CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) Company Report

Fiscal 2025 performance: revenue increased 14% to $5.297 billion, with a 44.6% non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP EPS of $7.14, and a record backlog of $7.8 billion
Q4 2025 results: revenue of $1.44 billion, 45.8% non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP EPS of $1.99, operating cash flow of $553 million, ending cash of $3.001 billion versus $2.5 billion debt
2026 guidance: expects revenue of $5.9–6.0 billion, 44.75–45.75% non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP EPS of $8.05–8.15, $2 billion operating cash flow, and plans to repurchase ~50% of free cash flow
AI-driven momentum: launched ChipStack AI Super Agent for automated chip design with up to 10× productivity improvement, expanded Cadence Cerebrus and AI agent workflows, and deepened partnerships with Broadcom, TSMC, Intel Foundry, and Samsung Foundry to deploy agentic AI solutions

Feb 17, 2026, 10:00 PM

Transcript

Cadence Design Systems reports Q4 and full-year 2025 results

CDNS

Earnings

Guidance Update

Share Buyback

Cadence delivered total revenue of $1.44 billion in Q4 and $5.297 billion for FY 2025, up 14% year-over-year, exiting the year with a record backlog of $7.8 billion.
FY non-GAAP EPS was $7.14 with non-GAAP operating margin of 44.6%, and Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $1.99.
2026 guidance targets revenue of $5.9 billion–$6.0 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $8.05–$8.15, and operating cash flow of approximately $2 billion.
Launched AI-driven products including ChipStack AI Super Agent (up to 10× productivity improvement) and Tensilica HiFi iQ DSP (up to 8× AI performance gains).
Returned $925 million to shareholders via buybacks in 2025, ending the year with $3.001 billion in cash and $2.5 billion of debt.

Feb 17, 2026, 10:00 PM

Transcript

Cadence Design Systems reports Q4 and full-year 2025 results

CDNS

Earnings

Guidance Update

Product Launch

Cadence posted Q4 revenue of $1.44 billion and full-year revenue of $5.297 billion (up 14% YoY), with a record backlog of $7.8 billion; Q4 GAAP/non-GAAP operating margins were 32.2%/45.8%, and non-GAAP EPS was $1.99 (FY 2025: $7.14).
For 2026, the company guides revenue of $5.9 billion–$6.0 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $8.05–$8.15, and Q1 revenue of $1.42 billion–$1.46 billion with non-GAAP EPS of $1.89–$1.95.
Continued AI momentum with the launch of ChipStack AI Super Agent (up to 10× productivity improvement) and scaled deployments of Cadence Cerebrus, Verisium, and Allegro X AI, backed by endorsements from Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Altera, and Tenstorrent.
Core EDA revenue grew 13% in 2025; the hardware business had a record year with over 30 new customers; and IP revenue increased nearly 25% as AI, HPC, and automotive adoption expanded.

Feb 17, 2026, 10:00 PM

Transcript

Cadence reports Q4 and FY 2025 results

CDNS

Earnings

Guidance Update

Product Launch

Cadence posted Q4 2025 revenue of $1.440 billion (+6% YoY), with a GAAP operating margin of 32.2%, non-GAAP operating margin of 45.8%, GAAP EPS of $1.42, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.99.
For FY 2025, revenue reached $5.297 billion (+14% YoY), non-GAAP operating margin was 44.6%, and non-GAAP EPS was $7.14.
Year-end backlog hit a record $7.8 billion, with $3.8 billion expected to be recognized over the next 12 months from remaining performance obligations.
Outlook for FY 2026: revenue of $5.9 billion–$6.0 billion, GAAP EPS of $4.95–$5.05, and non-GAAP EPS of $8.05–$8.15.
Cadence introduced ChipStack, an AI-driven super agent for chip design and verification, built on its EDA platform to enhance productivity and convergence speed.

Feb 17, 2026, 9:02 PM

8-K

Cadence reports Q4 and FY 2025 results

CDNS

Earnings

Guidance Update

Cadence delivered $1.440 billion in Q4 2025 revenue (vs. $1.356 billion in Q4 2024), with a 45.8% non-GAAP operating margin and $1.99 non-GAAP diluted EPS (vs. $1.88).
For FY 2025, revenue grew 14% to $5.297 billion, non-GAAP diluted EPS increased ~20% to $7.14, and year-end backlog reached a record $7.8 billion.
Outlook for FY 2026 includes revenue of $5.9 billion to $6.0 billion and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $8.05 to $8.15.

Feb 17, 2026, 9:02 PM

Press Release

Cadence launches ChipStack AI Super Agent

CDNS

Product Launch

Cadence announces the ChipStack AI Super Agent, the world’s first agentic AI workflow for automating front-end chip design and verification, delivering up to 10X productivity improvements in coding designs and testbenches.
The solution orchestrates virtual engineers using Cadence’s foundational EDA tools, integrating optimization AI and supporting both cloud-based and on-premises frontier models like NVIDIA Nemotron and OpenAI GPT.
Early deployments with Altera, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Tenstorrent have begun; Altera reported a 10X reduction in verification effort, while Tenstorrent achieved up to 4X faster formal verification.
ChipStack AI Super Agent is available now in early access, advancing Cadence’s Intelligent System Design strategy.

Feb 10, 2026, 2:00 PM

Press Release

Cadence launches ChipStack AI Super Agent

CDNS

Product Launch

Cadence has introduced ChipStack AI Super Agent, an “agentic” workflow to automate front-end chip design and verification, claiming up to 10x productivity improvements across coding, test planning, regression testing and debugging.
The system integrates with Cadence platforms Verisium, Cerebrus and JedAI, and supports both cloud-hosted (OpenAI GPT) and on-premise frontier models (e.g., NVIDIA Nemotron).
Early adopters include Nvidia, Qualcomm, Altera and Tenstorrent, as customers seek to address engineering shortages and accelerate AI-driven product cycles.
Positioned under Cadence’s Intelligent System Design strategy, ChipStack builds a “mental model” of a chip’s intended function and leverages Cadence’s AI assistant tools, which have supported over 1,000 tapeouts to date.

Feb 10, 2026, 1:33 PM

Bloomberg

Cadence launches LPDDR5X 9600Mbps IP system with Microsoft RAIDDR ECC

CDNS

Product Launch

Cadence introduced the industry’s first LPDDR5X 9600 Mbps memory IP system solution for enterprise and data center AI/HPC applications, integrating production-proven LPDDR5X IP with Microsoft’s RAIDDR ECC algorithm for enhanced reliability.
The solution delivers enterprise-grade RAS (reliability, availability and serviceability) with DDR5-style symbol-based ECC and sideband ECC support while maintaining a compact form factor and low power consumption.
It supports 40-bit channels and offers sideband ECC performance comparable to DDR5 ECC implementations, targeting space-constrained, high-performance data center systems.
Microsoft is the first customer to deploy this next-generation memory IP system, underscoring early industry adoption.

Jan 13, 2026, 2:00 PM

Press Release

Cadence outlines AI-driven strategy and Hexagon acquisition

CDNS

M&A

Guidance Update

Cadence reports $5.2–$5.3 billion in revenue, split roughly 70% EDA, 15% IP, and 15% systems, with a 14% revenue growth and 44.5% operating margin in the prior year.
The company emphasizes a three-phase AI roadmap—infrastructure, physical/vertical, and science—and integrates AI into its design tools for 10%–20% PPA improvements.
IP focus centers on HPC IP at advanced nodes (UCIe, HBM, DDR, PCIe, SerDes) plus Tensilica cores, targeting double-digit growth above company average.
China business has rebounded to 11%–12% of revenue, exceeding earlier flat guidance, driven by infrastructure and physical AI chip designs.
Hexagon acquisition aims to add multibody dynamics simulation for physical AI and 3D-IC workflows, supporting a > $1 billion systems run-rate post-integration.

Dec 9, 2025, 10:00 AM

Transcript

Cadence Design Systems highlights AI-led growth strategy at UBS Global Tech & AI Conference

CDNS

M&A

Cadence ended Q3 with a record backlog, achieved 14% year-to-date revenue growth, and anticipates another record backlog at Q4 close.
Management outlined three AI phases—infrastructure (now–5 years), physical AI (3–7 years), and sciences AI (5–10 years)—and is applying AI to its EDA tools to target 10× productivity improvements.
The Hexagon acquisition enhances Cadence’s systems segment by integrating multibody simulation for physical AI and complements its existing 3D IC offerings.
Cadence sustains a 44–45% operating margin with organic incremental margins near 60%, allocates half of free cash flow to share buybacks, and maintains disciplined capital deployment despite selective M&A.

Dec 2, 2025, 9:15 PM

Transcript

Earnings Transcripts

Quarterly earnings call transcripts for CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS.

Q4 2025

Feb 17, 2026

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Q3 2025

Oct 27, 2025

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Q2 2025

Jul 28, 2025

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View All Transcripts

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CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS)

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