CDNS vs QCOM Stock Comparison

Cadence Design Systems and Qualcomm Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CDNS Cadence Design Systems Inc
$316.49 +2.4% 1M -6.2% 1Y
Market cap
$88.81B
P/E
64.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.84B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
4 wins
QCOM Qualcomm Inc/De
$175.91 -10.8% 1M +3.5% 1Y
Market cap
$189.99B
P/E
20.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$44.07B
Div. yield
0.02%
Semiconductor Design Technology
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Qualcomm leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Qualcomm 7, Cadence Design Systems 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCDNSQCOMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $88.81B $189.99B QCOM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 64.4x 20.5x QCOM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 36.5x 16.3x QCOM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.7% +1.9% CDNS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 23.6% 21.0% CDNS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.2% 29.1% QCOM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.5x -0.5x QCOM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -6.2% +3.5% QCOM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.7%/yr +6.0%/yr CDNS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.0% 54.0% CDNS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 65/100 QCOM

Percentile Scorecard

CDNSQCOM

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

AxisCDNSQCOM
Valuation 37 #60 of 95 81 #19 of 95
Growth 63 #35 of 93 34 #62 of 93
Profitability 84 #15 of 91 88 #12 of 91
Financial Health 36 #66 of 102 43 #59 of 102
Shareholder Returns 68 #25 of 76 80 #16 of 76
Overall 58 65
  • CDNS ranked among 104 companies in Semiconductors
  • QCOM ranked among 104 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCDNSQCOMSPY
1 month +2.4%-10.8% -1.0%
3 months -3.0%+5.4% +2.9%
6 months -4.9%+18.2% +6.4%
Year to date +1.3%+2.8% +11.4%
1 year -6.2%+3.5% +13.1%
3 years +33.3%+60.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +10.1%+17.2% +21.5%
5 years +89.8%+33.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year +13.7%+6.0% +10.9%
10 years +1,131.0%+159.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +28.5%+10.0% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCDNSQCOMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.0%54.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.0%52.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.612.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.150.06 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.0%-45.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -24.0%-29.9% -2.5%
52-week high $416.39$251.02 $779.14
52-week low $265.66$124.07 $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.

MultipleCDNSQCOM
P/E now vs peer median 62.9xmedian 41.5x 20.1xmedian 41.5x
P/S now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 6.9x 4.2xmedian 6.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 42.1xmedian 27.3x 15.3xmedian 27.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 51.9xmedian 35.6x 17.9xmedian 35.6x
P/B now vs peer median 12.7xmedian 4.2x 6.7xmedian 4.2x
PEG now vs peer median 4.12median 2.31 4.83median 2.31

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 monthsCDNSQCOM
Revenue $5.84B $44.07B
Gross profit $5.01B $23.90B
Operating income $1.77B $10.22B
Net income $1.38B $9.26B
Free cash flow $1.68B $10.42B
R&D $1.93B $9.89B
EPS (diluted) $4.99 $8.66
Cash & equivalents $1.44B $4.53B
Total debt $10.35B $2.49B
Shares (diluted) 276.16M 1.07B
Enterprise value $80.21B $149.91B

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
MetricCDNSQCOM
P/E 62.9x 20.1x
P/FCF 51.9x 17.9x
P/Operating cash flow 47.0x 15.0x
P/S 14.9x 4.2x
P/B 12.7x 6.7x
P/Tangible book 17.5x 7.1x
EV/EBITDA 42.1x 15.3x
EV/EBIT 49.8x 17.6x
EV/Revenue 15.1x 4.1x
EV/FCF 52.5x 17.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 47.6x 14.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.12 4.83

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOM
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.7% 1.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 15.4% 4.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.1% -0.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.8% 3.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 25.5% -15.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.4% 0.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 36.2% -20.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 15.7% 2.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 34.6% -17.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 15.3% 4.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.1% -2.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.7% 12.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 5.9% -10.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.0% 14.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOM
Gross margin 85.9% 54.2%
EBITDA margin 35.9% 26.8%
Operating margin 30.3% 23.2%
Pretax margin 31.2% 25.4%
Net margin 23.6% 21.0%
FCF margin 28.8% 23.6%
Operating cash flow margin 31.8% 28.1%
Return on equity 20.5% 33.7%
Return on assets 11.4% 16.2%
Return on invested capital 14.2% 29.1%
Return on capital employed 17.3% 22.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 8.8% 7.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOM
Debt / assets 20.5% 4.3%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.5x -0.5x
Debt / FCF 1.5x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 43.2% 51.8%
Equity / assets 56.8% 48.2%
Interest coverage 14.1x 14.8x
Current ratio 1.7x 2.0x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 12.02 6.02

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCDNSQCOM
Dividend yield – 2.1%
Net buyback yield 0.7% 4.7%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 6.8%
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.

ConsensusCDNSQCOM
Forward P/E 36.5xFY2026 16.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.68FY2026 $10.79FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +21.6%FY2026 -10.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.5% -2.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.74BFY2026 $45.55BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +27.2%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.3% -5.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCDNSQCOM
Held by institutions 88.2% 79.7%
Institutions holding 1,498 3,029
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.4% +2.8%
Institutions buying 831 1,416
Institutions selling 518 1,332
Buyers to sellers 1.60 1.06

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.

CDNSQCOM
CDNS 1.00 0.29
QCOM 0.29 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CDNS and QCOM?

Qualcomm (QCOM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) $88.81B, Qualcomm (QCOM) $189.99B.

Which stock is cheaper, CDNS and QCOM?

Qualcomm (QCOM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 64.4x, Qualcomm (QCOM) 20.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Qualcomm (QCOM) is cheapest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 36.5x, Qualcomm (QCOM) 16.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +14.7%, Qualcomm (QCOM) +1.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) has the highest net margin (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 23.6%, Qualcomm (QCOM) 21.0%). On return on invested capital, Qualcomm (QCOM) leads (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 14.2%, Qualcomm (QCOM) 29.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Qualcomm (QCOM) returned the most: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) -6.2%, Qualcomm (QCOM) +3.5%. Over five years, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) compounded fastest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +13.7%/yr, Qualcomm (QCOM) +6.0%/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%. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 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) 41.0%, Qualcomm (QCOM) 54.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CDNS and QCOM move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.29, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CDNS and QCOM?

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