SNPS vs NVMI vs LWLG Stock Comparison

Synopsys, Nova and Lightwave Logic Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SNPS Synopsys Inc
$481.89 +15.4% 1M +5.5% 1Y
Market cap
$91.60B
P/E
70.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.88B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
4 wins
NVMI Nova Ltd.
$334.72 -9.6% 1M -1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$10.09B
P/E
37.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$937.50M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
5 wins
LWLG Lightwave Logic, Inc.
$4.71 -5.8% 1M -3.1% 1Y
Market cap
$710.61M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionSNPSNVMILWLGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $91.60B $10.09B $710.61M SNPS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 70.4x 37.3x — NVMI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 33.1x 29.6x — NVMI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +38.0% +16.2% — SNPS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.7% 28.8% — NVMI
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 +5.5% -1.8% -3.1% SNPS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.7%/yr +25.3%/yr -15.1%/yr NVMI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.7% 59.5% 118.6% SNPS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 54/100 — NVMI

Percentile Scorecard

SNPSNVMILWLG

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

AxisSNPSNVMILWLG
Valuation 42 #55 of 94 55 #43 of 94 –
Growth 47 #49 of 92 68 #30 of 92 –
Profitability 46 #49 of 90 76 #22 of 90 –
Financial Health 19 #80 of 99 16 #83 of 99 –
Shareholder Returns – – 4 #66 of 69
Overall 39 54 –
  • SNPS ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • NVMI 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

PeriodSNPSNVMILWLGSPY
1 month +15.4%-9.6%-5.8% +0.9%
3 months +29.0%-8.8%-11.8% +5.9%
6 months +0.1%-33.3%-59.9% +8.5%
Year to date +2.6%+1.9%+45.4% +13.3%
1 year +5.5%-1.8%-3.1% +12.4%
3 years +5.4%+268.4%-1.5% +88.1%
3 years, per year +1.8%+54.5%-0.5% +23.5%
5 years +44.6%+208.2%-55.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year +7.7%+25.3%-15.1% +11.0%
10 years +725.6%+2,668.6%+698.3% +263.4%
10 years, per year +23.5%+39.4%+23.1% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureSNPSNVMILWLGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.7%59.5%118.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.8%67.9%113.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.692.913.70 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.12-0.03-0.03 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.3%-52.8%-95.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.9%-44.7%-74.1% -0.9%
52-week high $534.56$605.65$18.22 $779.14
52-week low $372.33$275.78$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.

MultipleSNPSNVMILWLG
P/E now vs peer median 70.9xmedian 46.0x 37.3xmedian 46.0x —median 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 10.4xmedian 7.9x 11.3xmedian 7.9x —median 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 42.7xmedian 28.3x 34.5xmedian 28.3x —median 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 41.4x 43.4xmedian 41.4x —median 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 4.6x 7.3xmedian 4.6x —median 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 149.69median 2.30 1.51median 2.30 —median 1.84

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 monthsSNPSNVMILWLG
Revenue $8.88B $937.50M –
Gross profit $6.53B $535.50M –
Operating income $847.20M $271.61M –
Net income $1.30B $270.51M –
Free cash flow – $244.83M –
R&D $2.81B $151.05M –
EPS (diluted) $6.77 $8.24 –
Cash & equivalents $3.61B $124.85M –
Total debt $10.04B – –
Shares (diluted) 192.32M 32.80M 153.48M
Enterprise value $87.99B $7.26B $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
MetricSNPSNVMILWLG
P/E 70.9x 37.3x –
P/FCF – 43.4x –
P/Operating cash flow – 47.0x –
P/S 10.4x 11.3x –
P/B 3.0x 7.3x –
P/Tangible book 4.7x 7.5x –
EV/EBITDA 42.7x 34.5x –
EV/EBIT 116.6x 36.9x –
EV/Revenue 11.1x 10.7x –
EV/FCF – 40.9x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 44.2x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 149.69 1.51 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSNPSNVMILWLG
Revenue growth (1Y) 38.0% 16.2% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 22.8% 19.5% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 28.2% 16.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 18.9% 20.0% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -23.3% 16.3% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -7.0% 24.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) -34.9% 15.2% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 25.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) -45.2% 12.8% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 0.5% 24.6% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -1.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 20.7% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -3.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 18.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSNPSNVMILWLG
Gross margin 73.5% 57.1% –
EBITDA margin 26.0% 31.0% –
Operating margin 9.5% 29.0% –
Pretax margin 16.5% 34.1% –
Net margin 14.7% 28.8% –
FCF margin – 26.1% –
Operating cash flow margin – 24.1% –
Return on equity 4.2% 19.0% –
Return on assets 2.7% 11.0% –
Return on invested capital 1.8% – –
Return on capital employed 2.0% 17.9% –
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 0.8x –
Stock comp / revenue – 2.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSNPSNVMILWLG
Debt / assets 21.0% – –
Debt / equity 0.3x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 34.7% 41.1% –
Equity / assets 65.3% 58.9% –
Interest coverage 1.3x – –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.6x –
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.9x –
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.7x –
Altman Z-score 3.95 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSNPSNVMILWLG
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – – -7.9%
Shareholder yield – – -7.9%
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.

ConsensusSNPSNVMILWLG
Forward P/E 33.1xFY2026 29.6xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $14.56FY2026 $11.30FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +12.8%FY2026 +31.1%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +21.4% +17.2% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.20BFY2026 $1.15BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +44.6%FY2026 +30.3%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +12.8% +23.9% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSNPSNVMILWLG
Held by institutions 92.3% 69.0% 37.8%
Institutions holding 1,441 343 173
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.6% -4.1% +39.6%
Institutions buying 773 175 122
Institutions selling 493 129 30
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.36 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.

SNPSNVMILWLG
SNPS 1.00 0.39 0.20
NVMI 0.39 1.00 0.43
LWLG 0.20 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SNPS, NVMI and LWLG?

Synopsys (SNPS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Synopsys (SNPS) $91.60B, Nova (NVMI) $10.09B, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) $710.61M.

Which stock is cheaper, SNPS, NVMI and LWLG?

Nova (NVMI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Synopsys (SNPS) 70.4x, Nova (NVMI) 37.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nova (NVMI) is cheapest (Synopsys (SNPS) 33.1x, Nova (NVMI) 29.6x). 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%, Nova (NVMI) +16.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nova (NVMI) has the highest net margin (Synopsys (SNPS) 14.7%, Nova (NVMI) 28.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Synopsys (SNPS) returned the most: Synopsys (SNPS) +5.5%, Nova (NVMI) -1.8%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -3.1%. Over five years, Nova (NVMI) compounded fastest (Synopsys (SNPS) +7.7%/yr, Nova (NVMI) +25.3%/yr, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -15.1%/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%, Nova (NVMI) 59.5%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) 118.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SNPS, NVMI 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, Nova (NVMI) 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.