Cadence Design Systems vs Synopsys
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The short version
- Synopsys is the larger business, with $7.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.3B for Cadence Design Systems.
- Synopsys grew revenue faster (15.1%, against 14.1%).
- Cadence Design Systems kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (28.2% operating margin, against 13.0%).
- Cadence Design Systems turned more of its sales into free cash flow (30.0% FCF margin, against 19.1%).
- Cadence Design Systems earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (23.7%, against 4.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Synopsys’s earnings: a P/E of 75.2x against 73.8x for Cadence Design Systems.
| Latest fiscal year | CDNS · FY25 | SNPS · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $86.6B | $82.7B |
| Revenue | $5.3B | $7.1B |
| Free cash flow | $1.6B | $1.3B |
| Net income | $1.1B | $1.3B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 14.1% | 15.1% |
| 5-year growth | 14.6% | 13.9% |
| Share count change | −0.2% | 6.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 77.0% |
| Operating margin | 28.2% | 13.0% |
| Net margin | 20.9% | 18.9% |
| FCF margin | 30.0% | 19.1% |
| Return on capital | 23.7% | 4.0% |
| Return on equity | 21.9% | 7.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$675M | $10.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.4x | 6.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $925M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 73.8x | 75.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 3 |
Revenue
FY16
CDNS $1.8B
SNPS $2.4B
FY17
CDNS $1.9B
SNPS $2.7B
FY18
CDNS $2.1B
SNPS $3.1B
FY19
CDNS $2.3B
SNPS $3.4B
FY20
CDNS $2.7B
SNPS $3.7B
FY21
CDNS $3.0B
SNPS $4.2B
FY22
CDNS $3.6B
SNPS $5.1B
FY23
CDNS $4.1B
SNPS $5.3B
FY24
CDNS $4.6B
SNPS $6.1B
FY25
CDNS $5.3B
SNPS $7.1B
CDNS
SNPS
Operating margin
FY16
CDNS 13.5%
SNPS 13.1%
FY17
CDNS 16.7%
SNPS 12.8%
FY18
CDNS 18.5%
SNPS 11.5%
FY19
CDNS 21.1%
SNPS 15.5%
FY20
CDNS 24.1%
SNPS 16.8%
FY21
CDNS 26.1%
SNPS 17.5%
FY22
CDNS 30.2%
SNPS 22.6%
FY23
CDNS 30.6%
SNPS 23.9%
FY24
CDNS 29.1%
SNPS 22.1%
FY25
CDNS 28.2%
SNPS 13.0%
CDNS
SNPS
Free cash flow
FY16
CDNS $391M
SNPS $520M
FY17
CDNS $413M
SNPS $562M
FY18
CDNS $543M
SNPS $325M
FY19
CDNS $655M
SNPS $602M
FY20
CDNS $810M
SNPS $837M
FY21
CDNS $1.0B
SNPS $1.4B
FY22
CDNS $1.1B
SNPS $1.6B
FY23
CDNS $1.2B
SNPS $1.5B
FY24
CDNS $1.1B
SNPS $1.3B
FY25
CDNS $1.6B
SNPS $1.3B
CDNS
SNPS
Return on capital
FY16
CDNS 21.8%
SNPS 12.1%
FY17
CDNS 22.6%
SNPS 7.8%
FY18
CDNS 35.7%
SNPS 13.7%
FY19
CDNS 34.6%
SNPS 16.0%
FY20
CDNS 33.0%
SNPS 17.1%
FY21
CDNS 36.1%
SNPS 18.4%
FY22
CDNS 38.7%
SNPS 26.0%
FY23
CDNS 37.5%
SNPS 27.7%
FY24
CDNS 28.1%
SNPS 26.5%
FY25
CDNS 23.7%
SNPS 4.0%
CDNS
SNPS
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.