HP (HPQ) Competitors

HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, dividends and community ranking.

Which has more volatility & risk, HPQ or ANET?

HP has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arista Networks has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in HPQ or ANET?

77.5% of HP shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.5% of Arista Networks shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of HP shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Arista Networks 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.

Do analysts prefer HPQ or ANET?

HP presently has a consensus price target of $35.55, indicating a potential upside of 0.07%. Arista Networks has a consensus price target of $373.88, indicating a potential downside of 3.04%. Given HP's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe HP is more favorable than Arista Networks.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HP	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Arista Networks	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.74

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HPQ or ANET?

HP received 191 more outperform votes than Arista Networks when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 74.70% of users gave Arista Networks an outperform vote while only 60.74% of users gave HP an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
HP	Outperform Votes 1499 60.74%	Underperform Votes 969 39.26%
Arista Networks	Outperform Votes 1308 74.70%	Underperform Votes 443 25.30%

Does the media refer more to HPQ or ANET?

In the previous week, HP had 2 more articles in the media than Arista Networks. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for HP and 16 mentions for Arista Networks. Arista Networks' average media sentiment score of 0.87 beat HP's score of 0.71 indicating that Arista Networks is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
HP	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Arista Networks	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is HPQ or ANET more profitable?

Arista Networks has a net margin of 39.01% compared to HP's net margin of 5.33%. Arista Networks' return on equity of 30.50% beat HP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HP	5.33%	-266.37%	9.01%
Arista Networks	39.01%	30.50%	22.23%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, HPQ or ANET?

HP has higher revenue and earnings than Arista Networks. HP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Arista 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
HP	$53.32B	0.64	$3.26B	$2.85	12.46
Arista Networks	$6.31B	19.19	$2.09B	$7.18	53.82

Summary

Arista Networks beats HP on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.