CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. vs Salesforce, Inc., two Software stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Cadence carries no debt and a 1.47 current ratio, the balance sheet of a company that funds itself, while Salesforce runs 1.15 turns of debt-to-equity and a current ratio of 0.79, below one. That footing frames the rest: Salesforce, with leverage and a larger base, earns about 19% on equity to Cadence's 18%, nearly a tie, but converts far more price into cash, a 10.0% free-cash yield against Cadence's 1.3%. The market reads them in opposite directions on earnings, paying roughly 90 times trailing for Cadence and only 22 for Salesforce, so the debt-free name wears the rich multiple and the levered one the cheap one. Salesforce keeps a fatter 77% gross margin, but Cadence holds the richer net margin, 21% to Salesforce's 16%, so the bottom-line economics tilt the other way. Neither pays a dividend, so the choice sits between a pristine balance sheet priced for growth and a leveraged one priced for cash.
Comparison updated 2026-06-15.
| Metric | CDNS | CRM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $384.25 | $163.36 |
| Market cap | $105.2B | $142.3B |
| Sector | Software | Software |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +6.3% |
| P/E | 89.6 | 18.9 |
| P/B | 16.03 | 4.16 |
| P/S | 19.02 | 3.32 |
| EV/EBITDA | 63.0 | 13.8 |
| Revenue growth | +13.8% | +10.9% |
| Gross margin | — | 76.9% |
| Operating margin | 29.3% | 21.1% |
| Net margin | 21.2% | 15.6% |
| Return on equity | 17.9% | 19.5% |
| Return on assets | 9.7% | 6.2% |
| Return on invested capital | 18.7% | 9.2% |
| FCF yield | 1.4% | 10.3% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 1.15 |
| Current ratio | 1.47 | 0.79 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 7.54 | 1.90 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.