Cadence Design Systems, Inc. · CDNS · FY2025 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2025

Cadence: AI demand supports raised outlook, with China risks

The supplied analysis supports a constructive but qualified view: AI infrastructure, advanced-node design and expanding IP demand are supporting growth, while China exposure, regulatory constraints and the durability of Agentic AI monetization temper the outlook.

Reported After market closeNASDAQTechnology $96.76B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $1.65 Consensus $1.56
EPS surprise +5.8% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $1.28B Consensus $1.25B
Revenue surprise +2.0% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

event-close to next-session close
Stock move +9.7% Event window
SPY move -0.3% Same window
Abnormal move +10.0% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.9× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -6.1% Up to 20 sessions
CDNSSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Relative to the prior-quarter analysis, the current analysis continues to emphasize AI and advanced packaging demand, while adding greater focus on the Millennium M2000, Cerebrus AI Studio, NeuroEdge, HBM4 and LPDDR6. It also highlights the DOJ/BIS settlement and continuing China export-control risk.

Guidance delta

The supplied analysis says guidance was raised, continuing the prior quarter's positive guidance direction.

Key takeaways

  • The current analysis describes broad AI-driven demand across EDA, IP, hardware and systems.
  • The IP portfolio, including HBM4 and LPDDR6, is identified as a growth driver for AI and HPC markets.
  • Export controls affecting China and the DOJ/BIS settlement remain important risks alongside adoption and integration complexity.

Management priorities

  • Commercial rollout of the Millennium M2000 AI supercomputer and AI-accelerated simulation services.
  • Scale Cerebrus AI Studio across multi-block and multi-user SoC designs.
  • Continue developing LPDDR6 and HBM4 memory IP and deepen collaboration with leading foundries and chipmakers.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
CDNS EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q1 '24 estimate $1.13 Q1 '24 actual $1.17, beat Q2 '24 estimate $1.23 Q2 '24 actual $1.28, beat Q3 '24 estimate $1.46 Q3 '24 actual $1.64, beat Q2 '25 estimate $1.56 Q2 '25 actual $1.65, beat Q3 '25 estimate $1.79 Q3 '25 actual $1.93, beat Q4 '25 estimate $1.91 Q4 '25 actual $1.99, beat Q1 '26 estimate $1.91 Q1 '26 actual $1.96, beat Q2 '26 estimate $2.05 Q2 '26 actual $2.11, beat Q3 '26 estimate $2.04 Q4 '26 estimate $2.02 Q1 '27 estimate $2.16 Q2 '27 estimate $2.35
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy30 ratings
Bullish2583.3%
Neutral413.3%
Bearish13.4%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$351.35Current
$165Low
$341.52Average
$450High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 3, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Rosenblatt Buy BuyMaintainJul 28, 2026
Piper Sandler Neutral NeutralMaintainJul 28, 2026
Needham Buy BuyMaintainJul 28, 2026
Citigroup Buy BuyMaintainJul 28, 2026
Baird Outperform OutperformMaintainJul 28, 2026
B of A Securities Buy BuyMaintainJul 28, 2026
Stifel Buy BuyMaintainJun 9, 2026
Wells Fargo Overweight OverweightMaintainMay 26, 2026
Keybanc Overweight OverweightMaintainApr 28, 2026
Morgan Stanley Overweight OverweightMaintainFeb 18, 2026
Oppenheimer Underperform UnderperformMaintainOct 28, 2025
JP Morgan Overweight OverweightMaintainOct 28, 2025
Mizuho Outperform OutperformMaintainJul 29, 2025
Loop Capital Buy BuyMaintainJul 29, 2025
Deutsche Bank Buy BuyMaintainApr 26, 2023
Atlantic Equities Overweight NeutralUpgradeJan 17, 2023
Wolfe Research Outperform OutperformMaintainAug 17, 2022
UBS Neutral NeutralMaintainApr 26, 2022
Berenberg Buy HoldUpgradeFeb 23, 2022
Credit Suisse Neutral NeutralMaintainOct 26, 2021
RBC Capital Outperform OutperformMaintainFeb 23, 2021
CFRA Buy BuyMaintainApr 24, 2020
Bank of America Buy NeutralUpgradeApr 22, 2020
Benchmark Buy HoldUpgradeOct 23, 2018
DA Davidson Buy NeutralUpgradeApr 5, 2018
Pacific Crest Sector Perform OutperformDowngradeFeb 5, 2015
Summit Research Partners Buy HoldUpgradeMay 20, 2014
Summit Insights Group Buy HoldUpgradeMay 20, 2014
Topeka Buy BuyMaintainJun 6, 2013
PiperJaffray Overweight OverweightMaintainApr 16, 2012
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Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $351.35. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
FBN SecuritiesAnalyst unavailable$375$284.95 +6.7%Sep 11, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$400$344.72 +13.8%Jul 29, 2026
OppenheimerAnalyst unavailable$300$338.61 -14.6%Jul 28, 2026
Piper SandlerClarke Jeffries$349$338.61 -0.7%Jul 28, 2026
Robert W. BairdAnalyst unavailable$420$338.61 +19.5%Jul 28, 2026
Benchmark Co.Analyst unavailable$450$371.5 +28.1%Jul 15, 2026
Stifel NicolausAnalyst unavailable$432$394.24 +23.0%Jun 9, 2026
Berenberg BankNay Soe Naing$440$381.75 +25.2%May 27, 2026
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$425$373.59 +21.0%May 26, 2026
Robert W. BairdJoe Vruwink$385$336.54 +9.6%Apr 28, 2026
KeyBancAnalyst unavailable$425$336.54 +21.0%Apr 28, 2026
Stifel NicolausRuben Roy$395$309.3 +12.4%Feb 18, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$370$283.46 +5.3%Feb 18, 2026
Wells FargoJoe Quatrochi$375$283.46 +6.7%Feb 18, 2026
OppenheimerEdward Yang$275$309.86 -21.7%Dec 1, 2025
KeyBancJason Celino$405$341 +15.3%Oct 28, 2025
Robert W. BairdJoe Vruwink$418$340.68 +19.0%Oct 28, 2025
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$410$339.04 +16.7%Oct 28, 2025
Wolfe ResearchGal Munda$385$351.4 +9.6%Oct 28, 2025
BNP ParibasAndrew DeGasperi$400$351.97 +13.8%Oct 2, 2025
Berenberg BankAnalyst unavailable$400$371.03 +13.8%Jul 30, 2025
Piper SandlerClarke Jeffries$355$363.75 +1.0%Jul 29, 2025
Mizuho SecuritiesSiti Panigrahi$300$259.47 -14.6%Apr 15, 2025
Loop Capital MarketsGary Mobley$360$300.9 +2.5%Nov 11, 2024
Bank of America SecuritiesVivek Arya$310$280.18 -11.8%Oct 29, 2024
NeedhamCharles Shi$315$252.77 -10.3%Oct 29, 2024
Robert W. BairdJon Vruwink$340$278.19 -3.2%Oct 29, 2024
Stifel NicolausRuben Roy$350$252.77 -0.4%Oct 29, 2024
Mizuho SecuritiesSiti Panigrahi$325$253.15 -7.5%Oct 21, 2024
OppenheimerEdward Yang$225$273.32 -36.0%Sep 24, 2024
Robert W. BairdJoe Vruwink$338$287.08 -3.8%Jul 23, 2024
Robert W. BairdJon Vruwink$341$310.92 -2.9%Jul 2, 2024
KeyBancJason Celino$355$310.17 +1.0%Jun 27, 2024
KeyBancJason Celino$350$297.3 -0.4%Jun 6, 2024
Piper SandlerClarke Jeffries$318$285.02 -9.5%Apr 23, 2024
Robert W. BairdJon Vruwink$322$293.71 -8.4%Apr 18, 2024
KeyBancJason Celino$340$305.36 -3.2%Apr 15, 2024
Piper SandlerClarke Jeffries$334$310.58 -4.9%Apr 4, 2024
Morgan StanleyLee Simpson$350$300.74 -0.4%Feb 14, 2024
NeedhamCharles Shi$235$202.98 -33.1%Apr 25, 2023
NeedhamCharles Shi$200$153.4 -43.1%Oct 25, 2022
Deutsche BankJohannes Schaller$200$166.97 -43.1%Sep 28, 2022
NeedhamCharles Shi$193$153.41 -45.1%Apr 28, 2022
UBSAnalyst unavailable$180$153.67 -48.8%Apr 26, 2022
Berenberg BankGal Munda$180$140.88 -48.8%Feb 23, 2022
KeyBancJason Celino$205$161.75 -41.7%Jan 14, 2022
Westpark CapitalRuben Roy$168$137.55 -52.2%Jul 15, 2021
D.A. DavidsonThomas Diffely$165$132.75 -53.0%Apr 27, 2021
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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. operates globally, delivering a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes software, specialized hardware, professional services, and pre-designed integrated circuit (IC) building blocks. The company's robust functional verification offerings feature dedicated emulation and prototyping hardware. This portfolio encompasses JasperGold for formal verification, Xcelium for parallel logic simulation, Palladium as an enterprise-grade emulation platform, and Protium, a prototyping platform designed for thorough chip verification. Cadence additionally provides extensive products for digital IC design and final sign-off. These include the Genus logic synthesis solution, Joules for RTL power analysis, and the Modus software solution, which streamlines design-for-test (DFT) processes for systems-on-chip.…

Historical context

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:22.444131+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-03T11:06:10.643417+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-03T11:06:10.640648+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-10-03. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.