Is Cadence Design Systems Still Attractive After Strong Multi Year Run and High Growth Hopes

• If you have been wondering whether Cadence Design Systems at around $317 a share is still worth buying, you are not alone. This article is going to walk through what the current price really implies.
• The stock is up 3.8% over the last week, down 5.2% over the past month, modestly ahead 6.8% year to date, but down 2.0% over the last year after a 98.0% 3 year and 175.3% 5 year run.
• Those mixed returns come as investors digest a steadier phase for semiconductor and AI related spending, with Cadence increasingly seen as one of the core picks for enabling chip design and verification. At the same time, ongoing enthusiasm for AI infrastructure has kept interest in design automation leaders elevated, even as some high growth names have seen their risk premia reset.
• On our framework, Cadence only scores 1 out of 6 valuation checks for being undervalued. This might sound expensive, but the picture changes when you look at different valuation methods, especially when you use a more holistic way to think about what the market is really pricing in, which we will come back to at the end.

Cadence Design Systems scores just 1/6 on our valuation checks. See what other red flags we found in the full valuation breakdown.

Approach 1: Cadence Design Systems Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

A Discounted Cash Flow model estimates what a company is worth by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting those back to today, to see what that stream of cash is worth in present dollar terms.

For Cadence Design Systems, the model used is a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity approach, based on cash flow projections in $. The company generated roughly $1.47 billion in free cash flow over the last twelve months. Analyst estimates and subsequent extrapolations by Simply Wall St indicate free cash flow rising to about $2.44 billion by 2029, with longer term projections continuing to trend higher into the next decade.

When all those projected cash flows are discounted back, the DCF model arrives at an estimated intrinsic value of about $162.26 per share. Compared with the current share price around $317, this output from the model implies the stock is roughly 95.9% above the level justified by the cash flow outlook on these assumptions. On this basis, it appears significantly overvalued relative to this specific DCF framework.

Result: OVERVALUED

Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Cadence Design Systems may be overvalued by 95.9%. Discover 933 undervalued stocks or create your own screener to find better value opportunities.

Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for Cadence Design Systems.

Approach 2: Cadence Design Systems Price vs Earnings

For profitable, mature businesses like Cadence Design Systems, the price to earnings (PE) ratio is a useful yardstick because it ties the share price directly to the profits that ultimately support long term returns. Investors are generally willing to pay a higher PE for companies with faster, more resilient earnings growth, strong competitive positions and lower perceived risk. In contrast, slower growing or more volatile businesses tend to trade on lower, more conservative multiples.

Cadence currently trades on a PE of about 81.6x, which is well above both the broader Software industry average of roughly 32.0x and the peer group average around 59.8x. At face value, that suggests a rich valuation. However, Simply Wall St’s proprietary Fair Ratio framework estimates that, given Cadence’s earnings growth outlook, margins, scale, industry position and risk profile, a more appropriate PE would be closer to 40.4x. This Fair Ratio is designed to go beyond simple peer or sector comparisons by explicitly incorporating company specific fundamentals and risks rather than assuming that all software names deserve similar multiples.

Set against that benchmark, Cadence’s current PE sits materially above its Fair Ratio, which points to the shares being priced for a lot of future success.

Result: OVERVALUED

PE ratios tell one story, but what if the real opportunity lies elsewhere? Discover 1440 companies where insiders are betting big on explosive growth.

Upgrade Your Decision Making: Choose your Cadence Design Systems Narrative

Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation, so let us introduce you to Narratives, a simple but powerful way to connect the story you believe about Cadence Design Systems with the numbers behind its future revenue, earnings, margins and ultimately its fair value.

A Narrative on Simply Wall St is your own, clearly defined perspective on the company, written as a story but directly linked to a financial forecast that produces a fair value estimate. You can compare this to today’s share price to decide whether Cadence looks like a buy, hold or sell for you.

These Narratives live inside the Community page on the platform used by millions of investors, and they are updated dynamically as new information comes in, such as earnings results, news about AI design tools, or changes to growth and margin assumptions. This helps your fair value stay in sync with reality rather than becoming stale.

For example, one Cadence Narrative might lean bullish and see fair value closer to $405, while a more cautious Narrative might anchor around $200 to reflect execution and competitive risks. By comparing those narrative fair values with the current market price you can quickly see which story, and which decision, feels more reasonable to you.

Do you think there's more to the story for Cadence Design Systems? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.