Financial Contrast: Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) vs. Silvaco Group (NASDAQ:SVCO)

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Silvaco Group (NASDAQ:SVCO) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.6% of Applied Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Applied Materials shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 38.4% of Silvaco Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Applied Materials and Silvaco Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Applied Materials	23.88%	40.96%	22.99%
Silvaco Group	-56.53%	-14.47%	-9.44%

Volatility & Risk

Applied Materials has a beta of 1.82, suggesting that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Silvaco Group has a beta of 3.13, suggesting that its share price is 213% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Applied Materials and Silvaco Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Applied Materials	1	12	18	0	2.55
Silvaco Group	1	0	4	0	2.60

Applied Materials currently has a consensus target price of $209.15, indicating a potential downside of 8.57%. Silvaco Group has a consensus target price of $11.25, indicating a potential upside of 81.74%. Given Silvaco Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Silvaco Group is more favorable than Applied Materials.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Applied Materials and Silvaco Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Applied Materials	$27.18 billion	6.71	$7.18 billion	$8.39	27.26
Silvaco Group	$59.68 million	3.15	-$39.40 million	($1.08)	-5.73

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

Summary

Applied Materials beats Silvaco Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc. engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits. This segment also offers various technologies, including epitaxy, ion implantation, oxidation/nitridation, rapid thermal processing, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, electrochemical deposition, atomic layer deposition, etching, and selective deposition and removal, as well as metrology and inspection tools. The Applied Global Services segment provides integrated solutions to optimize equipment and fab performance and productivity comprising spares, upgrades, services, remanufactured earlier generation equipment, and factory automation software for semiconductor, display, and other products. The Display and Adjacent Markets segment offers products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays; organic light-emitting diodes; and other display technologies for TVs, monitors, laptops, personal computers, electronic tablets, smart phones, and other consumer-oriented devices. It operates in the United States, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe. The company was incorporated in 1967 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

About Silvaco Group

Silvaco Group Inc. is a provider of TCAD, EDA software and SIP solutions which enable semiconductor design and AI through software and innovation. The company’s solutions are used for process and device development across display, power devices, automotive, memory, high performance compute, photonics, internet of things and 5G/6G mobile markets for complex SoC design. Silvaco Group Inc. is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.