users gave Palo Alto Networks an outperform vote while only 75.14% of users gave Cisco Systems an outperform vote.
Cisco Systems has a net margin of 22.94% compared to Palo Alto Networks' net margin of -9.50%. Cisco Systems' return on equity of 30.95% beat Palo Alto Networks' return on equity.
Summary
Cisco Systems beats Palo Alto Networks on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding PANW and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia 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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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) vs. Its Competitors
Palo Alto Networks Competitors List