Cadence Design Systems Inc vs Morgan Stanley — how do they compare? Cadence Design Systems Inc trades at $327.47 (market cap $91.41B), while Morgan Stanley trades at $215.19 (market cap $338.50B). The key difference: Morgan Stanley is far larger — about 3.7× Cadence Design Systems Inc's market cap, and Morgan Stanley pays a 2.14% dividend while Cadence Design Systems Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CDNS | MS | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $91.41B | $338.50B |
Sector | Technology | Financials |
52-Week High | $416.39 | $228.42 |
52-Week Low | $265.66 | $143.88 |
Enterprise Value | $92.62B | — |
Dividend Yield | — | 2.14% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) trades at $339.24, up 0.24% on the day, with a neutral technical signal and strong fundamental performance. The stock has consistently beaten earnings estimates in recent quarters, with Q2 2026 EPS of $2.11 surpassing expectations. Revenue growth is robust, driven by AI demand, with 2025 revenue reaching $5.30 billion and a net income margin of 23.61%. Analyst sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with 83.87% recommending Buy and a consensus price target of $415.11.
The outlook for CDNS is favorable, supported by strong AI-driven demand, record backlog of $8.1 billion as of Q2 2026 (Zacks Investment Research, 2026-07-30), and upwardly revised guidance. Risks include high valuation multiples, such as a P/E of 67.44, and potential market volatility amid semiconductor sector fluctuations. Institutional confidence remains high, with Amundi increasing its stake by 3.8% in Q1 2026 (Defense World, 2026-07-30).
Morgan Stanley (MS) trades at $216.26, up 1.18% with a bullish technical outlook and strong earnings beats in recent quarters. Revenue grew to $66.0B in 2025, with net income margin expanding to 25.56%. The stock is supported by analyst consensus price target of $239.58 and recent news of leading Anthropic's IPO, indicating robust business momentum.
Outlook remains positive given earnings growth and institutional support, but risks include volatile cash flows and high debt levels. The stock offers upside to consensus targets, though investors should monitor interest expense impacts and market volatility.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
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 →Morgan Stanley is a global investment bank whose history, through its legacy firms, can be traced back to 1924. The company has institutional securities, wealth management, and investment management segments. The company had about $5 trillion of client assets as well as over 70,000 employees at the end of 2021. Approximately 50% of the company's net revenue is from its institutional securities business, with the remainder coming from wealth and investment management. The company derives about 30% of its total revenue outside the Americas.
Read more on MS →