CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. vs Meta Platforms, Inc., two Software stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where CDNS and META diverge most: on debt / equity, CDNS reads 0.00 and META reads 0.24; on ev/ebitda, CDNS reads 63.0 and META reads 16.0. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. What CDNS's price implies is a demanding bet versus history and the cohort (whole-company basis). What META's price implies is a demanding bet versus history and the cohort (segment-resolved basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | CDNS | META |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $384.25 | $669.25 |
| Market cap | $105.2B | $1.72T |
| Sector | Software | Software |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| P/E | 89.6 | 24.3 |
| P/B | 16.03 | 7.04 |
| P/S | 19.02 | 7.98 |
| EV/EBITDA | 63.0 | 16.0 |
| Revenue growth | +13.8% | +26.2% |
| Operating margin | 29.3% | 40.6% |
| Net margin | 21.2% | 36.9% |
| Return on equity | 17.9% | 32.6% |
| Return on assets | 9.7% | 20.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 18.7% | 23.1% |
| FCF yield | 1.4% | 2.8% |
| Dividend yield | — | 0.3% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.24 |
| Current ratio | 1.47 | 2.35 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 7.54 | 7.44 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 7 / 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.