CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. vs MICROSOFT CORPORATION, two Software stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where CDNS and MSFT diverge most: on debt / equity, CDNS reads 0.00 and MSFT reads 0.12; on ev/ebitda, CDNS reads 63.0 and MSFT reads 15.8. 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 MSFT's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | CDNS | MSFT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $384.25 | $385.09 |
| Market cap | $105.2B | $2.87T |
| Sector | Software | Software |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +15.0% |
| P/E | 89.6 | 22.9 |
| P/B | 16.03 | 6.92 |
| P/S | 19.02 | 9.01 |
| EV/EBITDA | 63.0 | 15.8 |
| Revenue growth | +13.8% | +17.9% |
| Gross margin | — | 67.6% |
| Operating margin | 29.3% | 46.3% |
| Net margin | 21.2% | 36.0% |
| Return on equity | 17.9% | 27.6% |
| Return on assets | 9.7% | 16.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 18.7% | 26.0% |
| FCF yield | 1.4% | 2.5% |
| Dividend yield | — | 0.9% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.12 |
| Current ratio | 1.47 | 1.28 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 7.54 | 7.32 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 5 / 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.