SNPS vs ARM vs LWLG Stock Comparison

Synopsys, Arm Holdings and Lightwave Logic Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SNPS Synopsys Inc
$474.42 +11.4% 1M +1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$91.50B
P/E
70.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.88B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
5 wins
ARM Arm Holdings Plc /Uk
$226.60 -27.0% 1M +26.9% 1Y
Market cap
$246.13B
P/E
235.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.16B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Design Technology
4 wins
LWLG Lightwave Logic, Inc.
$4.60 -13.4% 1M -5.9% 1Y
Market cap
$710.61M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Synopsys leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Synopsys 5, Arm Holdings 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSNPSARMLWLGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $91.50B $246.13B $710.61M ARM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 70.3x 235.8x — SNPS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.6x 109.5x — SNPS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +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 +1.9% +26.9% -5.9% ARM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.7%/yr — -16.7%/yr SNPS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.7% 78.9% 118.6% SNPS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 62/100 — ARM

Percentile Scorecard

SNPSARMLWLG

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

AxisSNPSARMLWLG
Valuation 42 #55 of 94 8 #87 of 94 –
Growth 48 #48 of 92 88 #12 of 92 –
Profitability 47 #48 of 90 78 #21 of 90 –
Financial Health 18 #81 of 99 77 #24 of 99 –
Shareholder Returns – – 4 #67 of 70
Overall 39 62 –
  • SNPS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • ARM ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • LWLG ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSNPSARMLWLGSPY
1 month +11.4%-27.0%-13.4% -0.2%
3 months +23.6%-7.4%-20.1% +3.9%
6 months -2.0%+14.1%-60.2% +8.2%
Year to date +1.0%+107.3%+42.0% +12.9%
1 year +1.9%+26.9%-5.9% +12.3%
3 years +3.8%+361.6%-3.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +1.3%+66.6%-1.3% +23.3%
5 years +45.2%—-60.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year +7.7%—-16.7% +10.9%
10 years +713.3%—+666.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +23.3%—+22.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSNPSARMLWLGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.7%78.9%118.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.7%71.2%113.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.683.463.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.040.34-0.05 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.3%-54.0%-95.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.3%-48.4%-74.8% -1.2%
52-week high $534.56$439.46$18.22 $779.14
52-week low $372.33$104.55$2.97 $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.

MultipleSNPSARMLWLG
P/E now vs peer median 69.8xmedian 45.6x 230.3xmedian 45.6x —median 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 10.2xmedian 7.7x 46.6xmedian 7.7x —median 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 42.1xmedian 29.0x 204.3xmedian 29.0x —median 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 40.6x 119.5xmedian 40.6x —median 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 4.6x 27.9xmedian 4.6x —median 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 147.37median 2.28 6.49median 2.28 —median 1.66

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 monthsSNPSARMLWLG
Revenue $8.88B $5.16B –
Gross profit $6.53B $5.03B –
Operating income $847.20M $877.00M –
Net income $1.30B $1.04B –
Free cash flow – $2.01B –
R&D $2.81B $2.96B –
EPS (diluted) $6.77 $0.98 –
Cash & equivalents $3.61B $3.06B –
Total debt $10.04B – –
Shares (diluted) 192.32M 1.07B 153.48M
Enterprise value $87.89B $231.84B $710.61M

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

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSNPSARMLWLG
Revenue growth (1Y) 38.0% 25.1% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.8% 24.7% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 28.2% 25.6% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 18.9% 25.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -23.3% 14.9% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -7.0% 21.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) -34.9% 49.4% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 37.2% –
EPS growth (1Y) -45.2% 48.7% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 0.5% 35.5% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 105.5% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 34.7% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 121.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 33.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSNPSARMLWLG
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 – 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 0.2x 0.5x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.0x –
Stock comp / revenue – 22.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSNPSARMLWLG
Debt / assets 21.0% – –
Debt / equity 0.3x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 34.7% 22.9% –
Equity / assets 65.3% 77.1% –
Interest coverage 1.3x – –
Current ratio 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
MetricSNPSARMLWLG
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – – -8.1%
Shareholder yield – – -8.1%
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.

ConsensusSNPSARMLWLG
Forward P/E 32.6xFY2026 109.5xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $14.56FY2026 $2.07FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +12.8%FY2026 +16.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +21.4% +49.8% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.20BFY2026 $5.71BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +44.6%FY2026 +16.0%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +12.8% +38.7% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSNPSARMLWLG
Held by institutions 92.3% 9.3% 37.8%
Institutions holding 1,440 955 173
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.6% +12.4% +39.6%
Institutions buying 772 593 122
Institutions selling 493 257 30
Buyers to sellers 1.57 2.31 4.07

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.

SNPSARMLWLG
SNPS 1.00 0.35 0.20
ARM 0.35 1.00 0.39
LWLG 0.20 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SNPS, ARM and LWLG?

Arm Holdings (ARM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Synopsys (SNPS) $91.50B, Arm Holdings (ARM) $246.13B, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) $710.61M.

Which stock is cheaper, SNPS, ARM and LWLG?

Synopsys (SNPS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Synopsys (SNPS) 70.3x, Arm Holdings (ARM) 235.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Synopsys (SNPS) is cheapest (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: 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: Synopsys (SNPS) +1.9%, Arm Holdings (ARM) +26.9%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -5.9%. Over five years, Synopsys (SNPS) compounded fastest (Synopsys (SNPS) +7.7%/yr, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -16.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Synopsys (SNPS) has been the steadiest (Synopsys (SNPS) 44.7%, Arm Holdings (ARM) 78.9%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) 118.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Synopsys (SNPS) leads on 5. 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.