BE Semiconductor Industries (OTCMKTS:BESIY – Get Rating) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares BE Semiconductor Industries and Applied Materials' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.2% of Applied Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of BE Semiconductor Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Applied Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

BE Semiconductor Industries currently has a consensus price target of $73.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.31%. Applied Materials has a consensus price target of $117.64, indicating a potential downside of 5.33%. Given BE Semiconductor Industries' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BE Semiconductor Industries is more favorable than Applied Materials.

Risk & Volatility

BE Semiconductor Industries has a beta of 1.58, suggesting that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Materials has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

BE Semiconductor Industries pays an annual dividend of $2.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. BE Semiconductor Industries pays out 85.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Applied Materials pays out 14.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Applied Materials has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BE Semiconductor Industries and Applied Materials' gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than BE Semiconductor Industries. Applied Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BE Semiconductor Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Applied Materials beats BE Semiconductor Industries on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BE Semiconductor Industries

(Get Rating)

BE Semiconductor Industries NV engages in the development, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and service of semiconductor assembly equipment for the global semiconductor and electronics industries. Its products and services include machines conversion kits and upgrades; installation, start-up, and training services; spare parts; and extended warranty. The company was founded in May 1995 and is headquartered in Duiven, the Netherlands.

About Applied Materials

(Get Rating)

Applied Materials, Inc. provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation. The Applied Global Services segment provides solutions to optimize equipment, performance, and productivity. The Display & Adjacent Markets segment offers products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting diodes, equipment upgrades, and other display technologies for TVs, monitors, laptops, personal computers, smart phones, and other consumer-oriented devices. The company was founded on November 10, 1967 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.

Receive News & Ratings for BE Semiconductor Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BE Semiconductor Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.