ADSK vs SSYS vs CDNS Stock Comparison

Autodesk, Stratasys and Cadence Design Systems Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ADSK Autodesk, Inc.
$241.73 +19.0% 1M -18.6% 1Y
Market cap
$50.52B
P/E
30.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.79B
Div. yield
–
Creative Software Technology
6 wins
SSYS Stratasys Ltd.
$7.03 -17.4% 1M -36.7% 1Y
Market cap
$605.35M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$547.27M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
CDNS Cadence Design Systems Inc
$342.75 +5.7% 1M +0.4% 1Y
Market cap
$94.04B
P/E
68.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.13B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Autodesk leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Autodesk 6, Cadence Design Systems 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionADSKSSYSCDNSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $50.52B $605.35M $94.04B CDNS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.9x -12.5x 68.0x ADSK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.7x 70.3x 38.8x ADSK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.9% -3.1% +17.6% ADSK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.1% -8.4% 22.5% CDNS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 26.5% — 14.1% ADSK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x — 0.5x ADSK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -18.6% -36.7% +0.4% CDNS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.3%/yr -25.9%/yr +14.6%/yr CDNS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 39.5% 47.6% 41.3% ADSK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 37/100 58/100 CDNS

Percentile Scorecard

ADSKSSYSCDNS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisADSKSSYSCDNS
Valuation 32 #20 of 29 35 #132 of 203 34 #62 of 94
Growth 62 #11 of 27 22 #147 of 188 64 #34 of 92
Profitability 92 #3 of 26 13 #160 of 183 85 #14 of 88
Financial Health 43 #18 of 31 79 #46 of 216 32 #66 of 96
Shareholder Returns 36 #10 of 15 – 76 #18 of 72
Overall 53 37 58
  • ADSK ranked among 32 companies in Workplace Software
  • SSYS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • CDNS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodADSKSSYSCDNSSPY
1 month +19.0%-17.4%+5.7% +0.7%
3 months +2.9%-12.5%+3.0% +3.7%
6 months +2.0%-20.7%+4.0% +7.1%
Year to date -18.3%-19.0%+9.7% +12.8%
1 year -18.6%-36.7%+0.4% +11.9%
3 years +22.2%-31.8%+46.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year +6.9%-12.0%+13.6% +22.8%
5 years -23.9%-77.7%+98.0% +67.6%
5 years, per year -5.3%-25.9%+14.6% +10.9%
10 years +236.4%-63.0%+1,250.5% +262.0%
10 years, per year +12.9%-9.5%+29.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureADSKSSYSCDNSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 39.5%47.6%41.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.3%46.4%40.8% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.432.231.63 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.47-0.770.01 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.8%-83.4%-33.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -22.1%-39.5%-17.7% -1.2%
52-week high $310.25$11.62$416.39 $779.14
52-week low $187.72$6.80$265.66 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleADSKSSYSCDNS
P/E now vs peer median 30.9xmedian 33.1x -12.5xmedian 25.8x 68.0xmedian 46.4x
P/S now vs peer median 6.5xmedian 2.5x 1.1xmedian 1.9x 15.3xmedian 7.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.0xmedian 9.8x -11.8xmedian 14.6x 44.1xmedian 27.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.8xmedian 15.2x -26.1xmedian 22.2x 53.3xmedian 40.1x
P/B now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 3.1x 0.7xmedian 2.2x 13.7xmedian 4.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.28median 0.74 -28.74median 1.45 5.40median 2.10

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsADSKSSYSCDNS
Revenue $7.79B $547.27M $6.13B
Gross profit $7.11B $221.15M $5.25B
Operating income $2.04B -$83.46M $1.77B
Net income $1.64B -$115.18M $1.38B
Free cash flow $2.84B -$23.24M $1.76B
R&D $1.72B $77.20M $2.04B
EPS (diluted) $7.78 $-0.56 $5.02
Cash & equivalents $4.10B $92.53M $1.45B
Total debt $10.43B – $2.63B
Shares (diluted) 211.00M 82.30M 275.28M
Enterprise value $38.56B -$344.46M $86.74B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricADSKSSYSCDNS
P/E 30.9x -12.5x 68.0x
P/FCF 17.8x -26.1x 53.3x
P/Operating cash flow 17.4x -132.1x 47.8x
P/S 6.5x 1.1x 15.3x
P/B 14.9x 0.7x 13.7x
P/Tangible book 17.1x 0.8x 18.5x
EV/EBITDA 17.0x -11.8x 44.1x
EV/EBIT 24.2x -4.7x 53.7x
EV/Revenue 6.3x 0.7x 15.5x
EV/FCF 17.4x -16.9x 54.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.0x -85.7x 48.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.28 -28.74 5.40

Growth

14 metrics
MetricADSKSSYSCDNS
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.9% -3.1% 17.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.3% -4.6% 16.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 18.8% -12.3% 17.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.7% -6.6% 14.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 46.9% -30.0% 19.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 26.3% -9.0% 16.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 57.4% -17.1% 30.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 23.4% -37.3% 13.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 60.4% 59.7% 29.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 24.2% 0.4% 12.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 50.4% -172.1% 21.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 61.1% 13.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 50.7% -116.2% 19.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.8% 36.4% 12.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricADSKSSYSCDNS
Gross margin 91.2% 40.4% 85.7%
EBITDA margin 37.3% -6.1% 35.2%
Operating margin 26.2% -15.3% 28.9%
Pretax margin 27.0% -13.1% 30.0%
Net margin 21.1% -8.4% 22.5%
FCF margin 36.4% -4.2% 28.8%
Operating cash flow margin 37.2% -0.8% 32.1%
Return on equity 49.9% -14.0% 20.1%
Return on assets 13.2% -10.9% 11.4%
Return on invested capital 26.5% – 14.1%
Return on capital employed 35.0% -9.3% 18.3%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 0.0x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 9.1% 4.3% 8.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricADSKSSYSCDNS
Debt / assets 22.9% – 21.5%
Debt / equity 0.9x – 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x – 0.5x
Debt / FCF 1.0x – 1.5x
Liabilities / assets 73.9% 22.0% 43.8%
Equity / assets 26.1% 78.0% 56.2%
Interest coverage – – 14.0x
Current ratio 0.9x 3.5x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.7x 2.3x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.6x 1.3x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 4.06 -1.00 12.54

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricADSKSSYSCDNS
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 2.9% – 0.9%
Shareholder yield 2.9% – 0.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusADSKSSYSCDNS
Forward P/E 19.7xFY2026 70.3xFY2026 38.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.24FY2026 $0.10FY2026 $8.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.4%FY2026 -33.3%FY2026 +23.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.2% +100.0% +14.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.49BFY2026 $582.47MFY2026 $6.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +17.8%FY2026 +5.7%FY2026 +28.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.7% +6.8% +13.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersADSKSSYSCDNS
Held by institutions 96.0% 50.8% 88.2%
Institutions holding 1,196 150 1,501
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.6% +7.3% +5.4%
Institutions buying 501 79 834
Institutions selling 536 29 518
Buyers to sellers 0.93 2.72 1.61

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ADSKSSYSCDNS
ADSK 1.00 -0.05 0.33
SSYS -0.05 1.00 0.36
CDNS 0.33 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ADSK, SSYS and CDNS?

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Autodesk (ADSK) $50.52B, Stratasys (SSYS) $605.35M, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) $94.04B.

Which stock is cheaper, ADSK, SSYS and CDNS?

Autodesk (ADSK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Autodesk (ADSK) 30.9x, Stratasys (SSYS) -12.5x, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 68.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Autodesk (ADSK) is cheapest (Autodesk (ADSK) 19.7x, Stratasys (SSYS) 70.3x, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 38.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Autodesk (ADSK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Autodesk (ADSK) +17.9%, Stratasys (SSYS) -3.1%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +17.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) has the highest net margin (Autodesk (ADSK) 21.1%, Stratasys (SSYS) -8.4%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 22.5%). On return on invested capital, Autodesk (ADSK) leads (Autodesk (ADSK) 26.5%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 14.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) returned the most: Autodesk (ADSK) -18.6%, Stratasys (SSYS) -36.7%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +0.4%. Over five years, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) compounded fastest (Autodesk (ADSK) -5.3%/yr, Stratasys (SSYS) -25.9%/yr, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +14.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Autodesk (ADSK) has been the steadiest (Autodesk (ADSK) 39.5%, Stratasys (SSYS) 47.6%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 41.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ADSK, SSYS and CDNS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Autodesk (ADSK) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.