Head to Head Comparison: Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD)

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, risk and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Palo Alto Networks has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CrowdStrike has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Palo Alto Networks	$9.22 billion	14.11	$1.13 billion	$1.60	121.54
CrowdStrike	$3.95 billion	26.33	-$19.27 million	($1.19)	-350.95

Palo Alto Networks has higher revenue and earnings than CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Palo Alto Networks, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Palo Alto Networks	2	11	28	0	2.63
CrowdStrike	0	19	24	1	2.59

Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus price target of $211.68, suggesting a potential upside of 8.85%. CrowdStrike has a consensus price target of $460.10, suggesting a potential upside of 10.17%. Given CrowdStrike’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CrowdStrike is more favorable than Palo Alto Networks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.8% of Palo Alto Networks shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.2% of CrowdStrike shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Palo Alto Networks shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of CrowdStrike shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Palo Alto Networks	12.30%	17.66%	5.56%
CrowdStrike	-6.84%	-1.53%	-0.61%

Summary

Palo Alto Networks beats CrowdStrike on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention. In addition, the company offers cloud security, secure access, security operations, and threat intelligence and security consulting; professional services, including architecture design and planning, implementation, configuration, and firewall migration; education services, such as certifications, as well as online and in-classroom training; and support services. It sells its products and services through its channel partners, as well as directly to medium to large enterprises, service providers, and government entities operating in various industries, including education, energy, financial services, government entities, healthcare, Internet and media, manufacturing, public sector, and telecommunications. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

About CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. provides cybersecurity solutions in the United States and internationally. Its unified platform offers cloud-delivered protection of endpoints, cloud workloads, identity, and data. The company offers corporate endpoint and cloud workload security, managed security, security and vulnerability management, IT operations management, identity protection, SIEM and log management, threat intelligence, data protection, security orchestration, automation and response and AI powered workflow automation, and securing generative AI workload services. It primarily sells subscriptions to its Falcon platform and cloud modules. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.