ARM vs CDNS vs PERF Stock Comparison

Arm Holdings, Cadence Design Systems and Perfect Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ARM Arm Holdings Plc /Uk
$228.77 -22.1% 1M +34.3% 1Y
Market cap
$242.72B
P/E
232.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.16B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Design Technology
4 wins
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
3 wins
PERF Perfect Corp.
$2.00 +4.2% 1M +1.0% 1Y
Market cap
$170.12M
P/E
35.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$71.07M
Div. yield
–
Creative Software Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Arm Holdings leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Arm Holdings 4, Perfect 3, Cadence Design Systems 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARMCDNSPERFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $242.72B $94.04B $170.12M ARM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 232.5x 68.0x 35.3x PERF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 110.5x 38.8x 28.6x PERF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +25.1% +17.6% +10.4% ARM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.2% 22.5% 8.1% CDNS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 14.1% 0.8% CDNS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.5x -67.9x PERF
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +34.3% +0.4% +1.0% ARM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +14.6%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 78.9% 41.3% 47.8% CDNS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 58/100 59/100 ARM

Percentile Scorecard

ARMCDNSPERF

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

AxisARMCDNSPERF
Valuation 5 #89 of 94 34 #62 of 94 82 #6 of 29
Growth 86 #14 of 92 64 #34 of 92 31 #19 of 27
Profitability 77 #21 of 88 85 #14 of 88 36 #17 of 26
Financial Health 79 #21 of 96 32 #66 of 96 87 #5 of 31
Shareholder Returns – 76 #18 of 72 –
Overall 62 58 59
  • ARM ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • CDNS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • PERF ranked among 32 companies in Workplace Software

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodARMCDNSPERFSPY
1 month -22.1%+5.7%+4.2% +0.7%
3 months -5.3%+3.0%+4.2% +3.7%
6 months +8.8%+4.0%+22.0% +7.1%
Year to date +109.3%+9.7%+10.5% +12.8%
1 year +34.3%+0.4%+1.0% +11.9%
3 years +377.6%+46.6%-27.3% +85.2%
3 years, per year +68.5%+13.6%-10.1% +22.8%
5 years —+98.0%— +67.6%
5 years, per year —+14.6%— +10.9%
10 years —+1,250.5%— +262.0%
10 years, per year —+29.7%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureARMCDNSPERFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 78.9%41.3%47.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 71.4%40.8%47.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.481.630.22 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.430.010.02 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.0%-33.0%-88.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -47.9%-17.7%-4.3% -1.2%
52-week high $439.46$416.39$2.09 $779.14
52-week low $104.55$265.66$1.30 $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.

MultipleARMCDNSPERF
P/E now vs peer median 232.5xmedian 46.4x 68.0xmedian 46.4x 35.3xmedian 33.1x
P/S now vs peer median 47.1xmedian 7.8x 15.3xmedian 7.8x 2.4xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 206.2xmedian 27.5x 44.1xmedian 27.5x 7.0xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 120.6xmedian 40.1x 53.3xmedian 40.1x 15.6xmedian 15.2x
P/B now vs peer median 28.1xmedian 4.7x 13.7xmedian 4.7x 1.1xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 6.55median 2.10 5.40median 2.10 1.33median 0.74

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 monthsARMCDNSPERF
Revenue $5.16B $6.13B $71.07M
Gross profit $5.03B $5.25B $56.66M
Operating income $877.00M $1.77B $1.26M
Net income $1.04B $1.38B $8.43M
Free cash flow $2.01B $1.76B $10.88M
R&D $2.96B $2.04B $14.93M
EPS (diluted) $0.98 $5.02 $0.06
Cash & equivalents $3.06B $1.45B $125.62M
Total debt – $2.63B $7.81M
Shares (diluted) 1.07B 275.28M 101.85M
Enterprise value $228.44B $86.74B -$417.85M

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
MetricARMCDNSPERF
P/E 232.5x 68.0x 35.3x
P/FCF 120.6x 53.3x 15.6x
P/Operating cash flow 115.9x 47.8x 16.2x
P/S 47.1x 15.3x 2.4x
P/B 28.1x 13.7x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 28.9x 18.5x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 206.2x 44.1x 7.0x
EV/EBIT 272.3x 53.7x 12.6x
EV/Revenue 46.3x 15.5x 0.2x
EV/FCF 118.7x 54.0x 1.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 114.1x 48.4x 1.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 6.55 5.40 1.33

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARMCDNSPERF
Revenue growth (1Y) 25.1% 17.6% 10.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 24.7% 16.1% 13.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 25.6% 17.8% 14.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 25.4% 14.5% 12.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 14.9% 19.4% 157.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 21.6% 16.4% 26.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 49.4% 30.1% 37.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 37.2% 13.0% 26.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 48.7% 29.4% -1.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.5% 12.6% 26.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 105.5% 21.7% -32.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 34.7% 13.6% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 121.8% 19.3% -31.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.3% 12.6% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARMCDNSPERF
Gross margin 97.5% 85.7% 79.7%
EBITDA margin 22.5% 35.2% 3.2%
Operating margin 17.0% 28.9% 1.8%
Pretax margin 24.5% 30.0% 10.0%
Net margin 20.2% 22.5% 8.1%
FCF margin 39.0% 28.8% 15.3%
Operating cash flow margin 40.6% 32.1% 14.8%
Return on equity 16.3% 20.1% 5.4%
Return on assets 12.6% 11.4% 4.3%
Return on invested capital – 14.1% 0.8%
Return on capital employed 9.0% 18.3% 0.8%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 1.4x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 22.4% 8.9% 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARMCDNSPERF
Debt / assets – 21.5% 4.0%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.5x -67.9x
Debt / FCF – 1.5x 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 22.9% 43.8% 19.4%
Equity / assets 77.1% 56.2% 80.6%
Interest coverage – 14.0x 66.4x
Current ratio 5.3x 1.4x 4.6x
Quick ratio 4.9x 1.3x 4.6x
Cash ratio 3.2x 0.6x 4.4x
Altman Z-score 58.61 12.54 1.28

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARMCDNSPERF
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – 0.9% –
Shareholder yield – 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.

ConsensusARMCDNSPERF
Forward P/E 110.5xFY2026 38.8xFY2026 28.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.07FY2026 $8.84FY2026 $0.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.9%FY2026 +23.8%FY2026 +40.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +49.8% +14.6% +14.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.71BFY2026 $6.79BFY2026 $76.52MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.0%FY2026 +28.2%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +38.7% +13.9% +8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARMCDNSPERF
Held by institutions 9.3% 88.2% –
Institutions holding 956 1,501 –
Change in shares held, QoQ +12.4% +5.4% –
Institutions buying 593 834 –
Institutions selling 258 518 –
Buyers to sellers 2.30 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.

ARMCDNSPERF
ARM 1.00 0.41 -0.01
CDNS 0.41 1.00 0.11
PERF -0.01 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARM, CDNS and PERF?

Arm Holdings (ARM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Arm Holdings (ARM) $242.72B, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) $94.04B, Perfect (PERF) $170.12M.

Which stock is cheaper, ARM, CDNS and PERF?

Perfect (PERF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Arm Holdings (ARM) 232.5x, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 68.0x, Perfect (PERF) 35.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Perfect (PERF) is cheapest (Arm Holdings (ARM) 110.5x, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 38.8x, Perfect (PERF) 28.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Arm Holdings (ARM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Arm Holdings (ARM) +25.1%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +17.6%, Perfect (PERF) +10.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) has the highest net margin (Arm Holdings (ARM) 20.2%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 22.5%, Perfect (PERF) 8.1%). On return on invested capital, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) leads (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 14.1%, Perfect (PERF) 0.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arm Holdings (ARM) returned the most: Arm Holdings (ARM) +34.3%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +0.4%, Perfect (PERF) +1.0%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) has been the steadiest (Arm Holdings (ARM) 78.9%, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 41.3%, Perfect (PERF) 47.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARM, CDNS and PERF?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Arm Holdings (ARM) leads on 4. 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.