Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) Releases Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) updated its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 2.010-2.070 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.840. The company issued revenue guidance of -, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.5 billion. Cadence Design Systems also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 8.050-8.150 EPS.

Cadence Design Systems Trading Up 1.8%

CDNS opened at $344.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $95.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.15. Cadence Design Systems has a 52 week low of $262.75 and a 52 week high of $416.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $373.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $329.80.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The software maker reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Cadence Design Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.050-8.150 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.070 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems will post 6.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CDNS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Cadence Design Systems from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Berenberg Bank set a $440.00 target price on Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $325.00 to $349.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $403.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cadence Design Systems news, Director James D. Plummer sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.34, for a total value of $576,204.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,871,493.76. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Paul Cunningham sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.00, for a total transaction of $782,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 126,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,495,126. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 157,057 shares of company stock valued at $60,272,277. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Cadence Design Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting Cadence Design Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cadence reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.11, ahead of the $2.05 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 24.2% year over year to $1.58 billion. Management cited broad-based growth and continued customer investment in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Cadence Design Systems Beats Q2 Estimates, Raises 2026 Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its fiscal 2026 outlook to approximately $6.3 billion in revenue and $8.05-$8.15 in EPS, modestly above analyst revenue expectations. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $2.01-$2.07 also exceeded the $1.84 consensus estimate. Cadence raises annual forecasts as demand booms for AI chip design
• Positive Sentiment: Cadence’s record $8.1 billion backlog and growing “agentic AI” partnerships reinforced expectations for durable demand and roughly 19% revenue growth in 2026. Cadence Design Systems Stock Surges on Q2 Results and Record Backlog
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America, Rosenblatt Securities and Robert W. Baird each raised their price targets to $420, with buy or outperform ratings. Needham maintained a buy rating with a $400 target, adding further positive analyst support.
• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its target from $325 to $349 but retained a neutral rating, implying limited upside from the referenced price and signaling that valuation remains a concern.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cadence Design Systems

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,468,162 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,379,567,000 after buying an additional 149,577 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 218.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,553,225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $798,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,927 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,126,393 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $671,090,000 after purchasing an additional 52,458 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,984,842 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $620,430,000 after purchasing an additional 489,930 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Cadence Design Systems by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,951,311 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $609,941,000 after purchasing an additional 47,382 shares in the last quarter. 84.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cadence Design Systems Company Profile

Cadence Design Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CDNS) is a global provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software, hardware and intellectual property used to design and verify advanced semiconductor chips, systems-on-chip (SoCs), printed circuit boards (PCBs) and packaging. Headquartered in San Jose, California and founded in 1988, Cadence serves semiconductor companies, original equipment manufacturers and system designers across the globe, helping customers accelerate design cycles and manage the complexity of modern integrated systems.

The company’s offerings span software tools for digital, custom/analog and mixed-signal design, verification and signoff, as well as solutions for system-level modeling, thermal and signal integrity analysis, and PCB and package design.