Stifel has reiterated a Buy rating and left its price target unchanged at $395.00 for Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) following the company's fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 financial report. The $395.00 target remains below the analyst's internal high of $410 but sits well above the prevailing share price of $307.76.
Cadence reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 revenue of $1.44 billion, with an operating margin of 45.8% and adjusted earnings per share of $1.99. Those results outpaced consensus expectations, which anticipated $1.42 billion in revenue, a 45.4% margin and $1.91 per share in earnings. Management backed this momentum with a raised first-quarter fiscal 2026 outlook: $1.44 billion in revenue, a 44.5% margin and $1.92 in EPS, versus Street estimates of $1.38 billion, a 43.6% margin and $1.80 per share.
Supporting the company's profitability profile, InvestingPro data cited an 85.54% gross profit margin for Cadence, though that dataset also notes the stock currently trades above its Fair Value and appears on lists of the most overvalued names. The shares carry a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 78.52, reflecting a lofty multiple against near-term earnings expectations.
Operationally, Cadence reported $7.8 billion in backlog and $3.8 billion in current remaining performance obligations (RPO). Management stated that the current RPO represents roughly 64% of the midpoint of its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance. For full fiscal 2026, Cadence provided adjusted earnings per share guidance with a midpoint of $8.10, slightly above the Street midpoint of $8.05.
Stifel highlighted that the company's guidance excludes the pending acquisition of Hexagon, which the company estimates has an annual run-rate in excess of $150 million. The analyst also indicated that the guidance already incorporates potential China-related risks and acknowledges limited visibility into second-half hardware trends.
The firm's quarterly performance was driven by strength in semiconductor intellectual property (IP) and hardware businesses. Stifel pointed to improving profitability on a per-employee basis and the potential incremental benefits from agentic AI solutions such as Cerebrus and ChipStack.
In parallel coverage following the results, other sell-side moves were disclosed. Rosenblatt upgraded Cadence's stock to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $360 after the earnings release. KeyBanc retained an Overweight rating and kept a $405 price target, noting a backlog expansion of $800 million that brought the total backlog to $7.8 billion. KeyBanc also provided a 2026 revenue growth outlook of 12.3%.
Cadence outlined new product initiatives that the company says will address emerging customer needs in AI and embedded processing. The firm introduced the ChipStack AI Super Agent, positioned as a tool to automate aspects of silicon design and verification with the goal of boosting engineering productivity. Separately, Cadence launched the sixth generation of its HiFi digital signal processor family - the Tensilica HiFi iQ DSP - which the company designed for next-generation voice AI and immersive audio use cases.
According to the company, the Tensilica HiFi iQ DSP delivers twice the compute performance and eight times the AI performance of its predecessor, while realizing energy savings of more than 25% for most workloads. These product announcements were presented alongside the broader commentary about the company's backlog, profitability metrics and the expected contribution from agentic AI capabilities.
Taken together, Cadence's quarterly beat, raised near-term guidance and product roadmap updates underpin Stifel's decision to maintain a Buy stance and a $395.00 target. At the same time, the shares trade at a high earnings multiple, and management has excluded incremental revenue from the pending Hexagon deal in its guidance.
What this means
- Cadence posted better-than-expected Q4 results and lifted Q1 fiscal 2026 guidance, supporting continued analyst confidence.
- The company's backlog and RPO cushion part of 2026 revenue expectations, though guidance leaves out the Hexagon acquisition's contribution.
- New AI and DSP product introductions aim to enhance design automation and embedded processing performance, potentially supporting long-term profitability.
Valuation and near-term considerations
Despite the operational upside, Cadence's valuation is elevated by conventional metrics, including an approximately 78.52 P/E ratio and a fair-value assessment that places the shares above intrinsic estimates. Investors and analysts will likely weigh the company's product-led growth and backlog strength against that high multiple and the guidance exclusions related to acquisitions.