Cadence Design Systems Inc vs Nasdaq Inc — how do they compare? Cadence Design Systems Inc trades at $331.88 (market cap $90.20B), while Nasdaq Inc trades at $94.82 (market cap $53.11B). The key difference: Cadence Design Systems Inc is the larger of the two by market cap, and Nasdaq Inc pays a 1.22% dividend while Cadence Design Systems Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CDNS | NDAQ | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $90.20B | $53.11B |
Sector | Technology | Financials |
52-Week High | $416.39 | $100.98 |
52-Week Low | $265.66 | $76.85 |
Enterprise Value | $91.41B | $59.57B |
Dividend Yield | — | 1.22% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) trades at $331.91, down 2.16% amid a bearish technical signal, though it remains supported by strong fundamentals. The company reported Q2 2026 earnings that beat estimates, with revenue growth of 24.2% driven by AI demand, and raised its full-year outlook. Analyst consensus is strongly bullish with an average price target of $415.11, representing 25% upside potential from current levels.
The stock offers compelling growth prospects from AI-driven semiconductor design demand, with record backlog of $8.1 billion supporting future revenue visibility. Key risks include high valuation multiples (P/E 65.12) and potential semiconductor cycle volatility. Institutional ownership remains strong with recent position increases by major funds like Amundi.
Nasdaq (NDAQ) trades at $95.62, up 1.09% today, with strong technical momentum and consistent earnings beats. Revenue grew to $8.26B in 2025, with net income margin expanding to 22.52%. The company announced the acquisition of LeveL Markets, advancing its always-on markets strategy, and maintains a bullish analyst consensus.
Outlook remains positive with a consensus price target of $109.20, offering ~14% upside. Risks include market volatility sensitivity and integration challenges from acquisitions. Solid profitability and strategic growth initiatives support a favorable investment case, though macroeconomic headwinds warrant monitoring.
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 →Founded in 1971, Nasdaq is primarily known for its equity exchange, but in addition to its market-services business (about 35% of sales), the company sells and distributes market data as well as offers Nasdaq-branded indexes to asset managers and investors through its information-services segment (30%). Nasdaq's corporate-services business (20%) offers listing services and related investor relations products to publicly traded companies and through the company's market technology group (15%), Nasdaq facilitates the exchange operations of other exchanges throughout the world and provides financial compliance services.
Read more on NDAQ →