Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) Q1 FY2026 earnings: revenue $1.5 billion, up 18.7% on the year

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) reported revenue of $1.5 billion for Q1 FY2026, the quarter ended 31 March 2026, up 18.7% on the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $336 million, up 22.7% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $1.23. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-Q it filed with the SEC on 1 May 2026.

Revenue

$1.5 billion

+18.7% on the year · +2.4% on the quarter

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

Operating margin

29.3%

29.1% a year earlier

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

Net income

$336 million

+22.7% on the year · -13.5% on the quarter

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

Diluted EPS

$1.23

+23.0% on the year · -13.4% on the quarter

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

this quarterthe same quarter a year earlierHover a bar for its figure.

What management said

Guidance figures: 6 raised, 9 lowered, 7 new, 2 kept.

Revenue reached $1.474 billion: Revenue was $1.474 billion, up from $1.242 billion in Q1 2025. Product and maintenance revenue was $1.349 billion and services revenue $125 million.
Diluted EPS rose on both measures: GAAP diluted EPS was $1.23, against $1.00. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.96, against $1.57, on 273.7 million diluted shares.
Core EDA grew 18%: Core EDA revenue grew 18% year-over-year, driven by AI-related adoption at AI infrastructure and semiconductor customers. Core EDA was 71% of revenue.

Read the earnings call summary

Income statement (profit and loss)

$ million	Q1 FY2026	Q4 FY2025	Q1 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Revenue	1,474	1,440	1,242	+2.4%	+18.7%
Research and development	508	n/a	439		+15.8%
Operating income	431	463	362	-6.9%	+19.3%
Operating margin	29.3%	32.2%	29.1%
Interest expense	31.6	29.4	29.1	+7.4%	+8.6%
Pre-tax income	428	493	356	-13.2%	+20.4%
Income tax	92.4	105	82.1	-11.8%	+12.6%
Effective tax rate	21.6%	21.3%	23.1%
Net income	336	388	274	-13.5%	+22.7%
Net margin	22.8%	27.0%	22.0%
Diluted EPS	$1.23	$1.42	$1.00	-13.4%	+23.0%

$ million except per share.

Fourth quarters are the year less the first three quarters. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.

Cash flow

$ million	Q1 FY2026	Q4 FY2025	Q1 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Operating cash flow	356	553	487	-35.7%	-26.9%
Capital expenditure	48.8	41.0	23.1	+19.0%	+111.7%
Free cash flow	307	512	464	-40.1%	-33.8%
Free cash flow margin	20.8%	35.6%	37.3%
Cash from investing	-2,112	-88.8	-21.8
Cash from financing	175	-214	-346
Depreciation and amortisation	84.6	64.6	52.9	+31.1%	+59.9%
Share-based compensation	138	113	108	+22.1%	+28.4%
Buybacks	200	200	350	-0.0%	-42.9%
Diluted shares, weighted	274m	273m	274m	+0.3%	+0.0%
Shares outstanding at period end	276m	272m	273m	+1.5%	+1.0%

Cash flow lines for the quarter; where the company files them year to date, the quarter is the difference between two filings.

Balance sheet

$ million	Q1 FY2026	Q4 FY2025	Q1 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Shareholders' equity	6,561	5,474	4,776	+19.9%	+37.4%
Debt	2,906	2,480	2,477	+17.2%	+17.3%
Operating lease liabilities	177	136	n/a	+30.0%
Other liabilities	2,454	2,063	1,760	+19.0%	+39.4%
Total liabilities and equity	12,098	10,153	9,013	+19.2%	+34.2%
Fixed assets	537	517	466	+3.8%	+15.1%
Goodwill	4,930	2,749	2,420	+79.3%	+103.7%
Intangible assets	1,933	718	584	+169.2%	+230.9%
Investments	n/a	222	n/a
Securities held for sale or to maturity	79.6	n/a	51.0		+56.2%
Cash and equivalents	1,407	3,001	2,778	-53.1%	-49.4%
Receivables	1,034	945	581	+9.4%	+78.0%
Inventory	318	304	226	+4.7%	+40.9%
Other assets	1,861	1,697	1,908	+9.6%	-2.5%
Total assets	12,098	10,153	9,013	+19.2%	+34.2%

Questions

What was Cadence Design Systems' revenue in Q1 FY2026?

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) reported revenue of $1.5 billion for Q1 FY2026, the quarter ended 31 March 2026, up 18.7% on the same quarter a year earlier.

How much did Cadence Design Systems earn in Q1 FY2026?

Net income for Q1 FY2026 was $336 million, up 22.7% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $1.23.

When did Cadence Design Systems report Q1 FY2026 results?

Cadence Design Systems filed its 10-Q for the quarter ended 31 March 2026 with the SEC on 1 May 2026.

Quarterly results, the last 20 quarters

	Q4 FY2021 *	Q1 FY2022	Q2 FY2022	Q3 FY2022	Q4 FY2022 *	Q1 FY2023	Q2 FY2023	Q3 FY2023	Q4 FY2023 *	Q1 FY2024	Q2 FY2024	Q3 FY2024	Q4 FY2024 *	Q1 FY2025	Q2 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2025 *	Q1 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2026
Revenue	773	902	858	903	900	1,022	977	1,023	1,069	1,009	1,061	1,215	1,356	1,242	1,275	1,339	1,440	1,474	1,584	1,633
R&D	n/a	291	287	324	n/a	350	354	370	n/a	379	371	407	n/a	439	442	423	n/a	508	531	538
Operating income	196	319	283	261	211	322	299	293	337	250	294	350	457	362	242	425	463	431	450	429
Operating margin	25%	35%	33%	29%	23%	32%	31%	29%	31%	25%	28%	29%	34%	29%	19%	32%	32%	29%	28%	26%
Interest expense	4.3	4.1	4.3	5.5	9.1	9.3	8.9	9.1	9.0	8.7	12.9	24.5	29.9	29.1	28.9	29.0	29.4	31.6	35.1	30.4
Pre-tax income	194	310	273	252	211	321	298	300	362	310	316	333	437	356	281	393	493	428	510	408
Tax rate	9%	24%	31%	26%	-14%	25%	26%	15%	11%	20%	27%	29%	22%	23%	43%	27%	21%	22%	28%	29%
Net income	177	235	187	186	240	242	221	254	324	248	230	238	340	274	160	287	388	336	367	290
Net margin	23%	26%	22%	21%	27%	24%	23%	25%	30%	25%	22%	20%	25%	22%	13%	21%	27%	23%	23%	18%
Diluted EPS	$0.64	$0.85	$0.68	$0.68	$0.88	$0.89	$0.81	$0.93	$1.19	$0.91	$0.84	$0.87	$1.24	$1.00	$0.59	$1.05	$1.42	$1.23	$1.33	$1.05
Operating cash flow	216	337	325	317	264	267	414	396	272	253	156	410	441	487	378	311	553	356	635	424
Capital expenditure	15.3	18.1	24.1	44.1	36.9	26.7	19.9	22.0	33.7	49.6	29.2	26.5	37.2	23.1	44.1	33.7	41.0	48.8	52.6	61.8
Free cash flow	201	318	300	273	227	241	394	374	238	204	127	383	404	464	334	277	512	307	582	362
Buybacks	110	250	350	150	300	125	325	125	125	125	125	150	150	350	175	200	200	200	200	400
Shares outstanding	277m	276m	274m	274m	273m	273m	272m	272m	272m	272m	274m	274m	274m	273m	272m	272m	272m	276m	275m	274m
Filing	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q

Each quarter as filed, linked to its filing.

* The fourth quarter is the full year less the first three quarters, because the company files the year and not the quarter on its own. A fourth quarter's EPS, and its diluted share count where shown, are from the company's results press release for that quarter, checked against the company's filed figures or a second data source. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and the share count are as they are. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Cash flow lines filed year to date are the difference between two filings. Shares outstanding are at the period end where the balance sheet tags them, otherwise the count on the filing's cover page. A derived fourth-quarter EPS is left blank when a split in the year makes the arithmetic meaningless.

10-Q for the period ended 31 March 2026, filed 1 May 2026: the filing.