Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Cadence from $375 to $400 and kept an "overweight" rating, implying roughly a 23% upside from the prior close.
• Cadence beat Q1 estimates (EPS $1.96 vs. $1.89) and reported revenue of $1.47B (+18.6% YoY), while raising FY26 EPS guidance to $7.85–$7.95 on sustained AI chip‑design demand.
• Risks remain: the stock pulled back to about $324.58, the company trades at a high P/E (~80), and recent insider selling and a large drop in cash have drawn caution from some investors.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $375.00 to $400.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the software maker's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 23.24% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CDNS. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cadence Design Systems from $381.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $395.00 price objective on Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Cadence Design Systems from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $378.06.

Cadence Design Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cadence Design Systems stock traded down $11.96 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $324.58. 643,952 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,482,876. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $262.75 and a fifty-two week high of $376.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $294.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $309.05.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The software maker reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Cadence Design Systems had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 20.93%.The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Cadence Design Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-7.950 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.080 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cadence Design Systems news, CFO John M. Wall sold 21,500 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.45, for a total value of $6,653,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 86,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,883,468.75. The trade was a 19.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Paul Cunningham sold 1,000 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.19, for a total transaction of $280,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 128,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,028,511.34. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,680 shares of company stock valued at $7,579,340. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cadence Design Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the software maker's stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $205,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Cadence Design Systems by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,787 shares of the software maker's stock worth $10,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co purchased a new position in Cadence Design Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $226,000. 84.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cadence Design Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and strong guidance — Cadence reported Q1 EPS of $1.96 vs. $1.89 consensus and revenue ~ $1.47B; management raised FY26 EPS guidance sharply to $7.85–7.95 (well above Street) and raised Q2 EPS and revenue guides, citing sustained AI chip‑design demand. Cadence Tops Q1 Targets, Guides Above Views
• Positive Sentiment: Street lifts ratings/targets — Needham reaffirmed a Buy with a $400 target and Robert W. Baird raised its target to $385 (Outperform), reflecting analysts pricing in the stronger guidance and AI tailwinds. Benzinga coverage of analyst moves
• Positive Sentiment: Market narrative: AI demand driving upside — Reuters and other outlets emphasize Cadence raising its revenue forecast as customers continue heavy investment in specialized AI processors, which supports durable tool demand. Reuters: Cadence lifts annual revenue forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call / transcripts available — Full call transcripts (InsiderMonkey, Seeking Alpha) provide management detail on customer cadence, product mix and execution for investors who want to vet the guidance assumptions. InsiderMonkey earnings call transcript Seeking Alpha transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its target but kept a Neutral rating at $325 — mixed analyst view that still leaves limited upside under some scenarios. Benzinga: Piper Sandler note
• Negative Sentiment: Liquidity and cash‑flow flags in third‑party summary — Some reports highlight a large drop in cash & equivalents (~49% YoY) and weaker operating cash flow vs. last year, which could concern investors despite top‑line strength. QuiverQuant: financial details and cash flow notes
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and options activity — Data shows sizable insider share sales in recent months and unusually large put option volume bought ahead of earnings, which can add downward pressure or signal short‑term hedging/speculation. QuiverQuant insider/options summary

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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