Cadence Design Systems
CDNS · Application Software
$316.49
2.2%Palantir
PLTR · Application Software
$196.75
0.3%The short version
- Cadence Design Systems is the larger business, with $5.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.5B for Palantir.
- Palantir grew revenue faster (56.2%, against 14.1%).
- Palantir kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (31.6% operating margin, against 28.2% operating margin).
- Palantir turned more of its sales into free cash flow (46.9% FCF margin, against 30.0% FCF margin).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Palantir’s earnings: a P/E of 169.6x against 73.8x for Cadence Design Systems.
| Latest fiscal year | CDNS · FY25 | PLTR · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $86.6B | $505.4B |
| Revenue | $5.3B | $4.5B |
| Free cash flow | $1.6B | $2.1B |
| Net income | $1.1B | $1.6B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 14.1% | 56.2% |
| 5-year growth | 14.6% | 32.6% |
| Share count change | −0.2% | 4.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 82.4% |
| Operating margin | 28.2% | 31.6% |
| Net margin | 20.9% | 36.3% |
| FCF margin | 30.0% | 46.9% |
| Return on capital | 23.7% | — |
| Return on equity | 21.9% | 26.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$675M | −$7.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.4x | −5.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $925M | $75.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 73.8x | 169.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 7 |
FY16
CDNS $1.8B
PLTR —
FY17
CDNS $1.9B
PLTR —
FY18
CDNS $2.1B
PLTR $595M
FY19
CDNS $2.3B
PLTR $743M
FY20
CDNS $2.7B
PLTR $1.1B
FY21
CDNS $3.0B
PLTR $1.5B
FY22
CDNS $3.6B
PLTR $1.9B
FY23
CDNS $4.1B
PLTR $2.2B
FY24
CDNS $4.6B
PLTR $2.9B
FY25
CDNS $5.3B
PLTR $4.5B
CDNS
PLTR
FY16
CDNS 13.5%
PLTR —
FY17
CDNS 16.7%
PLTR —
FY18
CDNS 18.5%
PLTR −104.7%
FY19
CDNS 21.1%
PLTR −77.6%
FY20
CDNS 24.1%
PLTR −107.4%
FY21
CDNS 26.1%
PLTR −26.7%
FY22
CDNS 30.2%
PLTR −8.5%
FY23
CDNS 30.6%
PLTR 5.4%
FY24
CDNS 29.1%
PLTR 10.8%
FY25
CDNS 28.2%
PLTR 31.6%
CDNS
PLTR
FY16
CDNS $391M
PLTR —
FY17
CDNS $413M
PLTR —
FY18
CDNS $543M
PLTR −$52.0M
FY19
CDNS $655M
PLTR −$178M
FY20
CDNS $810M
PLTR −$309M
FY21
CDNS $1.0B
PLTR $321M
FY22
CDNS $1.1B
PLTR $184M
FY23
CDNS $1.2B
PLTR $697M
FY24
CDNS $1.1B
PLTR $1.1B
FY25
CDNS $1.6B
PLTR $2.1B
CDNS
PLTR
FY16
CDNS 21.8%
PLTR —
FY17
CDNS 22.6%
PLTR —
FY18
CDNS 35.7%
PLTR —
FY19
CDNS 34.6%
PLTR —
FY20
CDNS 33.0%
PLTR —
FY21
CDNS 36.1%
PLTR —
FY22
CDNS 38.7%
PLTR —
FY23
CDNS 37.5%
PLTR —
FY24
CDNS 28.1%
PLTR —
FY25
CDNS 23.7%
PLTR —
CDNS
PLTR
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Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.