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 REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $1B Q4 '23 actual $1B, beat Q1 '24 estimate $1B Q1 '24 actual $1B, beat Q2 '24 estimate $1B Q2 '24 actual $1B, beat Q3 '24 estimate $1B Q3 '24 actual $1B, beat Q2 '25 estimate $1B Q2 '25 actual $1B, beat Q3 '25 estimate $1B Q3 '25 actual $1B, beat Q4 '25 estimate $1B Q4 '25 actual $1B, beat Q1 '26 estimate $1B Q1 '26 actual $1B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $2B Q2 '26 actual $2B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $2B Q4 '26 estimate $2B Q1 '27 estimate $2B Q2 '27 estimate $2B
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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
Show 25 more rating actions

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
See 43 more

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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.