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Universe/Services-Prepackaged Software/CDNS

Cadence Design Systems Inc.

CDNS · US · USD
Watchlist and comparison: planned
Market value95.23 bn USD
Industry per SECServices-Prepackaged Software
Price as of12 Oct 2026
Last financial year2025
Latest filing10-Q, 29 Jul 2026
Method version2.7.0
Years in the base11
Company quality, four grades from 0 to 5
Balance sheet5
Profitability4
Cash flow5
Growth4
Total points18 of 20
Share valuation, scored separately
Position in the rangeabove

The key figures

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All values from audited annual reports filed with the US regulator SEC. No value is estimated, none smoothed.

GradePointsBasis
Balance sheet5/5Net cash 3.16 bn $, no net debt · Current ratio 2.9
How this grade is built
Net debt to operating incomeNet cash 3.16 bn $, no net debt5/51: ≤ 5.0×2: ≤ 4.0×3: ≤ 3.0×4: ≤ 2.0×5: ≤ 1.0×
Current ratio2.95/51: ≥ 0.82: ≥ 1.03: ≥ 1.34: ≥ 1.85: ≥ 2.5
Mean 5 + 5 / 2 = 5.00, rounded 5
Profitability4/5Operating margin 28.2% · Return on equity 20.3%
How this grade is built
Operating margin28.2%4/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 5.0%3: ≥ 12.0%4: ≥ 20.0%5: ≥ 30.0%Next step: at least 30.0% for grade 5
Return on equity20.3%4/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 5.0%3: ≥ 10.0%4: ≥ 18.0%5: ≥ 25.0%Next step: at least 25.0% for grade 5
Mean 4 + 4 / 2 = 4.00, rounded 4
Cash flow5/5Free cash flow to revenue 30.0% · Profit covered by cash flow 1.4× · Free cash flow positive 5 of 5 years
How this grade is built
Free cash flow to revenue30.0%5/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 5.0%3: ≥ 10.0%4: ≥ 18.0%5: ≥ 25.0%
Profit covered by cash flow1.4×5/51: ≥ 0.4×2: ≥ 0.6×3: ≥ 0.8×4: ≥ 1.0×5: ≥ 1.2×
Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years5/51: 1 of 52: 2 of 53: 3 of 54: 4 of 55: 5 of 5
Mean 5 + 5 + 5 / 3 = 5.00, rounded 5
Growth4/5Revenue growth per year 14.6% · Operating income per year 18.2%
How this grade is built
Revenue growth per year14.6%3/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 3.0%3: ≥ 8.0%4: ≥ 15.0%5: ≥ 25.0%Next step: at least 15.0% for grade 4
Operating income per year18.2%4/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 3.0%3: ≥ 8.0%4: ≥ 15.0%5: ≥ 25.0%Next step: at least 25.0% for grade 5
Mean 3 + 4 / 2 = 3.50, rounded 4

Each grade is the rounded mean of two or three key figures, each placed on a five-step scale. Open the derivation under a grade to see, for every figure, the measured value, the step it reached and what the next step would have required.

The valuation range

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The range comes from this company's own history, not from a comparison with others. Price today 348.42 EUR, range 167.54 to 251.20 EUR. The price sits above the upper edge of its own valuation range. The middle of the range sits 39.9% below today's price. Reliability: robust, from 4 methods.

MethodTodaySeriesYears
Price to earnings85,82016–20225
Price to free cash flow60,02016–20259
Price to book value17,42016–20259
Enterprise value to operating profit61,72016–20194

Open each method to see the arithmetic year by year.

Price to earnings
YearPriceBasisMultiple
201625,220,7036,0
201741,820,7357,3
201843,341,2335,2
201970,293,5319,9
2022160,643,0952,0
heute348,424,0685,8
Price to free cash flow
YearPriceBasisMultiple
201625,221,34318,8
201741,821,47328,4
201843,341,93222,4
201970,292,33530,1
2020136,432,89747,1
2021186,353,71450,2
2022160,644,06839,5
2023272,374,57159,6
2025312,585,80653,8
heute348,425,80660,0
Price to book value
YearPriceBasisMultiple
201625,222,559,9
201741,823,5311,8
201843,344,589,5
201970,297,509,4
2020136,438,9215,3
2021186,359,8319,0
2022160,649,9816,1
2024300,4617,0717,6
2025312,5820,0315,6
heute348,4220,0317,4
Enterprise value to operating profit
YearPriceBasisMultiple
201625,22244,9028,1
201741,82323,9534,0
201843,34396,2129,4
201970,29491,8038,7
heute348,421.492,0461,7

Price divided by basis gives the multiple. Every row can be recomputed; if a row does not add up, this page is not built at all.

Within the sector

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Rank 4 of 136 in the industry. Median of total points in this industry: 13.0 of 20, across 136 graded companies. The grades are absolute and are not normalised to the sector: in a weak industry a weak grade stays weak.

one place above
Clear Secure, Inc.
YOU
19/20
one place below
Duolingo, Inc.
DUOL
18/20

The neighbours follow from the ranking alone, not from a judgement. More total points does not mean a company is the better investment, only that more quality rules are met. It says nothing about the price.

The series of figures

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Every figure comes from the annual report of that year and has not been revised afterwards. Amounts in USD.

Swipe sideways for all columns.

YearRevenueOperating profitFree cash flowEarnings per shareSharesNet debt
20151.70 bn285.43 m333.39 m0.81312.30 m-711.18 m
20161.82 bn244.90 m391.17 m0.70291.26 m-468.29 m
20171.94 bn323.95 m412.84 m0.73280.22 m-692.54 m
20182.14 bn396.21 m543.25 m1.23281.14 m-533.30 m
20192.34 bn491.80 m655.00 m3.53280.51 m-705.21 m
20202.68 bn645.55 m810.11 m2.11279.64 m-928.43 m
20212.99 bn779.09 m1.04 bn2.50278.86 m-1.09 bn
20223.56 bn1.07 bn1.12 bn3.09275.01 m-886.82 m
20234.09 bn1.25 bn1.25 bn3.82272.75 m-1.14 bn
20244.64 bn1.35 bn1.12 bn3.85273.83 m-2.78 bn
20255.30 bn1.49 bn1.59 bn4.06273.31 m-3.16 bn

How durable the advantage is

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7 of 8 points, measured over 10 years (2016 to 2025). Classification: present.

FeaturePointsBasis
Return on capital, level2/3The company earns on average 15.6% of its assets per year as operating profit, measured over 10 years. Comparable companies are around 10%.
Return on capital, consistency3/310 of 10 years above 10%. Consistency is the real evidence, because anyone has one good year.
Pricing power—/2Gross profit is not reported separately in the filing.
Stability in a downturn2/2Operating margin averaging 25%. Tested in 2020 and 2022: 2020 24%, 2022 30%. Holding counts from two thirds of the company's own average.

What is measured is the trace of a moat: a durably high return on capital and margins that survive a downturn. The causes (switching costs, network effects, brand, licences, economies of scale) appear in no filing and are not claimed here.

Next figures

Expected on 26 Oct 2026 (estimated from the rhythm of earlier filings, ± 21 days). Grades can change after a report; the page is then rebuilt.

Required disclosures for this analysis

Produced byFlorian Maier
Completed on14.10.2026 03:58
Price as of12 Oct 2026
Latest filing10-Q, 29 Jul 2026
Method version2.7.0
Time horizonThe grades describe a state that can change with every annual report, so roughly quarterly. The historical analysis is computed over 36 months.
Own positionNot disclosed individually, see the risk notice.
Earlier analysesThe list of all analyses of this company from the past twelve months will appear once twelve months of analyses exist. This run is the start of the series.

This is not investment advice. Limits of the method, assumptions and conflicts of interest: risk notice.