Off The Call: CDNS (+3.4%)...

Research evidence excerpt

Off The Call: CDNS (+3.4%)...

Specialist Sales J P M O R G A N

27 July 2026

Joshua Meyers

+1 617 310 0767

joshua.meyers@jpmorgan.com

Another solid print and a strong investor call. In a year where renewals are weaker, they continue to deliver record backlogs, and

they sounded strong. The team is driving meaningful customer traction and monetizing its AI suite of agentic tools. China

business is en fuego (15% of revenue) – which helps challenge the notion that LLMs represent an existential risk to the chip

design incumbents. (Indeed, it’s crazy that 3 investors asked about this risk, and not a single one asked about eye-popping China

strength)… They’re also talking more about both the agentic AI traction they’re getting, and about the penetration they’re

getting with INTC (where they’re making good on longstanding fears of share gains from SNPS).

Key points from CEO commentary:

• Exited the quarter with a record backlog “that was above our expectations.

• “Agentic AI is a demand accelerator for Cadence.”

• “Cadence is now the only provider with agentic solutions spanning the full electronic system design flow, from digital and

analog design and verification to advanced packaging and PCB.”

• All product groups delivered double-digit year-over-year growth

• “We expanded our collaboration with Intel through a multi-year engagement focused on enabling its 14A process.” IP

business had an outstanding quarter, growing over 40% year-over-year

• “Demand remains especially strong from AI and HPC customers, including hyperscalers and leading semiconductor

companies. We added 12 new logos and saw meaningful expansion with several marquee AI customers.”

Key Q&A Takeaways

• Agentic AI opens a new TAM opportunity and reinforces the middle layer. "Almost all the big customers — almost