Cadence Design Systems vs Workday
Add, change or remove companies; up to four.
KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Cadence Design Systems and Workday side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Workday is the larger business, with $9.6B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $5.3B for Cadence Design Systems, about 1.8 times as much.
- Cadence Design Systems grew revenue faster (14.1%, against 13.1%).
- Cadence Design Systems kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (28.2% operating margin, against 7.6%).
- Cadence Design Systems turned more of its sales into free cash flow (30.0% FCF margin, against 29.1%).
- Cadence Design Systems earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (23.7%, against 10.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Cadence Design Systems’s earnings: a P/E of 73.8x against 42.5x for Workday.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Cadence Design Systems
CDNS
6/10
Revenue growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equity
Workday
WDAY
4/10
5-year growthPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | CDNS FY25 | WDAY FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $86.6B | $51.7B |
| Revenue | $5.3B | $9.6B |
| Free cash flow | $1.6B | $2.8B |
| Net income | $1.1B | $693M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 14.1% | 13.1% |
| 5-year growth | 14.6% | 17.2% |
| Share count change | −0.2% | −0.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 28.2% | 7.6% |
| Net margin | 20.9% | 7.3% |
| FCF margin | 30.0% | 29.1% |
| Return on capital | 23.7% | 10.6% |
| Return on equity | 21.9% | 8.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$675M | −$2.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.4x | −2.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $925M | $2.9B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 73.8x | 42.5x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 7 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.