Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) Stock Price

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $385.00 to $370.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the software maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 30.53% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cadence Design Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cadence Design Systems from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cadence Design Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $335.00 to $360.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.50.

Cadence Design Systems Trading Down 5.3%

Shares of CDNS opened at $283.46 on Wednesday. Cadence Design Systems has a fifty-two week low of $221.56 and a fifty-two week high of $376.45. The company has a market capitalization of $77.16 billion, a PE ratio of 73.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $309.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a current ratio of 3.05.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The software maker reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.08. Cadence Design Systems had a return on equity of 30.13% and a net margin of 20.35%.The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cadence Design Systems has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.950 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.050-8.150 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cadence Design Systems will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cadence Design Systems

In related news, Director Ita M. Brennan sold 180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.48, for a total transaction of $60,746.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,581,722. The trade was a 2.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paul Scannell sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.43, for a total value of $1,863,470.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 20,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,897,557.03. This represents a 21.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 56,475 shares of company stock valued at $18,505,486 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 80.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 3.8% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 17.8% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 358 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the second quarter worth about $40,000. 84.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Cadence Design Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Cadence reported Q4 EPS of $1.99 and revenue of $1.44B, topping consensus and showing y/y revenue growth (~6.2%), which validates steady demand. Cadence Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Very strong FY26 guide — management raised FY?2026 EPS to $8.05–8.15 (well above Street expectations) and set revenue guidance roughly $5.9–6.0B, signaling confidence in multi?year demand drivers. Cadence Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI?linked demand highlighted — management and several reports point to strong AI-related design demand as a growth driver underpinning the beat and the raised guidance. Cadence beats quarterly profit and revenue estimates on strong AI-linked demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Call transcript and details available — the earnings call provides management commentary on product demand, backlog and cadence of revenue recognition; read the transcript for execution risks and cadence on AI bookings. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views mixed but generally constructive — several buy/overweight ratings and price targets remain above current levels (median targets near $390), while a few firms remain cautious; analyst re?ratings can amplify intraday moves. Analysts Set Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) PT at $379.59
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and institutional repositioning noted — recent reporting shows material insider sales and large institutional shifts that can create selling pressure even after a beat. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) stock rises on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technicals may prompt profit?taking — Cadence trades at a rich P/E (~73) and has recently been below its 50?day and 200?day moving averages, factors that can trigger rotation out of the name despite strong fundamentals.

About Cadence Design Systems

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.