Cadence Design Systems vs Workday
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The short version
- 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.
| 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 |
Revenue
FY17
CDNS $1.9B
WDAY $1.6B
FY18
CDNS $2.1B
WDAY $2.1B
FY19
CDNS $2.3B
WDAY $2.8B
FY20
CDNS $2.7B
WDAY $3.6B
FY21
CDNS $3.0B
WDAY $4.3B
FY22
CDNS $3.6B
WDAY $5.1B
FY23
CDNS $4.1B
WDAY $6.2B
FY24
CDNS $4.6B
WDAY $7.3B
FY25
CDNS $5.3B
WDAY $8.4B
FY26
CDNS —
WDAY $9.6B
CDNS
WDAY
Operating margin
FY17
CDNS 16.7%
WDAY −22.4%
FY18
CDNS 18.5%
WDAY −14.2%
FY19
CDNS 21.1%
WDAY −16.4%
FY20
CDNS 24.1%
WDAY −13.9%
FY21
CDNS 26.1%
WDAY −5.8%
FY22
CDNS 30.2%
WDAY −2.3%
FY23
CDNS 30.6%
WDAY −3.6%
FY24
CDNS 29.1%
WDAY 2.5%
FY25
CDNS 28.2%
WDAY 4.9%
FY26
CDNS —
WDAY 7.6%
CDNS
WDAY
Free cash flow
FY17
CDNS $413M
WDAY $230M
FY18
CDNS $543M
WDAY $324M
FY19
CDNS $655M
WDAY $404M
FY20
CDNS $810M
WDAY $621M
FY21
CDNS $1.0B
WDAY $1.0B
FY22
CDNS $1.1B
WDAY $1.4B
FY23
CDNS $1.2B
WDAY $1.3B
FY24
CDNS $1.1B
WDAY $1.9B
FY25
CDNS $1.6B
WDAY $2.2B
FY26
CDNS —
WDAY $2.8B
CDNS
WDAY
Return on capital
FY17
CDNS 22.6%
WDAY —
FY18
CDNS 35.7%
WDAY —
FY19
CDNS 34.6%
WDAY −16.4%
FY20
CDNS 33.0%
WDAY −18.3%
FY21
CDNS 36.1%
WDAY −11.8%
FY22
CDNS 38.7%
WDAY −5.4%
FY23
CDNS 37.5%
WDAY −6.8%
FY24
CDNS 28.1%
WDAY 6.4%
FY25
CDNS 23.7%
WDAY 9.4%
FY26
CDNS —
WDAY 10.6%
CDNS
WDAY
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.