CDNS vs SNPS vs ARM Stock Comparison

Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys and Arm Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CDNS Cadence Design Systems Inc
$343.08 +5.2% 1M -2.4% 1Y
Market cap
$93.01B
P/E
67.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.13B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
3 wins
SNPS Synopsys Inc
$474.42 +11.4% 1M +1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$91.96B
P/E
70.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.88B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
2 wins
ARM Arm Holdings Plc /Uk
$226.60 -27.0% 1M +26.9% 1Y
Market cap
$248.75B
P/E
238.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.16B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Design Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Arm Holdings leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Arm Holdings 4, Cadence Design Systems 3, Synopsys 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCDNSSNPSARMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $93.01B $91.96B $248.75B ARM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 67.4x 70.6x 238.3x CDNS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.8x 32.6x 109.5x SNPS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.6% +38.0% +25.1% SNPS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 14.7% 20.2% ARM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 1.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.8x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.4% +1.9% +26.9% ARM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.2%/yr +7.7%/yr — CDNS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.4% 44.7% 78.9% CDNS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 39/100 62/100 ARM

Percentile Scorecard

CDNSSNPSARM

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

AxisCDNSSNPSARM
Valuation 27 #69 of 94 42 #55 of 94 8 #87 of 94
Growth 65 #33 of 92 48 #48 of 92 88 #12 of 92
Profitability 54 #42 of 90 47 #48 of 90 78 #21 of 90
Financial Health – 18 #81 of 99 77 #24 of 99
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 49 39 62
  • CDNS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • SNPS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • ARM ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCDNSSNPSARMSPY
1 month +5.2%+11.4%-27.0% -0.2%
3 months -0.5%+23.6%-7.4% +3.9%
6 months +5.5%-2.0%+14.1% +8.2%
Year to date +9.8%+1.0%+107.3% +12.9%
1 year -2.4%+1.9%+26.9% +12.3%
3 years +48.6%+3.8%+361.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +14.1%+1.3%+66.6% +23.3%
5 years +103.1%+45.2%— +67.9%
5 years, per year +15.2%+7.7%— +10.9%
10 years +1,252.8%+713.3%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +29.8%+23.3%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCDNSSNPSARMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.4%44.7%78.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 41.0%42.7%71.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.621.683.46 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.060.040.34 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.0%-42.3%-54.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.6%-11.3%-48.4% -1.2%
52-week high $416.39$534.56$439.46 $779.14
52-week low $265.66$372.33$104.55 $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.

MultipleCDNSSNPSARM
P/E now vs peer median 68.1xmedian 45.6x 69.8xmedian 45.6x 230.3xmedian 45.6x
P/S now vs peer median 15.4xmedian 7.7x 10.2xmedian 7.7x 46.6xmedian 7.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 29.0x 42.1xmedian 29.0x 204.3xmedian 29.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 53.2xmedian 40.6x —median 40.6x 119.5xmedian 40.6x
P/B now vs peer median 13.7xmedian 4.6x 2.9xmedian 4.6x 27.9xmedian 4.6x
PEG now vs peer median 5.47median 2.28 147.37median 2.28 6.49median 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 monthsCDNSSNPSARM
Revenue $6.13B $8.88B $5.16B
Gross profit – $6.53B $5.03B
Operating income $1.77B $847.20M $877.00M
Net income $1.38B $1.30B $1.04B
Free cash flow – – $2.01B
R&D $2.04B $2.81B $2.96B
EPS (diluted) $5.00 $6.77 $0.98
Cash & equivalents $1.45B $3.61B $3.06B
Total debt – $10.04B –
Shares (diluted) 276.16M 192.32M 1.07B
Enterprise value $93.01B $88.35B $234.46B

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
MetricCDNSSNPSARM
P/E 68.1x 69.8x 230.3x
P/FCF 53.2x – 119.5x
P/Operating cash flow 48.0x – 114.8x
P/S 15.4x 10.2x 46.6x
P/B 13.7x 2.9x 27.9x
P/Tangible book 18.6x 4.6x 28.6x
EV/EBITDA – 42.1x 204.3x
EV/EBIT – 114.9x 269.7x
EV/Revenue 15.4x 11.0x 45.9x
EV/FCF – – 117.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 48.0x – 113.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 5.47 147.37 6.49

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCDNSSNPSARM
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.6% 38.0% 25.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.1% 22.8% 24.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 28.2% 25.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 18.9% 25.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 19.4% -23.3% 14.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 16.4% -7.0% 21.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 30.1% -34.9% 49.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 8.0% 37.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.0% -45.2% 48.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.5% 0.5% 35.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.7% – 105.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.6% – 34.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 121.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 33.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCDNSSNPSARM
Gross margin – 73.5% 97.5%
EBITDA margin – 26.0% 22.5%
Operating margin – 9.5% 17.0%
Pretax margin – 16.5% 24.5%
Net margin – 14.7% 20.2%
FCF margin – – 39.0%
Operating cash flow margin 32.1% – 40.6%
Return on equity – 4.2% 16.3%
Return on assets – 2.7% 12.6%
Return on invested capital – 1.8% –
Return on capital employed – 2.0% 9.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.2x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x – 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue 8.9% – 22.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCDNSSNPSARM
Debt / assets – 21.0% –
Debt / equity – 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.8x –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets – 34.7% 22.9%
Equity / assets 56.2% 65.3% 77.1%
Interest coverage – 1.3x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.3x 5.3x
Quick ratio – 1.0x 4.9x
Cash ratio – 0.7x 3.2x
Altman Z-score – 3.90 58.08

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCDNSSNPSARM
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield – – –
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.

ConsensusCDNSSNPSARM
Forward P/E 38.8xFY2026 32.6xFY2026 109.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.84FY2026 $14.56FY2026 $2.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +23.8%FY2026 +12.8%FY2026 +16.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.6% +21.4% +49.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.79BFY2026 $10.20BFY2026 $5.71BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.2%FY2026 +44.6%FY2026 +16.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.9% +12.8% +38.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCDNSSNPSARM
Held by institutions 88.2% 92.3% 9.3%
Institutions holding 1,499 1,440 955
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.4% +5.6% +12.4%
Institutions buying 832 772 593
Institutions selling 518 493 257
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.57 2.31

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.

CDNSSNPSARM
CDNS 1.00 0.76 0.41
SNPS 0.76 1.00 0.35
ARM 0.41 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CDNS, SNPS and ARM?

Arm Holdings (ARM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) $93.01B, Synopsys (SNPS) $91.96B, Arm Holdings (ARM) $248.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, CDNS, SNPS and ARM?

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 67.4x, Synopsys (SNPS) 70.6x, Arm Holdings (ARM) 238.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Synopsys (SNPS) is cheapest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 38.8x, Synopsys (SNPS) 32.6x, Arm Holdings (ARM) 109.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Synopsys (SNPS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +17.6%, Synopsys (SNPS) +38.0%, Arm Holdings (ARM) +25.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Arm Holdings (ARM) has the highest net margin (Synopsys (SNPS) 14.7%, Arm Holdings (ARM) 20.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arm Holdings (ARM) returned the most: Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) -2.4%, Synopsys (SNPS) +1.9%, Arm Holdings (ARM) +26.9%. Over five years, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) compounded fastest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) +15.2%/yr, Synopsys (SNPS) +7.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) has been the steadiest (Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) 41.4%, Synopsys (SNPS) 44.7%, Arm Holdings (ARM) 78.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.