CDNS
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
CDNS's fundamentals are strong: revenue grew 18% and it turned 29% of its revenue into free cash flow. At 66x earnings, it's trading right at its usual valuation. Analysts expect earnings growth.
CDNS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
CDNS's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
CDNS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 35x | $333 | — |
| Cheap | 47x | $238 | -29% |
| Current | 66x | $333 | — |
| Fair | 67x | $337 | +1.2% |
| Expensive | 80x | $403 | +21% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CDNS's PE is in its fair range at 66x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 35x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
CDNS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for CDNS, with profitability improving.
CDNS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.42 | +87% |
| Q3 2026 | $5.03 | +30% |
| Q2 2026 | $5.03 | +36% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.29 | +8.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.06 | +5.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.87 | +1.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.69 | -4.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.94 | +2.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.85 | +0.8% |
CDNS earned $5.03 per share over the past year, up 30% from the year before.
CDNS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.6B | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.5B | +19% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.4B | +6.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.3B | +10% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.3B | +20% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.2B | +23% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.4B | +27% |
CDNS's revenue has grown year over year for 10 quarters in a row: $1.6B last quarter, up 22% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 26% | -5.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 28% | +9.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 29% | +0.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 32% | -1.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 32% | +3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 19% | -8.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | 29% | +4.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 34% | +2.2 points |
CDNS's operating margin was 26% last quarter, down 5.5 points from the same quarter a year ago.
CDNS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $361.9M | +31% |
| Q2 2026 | $582.3M | +75% |
| Q1 2026 | $307M | -34% |
| Q4 2025 | $512.5M | +27% |
| Q3 2025 | $277M | -28% |
| Q2 2025 | $333.5M | +163% |
| Q1 2025 | $464M | +128% |
| Q4 2024 | $404.2M | +70% |
CDNS's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $1.8B over the past year, up 19% from the year before.
CDNS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.3% | -885K shares |
| 1 year | +0.5% | +1.5M shares |
| 3 years | +1% | +2.9M shares |
| 5 years | -1.1% | -3M shares |
| Available history | -1.9% | -5.2M shares |
CDNS has 275M diluted shares, up 0.5% from a year ago, despite $1B in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $400M |
| Q2 2026 | $200M |
| Q1 2026 | $200M |
| Q4 2025 | $200M |
| Q3 2025 | $200M |
| Q2 2025 | $175M |
| Q1 2025 | $350M |
| Q4 2024 | $150M |
CDNS spent $1B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 14% from the year before.
CDNS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | -0.7x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.8x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -1.7x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -1.7x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -1.7x | Net Cash |
CDNS's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), after holding more cash than debt a year ago.
CDNS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 51.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 60.8 | Neutral |
CDNS's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 61 (neutral).
CDNS PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | CDNS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 66x | 28x | 138% above |
| PE % | 46 | 35 | 11 pts above |
CDNS is trading at 66x earnings, a 138% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
CDNS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $330.9 | 0.7% above |
| 20 week MA | $329.5 | 1.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $325.8 | 2.3% above |
| 100 week MA | $317.2 | 5.1% above |
| 200 week MA | $287.9 | 16% above |
CDNS is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 16% above its 200-week average.
CDNS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $70.3 | $134.0 | +91% |
| 2021 | $134.0 | $187.5 | +40% |
| 2022 | $187.5 | $161.5 | -14% |
| 2023 | $161.5 | $272.4 | +69% |
| 2024 | $272.4 | $305.0 | +12% |
| 2025 | $305.0 | $318.9 | +4.5% |
| 2026 YTD | $318.9 | $333.3 | +4.5% |
CDNS has finished higher in five of the last six years, two of them by more than 50%. It's up 4.5% so far in 2026.