Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) Stock

Key Points

• Needham raised its price target to $400 and kept a "buy" rating, implying about a 28.6% upside
• Cadence beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $1.99 (vs. $1.91) and revenue of $1.44B (up 6.2% YoY), and provided Q1 2026 guidance of 1.890–1.950 EPS and FY 2026 guidance of 8.050–8.150 EPS.
• The shares trade at a premium (market cap ≈ $85.9B, P/E 76.61) with a 52‑week range of $247.70–$376.45, while insiders have recently sold ~3,185 shares (~$927,728) and institutional ownership stands at ~84.85%.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $390.00 to $400.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the software maker's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target indicates a potential upside of 28.60% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $355.00 to $319.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $410.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $377.06.

Cadence Design Systems Price Performance

Cadence Design Systems stock opened at $311.03 on Monday. Cadence Design Systems has a 52-week low of $247.70 and a 52-week high of $376.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $290.81 and a 200-day moving average of $309.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.61, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.08. Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 20.93% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 predict that Cadence Design Systems will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Cadence Design Systems news, Director Ita M. Brennan sold 180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.03, for a total transaction of $53,105.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,203,874.10. This trade represents a 2.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul Cunningham sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.78, for a total transaction of $297,780.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 94,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,032,115.86. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,185 shares of company stock worth $927,728. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cadence Design Systems

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CDNS. Cache Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 239.7% during the 1st quarter. Cache Advisors LLC now owns 4,787 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares in the last quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 19.6% during the first quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 878 shares of the software maker's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Harbour Wealth Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $225,000. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co boosted its holdings in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 5.3% during the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 10,000 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. raised its position in Cadence Design Systems by 2.6% during the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 1,571 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.85% of the company's stock.

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.

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