AT&T (T) Competitors

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and AT&T (NYSE:T) 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 risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability and media sentiment.

Is AAPL or T more profitable?

Apple has a net margin of 24.30% compared to AT&T's net margin of 10.29%. Apple's return on equity of 167.24% beat AT&T's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apple	24.30%	167.24%	31.35%
AT&T	10.29%	13.36%	3.99%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AAPL or T?

67.7% of Apple shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of AT&T shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apple shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of AT&T shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better valuation & earnings, AAPL or T?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than AT&T. AT&T is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, 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
Apple	$391.04B	8.18	$93.74B	$6.42	33.37
AT&T	$122.34B	1.65	$10.95B	$1.63	17.25

Which has more volatility & risk, AAPL or T?

Apple has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AT&T has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AAPL or T a better dividend stock?

Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. AT&T pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Apple pays out 16.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AT&T pays out 68.1% 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. Apple has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Do analysts prefer AAPL or T?

Apple presently has a consensus price target of $234.94, suggesting a potential upside of 9.66%. AT&T has a consensus price target of $29.66, suggesting a potential upside of 5.49%. Given Apple's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Apple is more favorable than AT&T.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
AT&T	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.77

Does the media refer more to AAPL or T?

In the previous week, Apple had 128 more articles in the media than AT&T. MarketBeat recorded 253 mentions for Apple and 125 mentions for AT&T. Apple's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat AT&T's score of 0.84 indicating that Apple is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Apple	154 Very Positive mention(s)	22 Positive mention(s)	52 Neutral mention(s)	20 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AT&T	74 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	31 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	4 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Apple beats AT&T on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.