Apple Inc. (AAPL)vs Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)

Quick verdict

Scale is the first thing to settle here: Apple carried a market value of roughly $5,005.2bn at the 14 October 2026 close against about $931.8bn for AMD, and turned over $466.8bn of revenue in the twelve months to June 2026 versus $41.3bn — roughly eleven times the sales base. That gap shapes every factor. Apple took the valuation, quality and income factors on our scoring; AMD took growth. The balance-sheet and momentum factors could not be scored. On the four scored and two unscored factors the tally came to 4 points for Apple and 2 for AMD. In short, one is a cash-generating incumbent priced at 39.3 times trailing earnings, the other a far smaller semiconductor designer compounding revenue at 28.8% a year over five years and priced at 146.4 times earnings.

At-a-glance comparison

Not scored — Balance sheet: no interest coverage for AAPL. Momentum: no share-price return data for either company. A factor missing a figure for either company cannot be won by either, so it adds half a point to each score, as a tie does.

Business model and revenue mix

Apple designs and sells iPhone, Mac, iPad and wearables, alongside a growing services arm spanning the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music and Apple Pay — a consumer electronics business within the technology sector, listed on Nasdaq with a September fiscal year end. AMD, also Nasdaq-listed but classified under semiconductors with a December year end, designs CPUs, GPUs and adaptive chips for PCs, servers, games consoles and data-centre AI. Both are US-domiciled and both report figures drawn here from SEC filings on a trailing-twelve-month basis to 27 June 2026. The commercial difference shows in the income statement: Apple converted $466.8bn of revenue into $128.9bn of net income and $136.7bn of free cash flow, while AMD converted $41.3bn into $6.4bn and $8.4bn respectively. Both report an operating-income line, so no substitute measure is used.

Valuation

On the multiples our data holds, the cheaper of the two is Apple, and that decided the factor. Trailing earnings are priced at 39.3 times for Apple against 146.4 times for AMD; sales at 10.7 times against 22.6 times; enterprise value at 30.1 times EBITDA against 132.7 times. Free cash flow yield tells the same story — 2.73% versus 0.90%. Two measures lean the other way and deserve stating. Price-to-book is 46.6 times for Apple against 13.9 times for AMD, a function of Apple's equity base of only $107.5bn after years of repurchases. And the PEG ratio, which sets the earnings multiple against growth, reads 5.72 for Apple and 3.14 for AMD, reflecting AMD's faster earnings trajectory. All price-based figures are as of 14 October 2026.

Growth profile

Here the ranking inverts, and clearly. Measured from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025, AMD compounded revenue at 13.64% a year against 1.81% for Apple; from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025 the figures are 28.82% and 8.68%. Earnings per share over the three years to fiscal 2025 grew at 46.66% annually for AMD versus 6.88% for Apple, although that rate runs off a low fiscal 2022 earnings base and should be read with that in mind. The five-year EPS picture is the one reversal: Apple compounded at 17.86% a year from fiscal 2020, AMD at just 5.17%, so AMD's recent surge follows a weaker stretch in between. On balance the growth factor goes to AMD, driven by the top line rather than a steady earnings record.

Profitability and quality

Margins split by line item. AMD holds the better gross margin at 53.20% against Apple's 48.65%, but the advantage evaporates below that: Apple's operating margin of 33.17% is more than double AMD's 15.71%, and net margin runs 27.62% against 15.58%. Returns on capital are where the gap widens furthest. Apple's return on invested capital of 84.08% compares with 8.49% at AMD. Return on equity reads 148.75% against 10.14%, but that Apple figure is heavily flattered by a shareholders' equity base reduced to $107.5bn by sustained buybacks — ROIC is the fairer yardstick here, and it still favours Apple by a wide margin. On these measures the quality factor goes to Apple, with AMD's strength confined to the gross-profit line.

Balance-sheet risk

This factor could not be scored, because interest coverage is missing for Apple — that calculation needs both operating profit and a reported interest expense, and one of those is absent from the filings we hold. The figures that are available point in different directions. Apple carried $39.5bn of cash against $84.3bn of total debt at 27 June 2026, net debt of 0.27 times EBITDA, and a current ratio of exactly 1.0. AMD held $5.1bn of cash against $3.2bn of debt — a net cash position, shown as net debt to EBITDA of -0.27 — with a current ratio of 2.61 and interest coverage of 44.1 times. AMD therefore looks the more liquid on working capital, while Apple's leverage remains modest relative to its earnings power. No winner is recorded.

Price performance and shareholder returns

Shareholder distributions favour Apple, which took the income factor. Apple paid $1.05 per share over the twelve months to June 2026, a dividend yield of 0.31% at the October 2026 price, from a payout ratio of 12.13% — leaving the bulk of $136.7bn in free cash flow for other uses. Chief among those is repurchase: Apple's buyback yield stands at 1.64%. AMD pays no dividend at all, with a yield and payout ratio of zero, and its buyback yield of 0.03% is effectively nominal, consistent with a company directing cash toward growth. Neither is a high-yield proposition in absolute terms. Separately, the momentum factor could not be scored for either company, because we hold no licensed share-price history and so no one-, three- or five-year return figures for AAPL or AMD.

Which stock fits which investor

The style tags attached to these two capture the split: Apple is labelled mature and high-quality, AMD a blend. An investor screening on value metrics would land on Apple, which leads on four of the six valuation measures here including a 30.1 times EV/EBITDA against 132.7 times. Income screens point the same way, though a 0.31% yield is slim by any standard. Quality screens also favour Apple on an 84.08% return on invested capital. Growth screens select AMD on 28.82% five-year revenue compounding, and our best-for-growth pick rests on revenue growth alone. The trade-off is plain: Apple offers scale, margin and cash conversion at a mid-to-high earnings multiple; AMD offers a far faster top line at 146.4 times earnings and 22.6 times sales. No price-return history is available to inform either view.

• Value: AAPL
• Growth: AMD
• Income: AAPL
• Quality: AAPL

Frequently asked questions

Which company is larger, Apple or AMD?

Apple, by a wide margin. Its market capitalisation was about $5,005.2bn at the 14 October 2026 close against roughly $931.8bn for AMD, and it generated $466.8bn of revenue in the twelve months to June 2026 versus AMD's $41.3bn — around eleven times the sales base.

Is AMD more expensive than Apple?

On most measures in our data, yes. AMD trades at 146.4 times trailing earnings and 132.7 times EV/EBITDA, against 39.3 times and 30.1 times for Apple, with a free cash flow yield of 0.90% versus 2.73%. AMD does look cheaper on price-to-book, at 13.9 times against Apple's 46.6 times, and on PEG at 3.14 versus 5.72.

Which has grown faster?

AMD. Revenue compounded at 28.82% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025 against 8.68% for Apple, and at 13.64% versus 1.81% over the three years from fiscal 2022. The exception is five-year EPS growth, where Apple's 17.86% annual rate well exceeds AMD's 5.17%.

Does either company pay a dividend?

Only Apple, which paid $1.05 per share over the twelve months to June 2026 — a 0.31% yield on the October 2026 price, from a 12.13% payout ratio. AMD's dividend yield and payout ratio are both zero, and its buyback yield of 0.03% compares with Apple's 1.64%.

Why was the balance-sheet factor not scored?

Because interest coverage is unavailable for Apple, a figure that requires both operating profit and a reported interest expense. The remaining data shows Apple with net debt of 0.27 times EBITDA and a current ratio of 1.0, and AMD in a net cash position (-0.27 times EBITDA) with a current ratio of 2.61 and 44.1 times interest coverage.

Go deeper: guides for this comparison

• Balance-sheet risk: net debt, interest cover and the current ratioThe three numbers that show whether a company can carry its debt, how to read each one, and what they reveal about Pfizer, Intel, Disney and Palantir.
• EV/EBITDA explained: valuing the whole business, not just the sharesHow enterprise value and EBITDA work, why EV/EBITDA and P/E can disagree by a mile, its blind spots, and what the gap tells you about Alphabet, Amazon and Micron.
• How the six-factor score works — and where it falls shortThe exact rules behind every TickerVerdict verdict: what each of the six factors measures, how ties are decided, a worked example, and the score's real limits.
• Operating margin: why Nvidia keeps 65 cents of each dollar and Ford keeps noneWhat operating margin measures, why it differs so much between business models, and what Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nvidia, Intel and the carmakers teach about pricing power.

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