Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) slides despite Q1 beat-and-raise, suggesting post-earnings profit-taking

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) is down 4.2% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied to a post-earnings “sell-the-news” reaction after Cadence reported a strong Q1 and lifted its full-year revenue outlook, but investors may have been positioned for an even bigger upside surprise given the stock’s strong recent run. This could also reflect sensitivity to near-term dilution and integration costs tied to recent M&A, even as demand drivers (AI and HPC design activity) remain intact.

Details:

Cadence reported Q1 2026 revenue of $1.474 billion and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.96, alongside improved non-GAAP operating margin versus the prior year period.

Management raised its FY2026 revenue outlook to a range of $6.125 billion to $6.225 billion (midpoint implying roughly 17% year-over-year growth).

Quarter-end backlog was disclosed at $8.0 billion, with $4.0 billion of remaining performance obligations expected to be recognized as revenue over the next 12 months.

The company highlighted broad-based strength across core EDA, hardware, IP, and system design/analysis, including the launch of new agentic-AI workflow products.

Sources:

Cadence, Reuters, MarketScreener

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$CDNS Insider Trading Activity

$CDNS insiders have traded $CDNS stock on the open market 40 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 40 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CDNS stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

JOHN M WALL (Sr. VP & CFO) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 49,305 shares for an estimated $15,510,947.
ANIRUDH DEVGAN (President and CEO) has made 0 purchases and 7 sales selling 25,550 shares for an estimated $8,619,279.
CHIN-CHI TENG (Sr. Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 18,096 shares for an estimated $5,914,007.
PAUL SCANNELL (Sr. Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 5,490 shares for an estimated $1,863,494.
PAUL CUNNINGHAM (Sr. Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 6,000 shares for an estimated $1,841,660.
ITA M BRENNAN has made 0 purchases and 15 sales selling 360 shares for an estimated $113,851.
MOSHE GAVRIELOV has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 25 shares for an estimated $7,898.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API.

$CDNS Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 689 institutional investors add shares of $CDNS stock to their portfolio, and 670 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 11,429,245 shares (-75.5%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $3,572,553,402
J. STERN & CO. LLP added 2,924,470 shares (+10159.3%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $914,130,832
BLACKROCK, INC. removed 2,686,173 shares (-9.3%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $839,643,956
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP added 1,751,290 shares (+218.4%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $547,418,228
JENNISON ASSOCIATES LLC removed 1,016,098 shares (-11.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $317,611,912
ASSENAGON ASSET MANAGEMENT S.A. removed 900,279 shares (-80.1%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $247,216,703
FRANKLIN RESOURCES INC removed 860,775 shares (-21.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $269,061,049

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API.

$CDNS Government Contracts

We have seen $2,082,254 of award payments to $CDNS over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

FY25 FIDELITY POINTWISE RENEWAL: $179,256
CADENCE SOFTWARE SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE: $175,333
LARC FY25 POINTWISE CENTER CONSOLIDATED RENEWAL: $139,560
ANSA RENEWAL: $118,745

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard.

$CDNS Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $CDNS in the last several months. We have seen 3 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Morgan Stanley issued a "Overweight" rating on 02/18/2026
Needham issued a "Buy" rating on 02/18/2026
Citigroup issued a "Buy" rating on 11/24/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $CDNS, check out Quiver Quantitative's $CDNS forecast page.

$CDNS Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $CDNS recently. We have seen 8 analysts offer price targets for $CDNS in the last 6 months, with a median target of $385.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Clarke Jeffries from Piper Sandler set a target price of $325.0 on 04/28/2026
Joe Vruwink from Baird set a target price of $385.0 on 04/28/2026
Charles Shi from Needham set a target price of $400.0 on 04/28/2026
Joe Quatrochi from Wells Fargo set a target price of $400.0 on 04/28/2026
Jason Celino from Keybanc set a target price of $425.0 on 04/28/2026
Blair Abernethy from Rosenblatt set a target price of $375.0 on 04/28/2026
Lee Simpson from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $370.0 on 02/18/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.