Price movement over the last 24 hours
Akamai Technologies, Inc. vs Cadence Design Systems Inc — how do they compare? Akamai Technologies, Inc. trades at $122.51 (market cap $16.63B), while Cadence Design Systems Inc trades at $370.51 (market cap $102.34B). The key difference: Cadence Design Systems Inc is far larger — about 6.2× Akamai Technologies, Inc.'s market cap, and Cadence Design Systems Inc is trading nearer its 52-week high, Akamai Technologies, Inc. nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| AKAM | CDNS | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $16.63B | $102.34B |
Sector | Technology | Technology |
52-Week High | $161.14 | $416.39 |
52-Week Low | $70.53 | $265.66 |
Enterprise Value | $21.56B | $104.02B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Akamai Technologies (AKAM) trades at $114.37, up 1.06% on the day but down significantly from its 26-year high of $165.45 in May 2026. The stock faces a bearish technical signal despite recent earnings beats. Revenue growth has slowed to 5% annually, with net income margin declining from 14.47% in 2022 to 10.74% in 2025. The company continues strategic moves in cybersecurity, completing the LayerX acquisition and expanding its NVIDIA partnership for AI security.
While analyst consensus remains positive with a $170.20 price target, near-term headwinds include declining profitability, high valuation multiples, and competitive pressures. The stock's current pullback presents a potential entry point for long-term investors believing in its cybersecurity and cloud computing positioning, though execution risks and margin compression require monitoring.
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) trades at $371.06, down 0.56% on the day, with strong analyst support showing 84% buy ratings and a $395.88 consensus price target. The stock demonstrates robust fundamentals with consistent earnings beats, 86% gross margins, and 21% net income margins. Recent technical analysis shows neutral momentum with support at $370 and resistance at $380. The company benefits from AI-driven semiconductor design demand and recently announced expanded collaboration with Intel Foundry.
CDNS presents a compelling growth story with strong profitability and market positioning in EDA software. The primary investment thesis centers on sustained AI-driven demand for chip design tools, though elevated valuation multiples (P/E 87.6) require continued execution. Key risks include semiconductor cycle volatility and competitive pressures from Synopsys. Upside potential exists if the company maintains its earnings beat streak and capitalizes on AI infrastructure spending.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Akamai operates a content delivery network, or CDN, which entails locating servers at the edges of networks so its customers, which store content on Akamai servers, can reach their own customers faster, more securely, and with better quality. Akamai has over 325,000 servers distributed over 4,000 points of presence in more than 1,000 cities worldwide. Its customers generally include media companies, which stream video content or make video games available for download, and other enterprises that run interactive or high-traffic websites, such as e-commerce firms and financial institutions. Akamai also has a significant security business, which is integrated with its core web and media businesses to protect its customers from cyberthreats.
Read more on AKAM →Cadence Design Systems is a provider of electronic design automation software, intellectual property, and system design and analysis products. EDA software automates the chip design process, enhancing design accuracy, productivity, and complexity in a full-flow end-to-end solution. Cadence offers a portfolio of design IP, as well as system design and analysis products, which enable system-level analysis and verification solutions. Cadence's comprehensive portfolio is benefiting from a mutual convergence of semiconductor companies moving up-stack toward systems-like companies, and systems companies moving down-stack toward in-house chip design. The resulting expansion in EDA customers, alongside secular digitalization of various end markets, benefits EDA vendors like Cadence.
Read more on CDNS →