Cadence Design Systems Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Cadence Design Systems Inc had return on equity of 21.9%, an operating margin of 28.2%, debt equal to 45.7% of equity and a current ratio of 2.86. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Cadence Design Systems Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2009Jan 2010	2010Jan 2011	2011Dec 2011	2012Dec 2012	2013Dec 2013	2014Jan 2015	2015Jan 2016	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Jan 2021	2021Jan 2022	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMSept 2026
Operating margin	−14.5%	−3.1%	10.5%	16.0%	12.9%	13.1%	16.8%	13.5%	16.7%	18.5%	21.1%	24.1%	26.1%	30.1%	30.6%	29.1%	28.2%	28.9%
Net margin	−17.6%	13.5%	6.3%	33.2%	11.2%	10.1%	14.8%	11.2%	10.5%	16.2%	42.3%	22.0%	23.3%	23.8%	25.5%	22.7%	20.9%	22.5%
Free-cash-flow margin	−1.8%	17.6%	18.2%	21.1%	22.1%	17.5%	19.6%	21.5%	21.2%	25.4%	28.0%	30.2%	34.7%	31.4%	30.5%	24.1%	30.0%	28.8%
Return on equity	−138.3%	65.7%	21.0%	66.3%	15.9%	12.8%	18.6%	19.2%	23.6%	30.4%	58.3%	25.7%	26.6%	31.0%	33.9%	26.1%	21.9%	22.4%
Return on assets	−10.6%	8.1%	4.1%	21.7%	7.0%	5.6%	9.1%	9.1%	9.0%	14.1%	34.0%	16.2%	16.7%	17.8%	19.3%	14.4%	11.6%	12.3%
Asset turnover	0.60	0.60	0.66	0.66	0.62	0.56	0.61	0.82	0.86	0.87	0.80	0.73	0.72	0.75	0.76	0.63	0.55	0.55
Current ratio	2.14	1.26	1.05	1.14	1.06	1.33	1.80	1.20	1.53	1.34	1.74	1.86	1.77	1.27	1.24	2.93	2.86	1.36
Debt to equity	402.3%	198.7%	103.6%	48.8%	28.1%	51.8%	24.9%	93.5%	73.7%	34.6%	16.5%	13.9%	12.7%	27.3%	8.8%	53.0%	45.7%	38.3%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	n/m	n/m	2.8x	6.1x	5.0x	6.1x	10.1x	10.3x	12.6x	17.1x	26.1x	31.1x	45.9x	46.8x	34.6x	17.8x	12.8x	14.0x
Effective tax rate	—	—	24.3%	—	−3.3%	12.2%	5.7%	14.4%	35.2%	8.1%	—	6.7%	9.4%	18.8%	18.8%	24.4%	27.1%	25.0%
R&D as % of revenue	41.6%	40.2%	34.9%	34.2%	36.6%	38.1%	37.5%	40.5%	41.4%	41.4%	40.1%	38.5%	38.0%	35.1%	35.3%	33.4%	33.4%	33.3%
Capital spending as % of revenue	4.8%	3.7%	2.7%	2.7%	3.1%	2.5%	2.6%	3.0%	3.0%	2.9%	3.2%	3.5%	2.2%	3.5%	2.5%	3.1%	2.7%	3.3%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	—	129.9%	289.2%	63.7%	196.5%	174.3%	132.1%	192.6%	202.3%	157.1%	66.2%	137.2%	148.8%	131.8%	119.8%	105.9%	143.1%	127.7%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	—	24.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	36.2%	99.9%	245.5%	24.2%	46.0%	46.7%	46.9%	59.1%	93.9%	56.2%	49.2%	58.3%	56.7%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Cadence Design Systems Inc: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Mar 2026	2026 Q2Jun 2026	2026 Q3Sept 2026
Operating margin	33.7%	29.1%	19.0%	31.8%	32.2%	29.3%	28.4%	26.2%
Net margin	25.1%	22.0%	12.5%	21.4%	27.0%	22.8%	23.2%	17.7%
Free-cash-flow margin	29.8%	37.3%	26.1%	20.7%	35.6%	20.8%	36.8%	22.2%
Current ratio	2.93	3.07	2.82	3.05	2.86	1.47	1.74	1.36
Debt to equity	53.0%	51.9%	49.5%	47.7%	45.3%	37.8%	36.2%	36.1%
R&D as % of revenue	28.9%	35.3%	34.7%	31.6%	32.3%	34.5%	33.5%	32.9%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

4 of 6 checks passed · September 30, 2026

What it owns · $12.2bn

Short-term assets $3.4bnLonger-term assets $8.9bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $9.3bn

Short-term liabilities $2.5bnShareholders' equity $6.9bn

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $3.4bn of assets due within a year against $2.5bn of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
More cash than debt $1.5bn of cash against $2.5bn of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 36% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 13% to 36% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $2.0bn of operating cash flow against $2.5bn of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $1.8bn against $127m of interest.

From Cadence Design Systems Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

69 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Cadence Design Systems's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 20 / 20

Net income has been a median 13.6% of total assets over 10 years.
Durability 17 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 27.0%; its worst year was 15.5%.
Cash conversion 20 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 28.6% of revenue.
Discipline 10 / 20

The diluted share count fell 1.7% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 7.7% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: High. In this industry, the core product is information work that AI systems increasingly perform. The score above includes a 15-point deduction for that exposure (84 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Cadence Design Systems Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Cadence Design Systems Inc.