Cadence Design Systems Inc | North America Competitive Moat In Focus

Research evidence excerpt

Cadence Design Systems Inc | North America Competitive Moat In Focus

Idea

July 21, 2026 04:00 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+MCadence Design Systems Inc | North America Lee Simpson

Equity Analyst

Competitive Moat In Focus Lee.Simpson@morganstanley.comShawn Kim +44 20 7425-3378

Shawn.Kim@morganstanley.com +44 20 7677-1018

Cadence prints 2Q26 results next Monday 27th July. While we Nigel van Putten

see a decent chance of another guidance raise this quarter, we Equity Analyst

Nigel.Putten@morganstanley.com +44 20 7425-2803

think this is largely appreciated by the market. The bigger areas Amelia M Scicluna

of focus are on expanding foundry partnerships, AI disruption ResearchAmelia.Scicluna@morganstanley.comAssociate +44 20 7425-6694

and agentic offerings.

Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS.O, CDNS US)

Semiconductors | United States of America

Key Takeaways

Stock Rating Overweight

We think a guidance raise is well expected by the market; instead, we see DTCO Industry View Attractive

Price target US$370.00

as the more interesting area of focus into the print. Shr price, close (Jul 17, 2026) US$330.11

52-Week Range US$416.69-262.75

Given the sell-off last week, we think management would need to address LLM Mkt cap, curr (mn) US$90,038

risk to EDA companies. Net debt (12/26e) (mn)* US$809

EV, curr (mn)* US$89,516

Agentic AI is key to Cadence's competitive moat. We would be looking for the * = GAAP or approximated based on GAAP

company to expand on monetisation and the revenue timeline of these offerings. Fiscal Year Ending 12/25 12/26e 12/27e 12/28e

We reiterate our OW rating and PT of $370, as we see solid margin/earnings Sales / Revenue (US$ 5,297 6,225 7,210 8,153

mn)**

recovery next year on deal integration, and early physical AI momentum.