CDNS vs QCOM vs ADEA Stock Comparison

Cadence Design Systems, Qualcomm and Adeia Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (ADI) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
QCOM Qualcomm Inc/De
$184.17 -8.8% 1M -1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$192.69B
P/E
20.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$44.07B
Div. yield
0.02%
Semiconductor Design Technology
3 wins
ADEA Adeia Inc.
$22.70 -10.9% 1M +28.7% 1Y
Market cap
$2.49B
P/E
20.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$470.87M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Adeia leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Adeia 7, Qualcomm 3, Cadence Design Systems 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCDNSQCOMADEALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $93.39B $192.69B $2.49B QCOM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 67.6x 20.8x 20.3x ADEA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.8x 17.1x 16.8x ADEA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.6% +1.9% +24.3% ADEA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 21.0% 26.1% ADEA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 20.5% 16.8% QCOM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.4x 0.7x QCOM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.4% -1.9% +28.7% ADEA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.2%/yr +6.6%/yr +24.2%/yr ADEA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.4% 53.0% 67.0% CDNS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 61/100 71/100 ADEA

Percentile Scorecard

CDNSQCOMADEA

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

AxisCDNSQCOMADEA
Valuation 27 #69 of 94 80 #20 of 94 85 #15 of 94
Growth 65 #33 of 92 33 #62 of 92 69 #29 of 92
Profitability 54 #42 of 90 85 #14 of 90 90 #10 of 90
Financial Health – 28 #72 of 99 29 #71 of 99
Shareholder Returns – 79 #16 of 73 82 #14 of 73
Overall 49 61 71
  • CDNS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • QCOM ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • ADEA ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCDNSQCOMADEASPY
1 month +5.2%-8.8%-10.9% -0.2%
3 months -0.5%+13.1%-9.7% +3.9%
6 months +5.5%+22.8%-24.9% +8.2%
Year to date +9.8%+7.7%+31.6% +12.9%
1 year -2.4%-1.9%+28.7% +12.3%
3 years +48.6%+73.0%+174.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +14.1%+20.1%+40.0% +23.3%
5 years +103.1%+37.8%+195.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +15.2%+6.6%+24.2% +10.9%
10 years +1,252.8%+162.8%+40.9% +261.1%
10 years, per year +29.8%+10.1%+3.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCDNSQCOMADEASPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.4%53.0%67.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.0%52.5%65.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.622.072.55 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.06-0.040.43 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.0%-45.6%-39.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.6%-26.6%-32.5% -1.2%
52-week high $416.39$251.02$33.63 $779.14
52-week low $265.66$124.07$11.74 $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.

MultipleCDNSQCOMADEA
P/E now vs peer median 68.1xmedian 45.6x 21.0xmedian 45.6x 20.4xmedian 45.6x
P/S now vs peer median 15.4xmedian 7.7x 4.4xmedian 7.7x 5.3xmedian 7.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 29.0x 16.9xmedian 29.0x 10.3xmedian 29.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 53.2xmedian 40.6x 18.7xmedian 40.6x 13.3xmedian 40.6x
P/B now vs peer median 13.7xmedian 4.6x 7.0xmedian 4.6x 5.2xmedian 4.6x
PEG now vs peer median 5.47median 2.28 5.05median 2.28 0.59median 2.28

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 monthsCDNSQCOMADEA
Revenue $6.13B $44.07B $470.87M
Gross profit – $23.90B –
Operating income $1.77B $10.22B $195.97M
Net income $1.38B $9.26B $122.68M
Free cash flow – $10.42B $188.57M
R&D $2.04B $9.89B $71.74M
EPS (diluted) $5.00 $8.66 $1.07
Cash & equivalents $1.45B $4.53B $137.10M
Total debt – $12.78B $386.02M
Shares (diluted) 276.16M 1.07B 114.40M
Enterprise value $93.39B $152.61B $1.74B

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
MetricCDNSQCOMADEA
P/E 68.1x 21.0x 20.4x
P/FCF 53.2x 18.7x 13.3x
P/Operating cash flow 48.0x 15.7x 13.1x
P/S 15.4x 4.4x 5.3x
P/B 13.7x 7.0x 5.2x
P/Tangible book 18.6x 7.4x 13.3x
EV/EBITDA – 16.9x 10.3x
EV/EBIT – 19.5x 13.7x
EV/Revenue 15.4x 4.5x 5.7x
EV/FCF – 19.1x 14.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 48.0x 16.1x 14.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 5.47 5.05 0.59

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOMADEA
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.6% 1.9% 24.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.1% 4.5% 6.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -0.8% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 3.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 19.4% -15.0% 57.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 16.4% 0.6% 17.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 30.1% -20.0% 46.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 2.4% 34.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.0% -17.8% 43.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.5% 4.2% 34.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.7% -2.1% -5.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 12.7% 0.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -10.4% -6.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 14.9% 1.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOMADEA
Gross margin – 54.2% –
EBITDA margin – 26.8% 55.6%
Operating margin – 23.2% 41.6%
Pretax margin – 25.4% 35.3%
Net margin – 21.0% 26.1%
FCF margin – 23.6% 40.0%
Operating cash flow margin 32.1% 28.1% 40.6%
Return on equity – 33.7% 26.0%
Return on assets – 16.2% 12.2%
Return on invested capital – 20.5% 16.8%
Return on capital employed – 22.3% 21.4%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 8.9% 7.4% 7.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOMADEA
Debt / assets – 22.3% 38.1%
Debt / equity – 0.5x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.4x 0.7x
Debt / FCF – 1.2x 2.0x
Liabilities / assets – 51.8% 52.9%
Equity / assets 56.2% 48.2% 47.1%
Interest coverage – 14.8x 5.4x
Current ratio 1.4x 2.0x 3.2x
Quick ratio – 1.1x 3.8x
Cash ratio – 0.7x 2.2x
Altman Z-score – 6.20 4.31

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOMADEA
Dividend yield – 2.0% 0.9%
Net buyback yield – 4.5% 1.1%
Shareholder yield – 6.5% 2.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 41.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 36.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 0.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 3.9% –

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.

ConsensusCDNSQCOMADEA
Forward P/E 38.8xFY2026 17.1xFY2026 16.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.84FY2026 $10.79FY2026 $1.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +23.8%FY2026 -10.3%FY2026 -18.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.6% -3.0% +11.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.79BFY2026 $45.55BFY2026 $427.36MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.2%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 -3.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.9% -5.0% +10.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCDNSQCOMADEA
Held by institutions 88.2% 79.7% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,499 3,030 304
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.4% +2.8% +5.6%
Institutions buying 832 1,416 186
Institutions selling 518 1,333 86
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.06 2.16

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.

CDNSQCOMADEA
CDNS 1.00 0.29 0.33
QCOM 0.29 1.00 0.26
ADEA 0.33 0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CDNS, QCOM and ADEA?

Qualcomm (QCOM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) $93.39B, Qualcomm (QCOM) $192.69B, Adeia (ADEA) $2.49B.

Which stock is cheaper, CDNS, QCOM and ADEA?

Adeia (ADEA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 67.6x, Qualcomm (QCOM) 20.8x, Adeia (ADEA) 20.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Adeia (ADEA) is cheapest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 38.8x, Qualcomm (QCOM) 17.1x, Adeia (ADEA) 16.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Adeia (ADEA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +17.6%, Qualcomm (QCOM) +1.9%, Adeia (ADEA) +24.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Adeia (ADEA) has the highest net margin (Qualcomm (QCOM) 21.0%, Adeia (ADEA) 26.1%). On return on invested capital, Qualcomm (QCOM) leads (Qualcomm (QCOM) 20.5%, Adeia (ADEA) 16.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Adeia (ADEA) returned the most: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) -2.4%, Qualcomm (QCOM) -1.9%, Adeia (ADEA) +28.7%. Over five years, Adeia (ADEA) compounded fastest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +15.2%/yr, Qualcomm (QCOM) +6.6%/yr, Adeia (ADEA) +24.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 0.00%, Qualcomm (QCOM) 0.02%, Adeia (ADEA) 0.00%. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) and Adeia (ADEA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) has been the steadiest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 41.4%, Qualcomm (QCOM) 53.0%, Adeia (ADEA) 67.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CDNS, QCOM and ADEA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Adeia (ADEA) leads on 7. 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.