Cadence Design Systems Inc vs Zscaler Inc — how do they compare? Cadence Design Systems Inc trades at $325.77 (market cap $90.20B), while Zscaler Inc trades at $176.7 (market cap $28.87B). The key difference: Cadence Design Systems Inc is far larger — about 3.1× Zscaler Inc's market cap, and Cadence Design Systems Inc is trading nearer its 52-week high, Zscaler Inc nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CDNS | ZS | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $90.20B | $28.87B |
Sector | Technology | Technology |
52-Week High | $416.39 | $336.27 |
52-Week Low | $265.66 | $118.05 |
Enterprise Value | $91.41B | $27.20B |
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.
Zscaler (ZS) trades at $176.68, up 4.74% with strong technical momentum and bullish analyst sentiment. The stock shows consistent revenue growth from $1.1B in 2022 to $2.67B in 2025, though profitability remains negative with a -2.44% net margin. Recent earnings beats and leadership in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for security platforms support positive momentum, while elevated valuation ratios (P/S 8.94, EV/EBITDA 188.83) reflect growth expectations.
Outlook remains cautiously optimistic with 79% analyst buy ratings and $191.81 consensus target, but risks include persistent unprofitability, high spending, and competitive pressures. The upcoming Q2 2026 earnings report on September 3 will be critical for validating growth trajectory amid concerns about execution and valuation sustainability.
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 →Zscaler is a security-as-a-service firm that offers its customers cloud-delivered solutions for protecting user devices and data. The firm leverages its position in 150 colocation data centers to deliver traditionally appliance-based security functionality, such as firewalls and sandboxes, as a completely cloud-native platform. The firm focuses on large enterprise customers and offers two primary product suites: Zscaler Internet Access, which securely connects users to externally managed application and websites (such as Salesforce and Google), and Zscaler Private Access, which securely connects users to internally managed applications. Both product suites encompass a broad gamut of capabilities situated across the traditional security stack.
Read more on ZS →