Synopsys (NASDAQ: SNPS) CEO sells $6.76 million stake after option exercises

What happened

Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) president and chief executive Sassine Ghazi, who is also a director, sold 14,604 shares on 10/15/2026 at a weighted average of $462.84 each, the filing says. The shares were sold in multiple trades at prices from $455.060 to $471.325. Ghazi also exercised 14,604 non-qualified stock options the same day at $135.88 per share. The option expires on 12/12/2026. The sales were made under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted on September 19, 2025.

After the trade, Ghazi held 76,865 shares.

Key numbers

Metric	Latest	Change	Source
Shares sold	14,604 shares		SEC Form 4
Sale price per share	$462.84		SEC Form 4
Total sale value	about $6.76 million		SEC Form 4
Shares held after sale	76,865 shares		SEC Form 4
Stake sold before trade	16.0%		Calculated from SEC Form 4

Read more: Synopsys (SNPS) stock analysis and investment case

Why it matters

OptimistFi's case is that Synopsys turns high-margin, sticky EDA and silicon-IP software into recurring cash flow. This filing does not change that view. It does reset the insider ownership baseline, since Ghazi's direct holdings fell from 91,469 shares before the sale to 76,865 afterward. That drop is about 16.0% of the pre-trade holding, based on OptimistFi's calculation from the filing.

The transaction is large enough to notice at about $6.76 million. It also came from a same-day exercise of 14,604 non-qualified stock options at $135.88 per share. The shares were sold in multiple trades, not one print, at prices from $455.060 to $471.325.

The Rule 10b5-1 plan matters because it limits what investors can read into the sale. The filing gives a dated record of a planned transaction, not a fresh signal about Synopsys' business. The 12/12/2026 option expiration is the other dated marker in the disclosure.

The investment case stays the same because the filing points to routine activity and a still-large post-sale stake. Even so, the disclosure gives investors a clear snapshot of Ghazi's ownership after the same-day exercise and sale.

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What's next

The next dated item in the filing is the option expiration on 12/12/2026. If the same plan leads to more sales, the reduction could look more persistent. If no more trades appear, this filing will stand as a single planned sale rather than a broader shift in ownership.

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