What smart money is saying about Cadence Design Systems
3 funds in our archive have pitched Cadence Design Systems, most recently Generation IM Global Equity Strategy in October 2026.
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. operates globally, delivering a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes software, specialized hardware, professional services, and pre-designed integrated circuit (IC) building blocks. The company's robust functional verification offerings feature dedicated emulation and prototyping hardware. This portfolio encompasses JasperGold for formal verification, Xcelium for parallel logic simulation, Palladium as an enterprise-grade emulation platform, and Protium, a prototyping platform designed for thorough chip verification. Cadence additionally provides extensive products for digital IC design and final sign-off. These include the Genus logic synthesis solution, Joules for RTL power analysis, and the Modus software solution, which streamlines design-for-test (DFT) processes for systems-on-chip. Their tools further extend to physical implementation, covering place and route, optimization, and multiple patterning preparation, alongside essential sign-off products for validating designs prior to silicon manufacturing. Moreover, the company furnishes custom IC design and simulation tools capable of generating both schematic and physical representations of circuits down to the transistor level. These tools support a wide array of applications, such as analog, mixed-signal, custom digital, memory, and radio frequency (RF) designs. Cadence also offers system design and analysis products crucial for developing printed circuit boards (PCBs) and integrated circuit packages, along with capabilities to analyze complex multi-physics effects like electromagnetic and electro-thermal interactions. Furthermore, Cadence supplies intellectual property (IP) products, consisting of pre-verified, customizable functional blocks ready for integration into customer ICs. This includes verification IP and memory models used to simulate and characterize the behavior and interactions of standard industry system interface protocols. Complementing its product portfolio, Cadence provides a range of services, including methodology consulting, educational programs, hosted design solutions, and ongoing technical support and maintenance. Its diverse clientele spans sectors such as 5G communications, aerospace and defense, automotive, industrial and healthcare, mobile technology, consumer electronics, and hyperscale computing. Established in 1987, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.
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Position history
Between Q1 2025 and Q4 2026, 11 fund letters reported a position in Cadence Design Systems, with 2 buys (opened or added) and 1 sell (trimmed or exited).
| Quarter | Letters | Bought | Sold | Theses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Q3 2026 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Q2 2026 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Q1 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Q3 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Q1 2025 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Bought and Sold count moves: the same sentence published by several funds of one house in a quarter counts once.
Fund activity · 11 positions · 4 moves
- October 2026
“Our purchases reflect continual re-testing of the AI supply chain to find the real bottlenecks. We aim to invest in companies with unique, moated businesses at those critical points. ASML is the sole supplier of the extreme ultraviolet lithography machines needed to manufacture the most advanced chips. Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems together dominate the specialist software used to design increasingly complex chips.”
Cadence Design Systems - HoldsBlueBox Global Technology FundOctober 2026
Listed in BlueBox Global Technology Fund’s reported holdings.
Cadence Design Systems - HoldsBlueBox Global Technology FundSeptember 2026
Listed in BlueBox Global Technology Fund’s reported holdings.
Cadence Design Systems - September 2026
“ Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS), a leading provider of electronic design automation software, was a detractor during the quarter despite continued strong execution.”
Cadence Design Systems - HoldsBlueBox Global Technology FundAugust 2026
Listed in BlueBox Global Technology Fund’s reported holdings.
Cadence Design Systems - TrimmedSpyglass Growth StrategyJune 2026
“During the second quarter, the positions that were most significantly trimmed were Credo Technology Group, Ascendis Pharma, and Cadence Design Systems.”
Cadence Design Systems - June 2026
Listed in Liontrust GF Sustainable Future US Growth Fund’s reported holdings.
Cadence Design Systems - June 2026
“software derated on AI disruption fears where we judge the economics intact: we roughly doubled Palantir, more than doubled Cadence, and initiated Datadog, CrowdStrike and MongoDB, consumption priced infrastructure software whose workloads (observability, security, data) multiply as agents proliferate.”
Cadence Design Systems - June 2026
“We roughly doubled Palantir, more than doubled Cadence, and initiated Datadog, CrowdStrike and MongoDB, consumption priced infrastructure software whose workloads (observability, security, data) multiply as agents proliferate.”
Cadence Design Systems - HoldsLarge-Cap GrowthMarch 2026
“During the quarter, we continued to refine the portfolio, particularly within software, where competitive dynamics are evolving rapidly. Our focus has been on owning businesses with durable, mission-critical offerings and strong competitive positioning—companies that provide essential solutions their customers rely on to operate day-to-day, serve markets with limited technical expertise, or play a critical role in enabling broader technological development. This is reflected across our software exposure, including long-standing holdings such as Autodesk, Inc (ADSK), as well as more recent additions such as Cadence Design Systems, Inc (CDNS), Samsara, Inc (IOT), and Palo Alto Networks, Inc (PANW) (added this quarter).”
Cadence Design Systems - New positionRothshild&Co LongRun EquityMarch 2025
“In the first quarter we made two new investments, building positions in semiconductor design software provider Cadence Design Systems and leading aerospace company General Electric Aerospace.”
Cadence Design Systems
Also mentioned · 2
These funds discuss Cadence Design Systems as a competitor, benchmark or comparable, without disclosing a position in it.
- MentionedO'Keefe Stevens NVIDIA StrategyJuly 2026
“The Vera Rubin DSX AI Factory reference design and NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint bring together compute, networking, storage, power, cooling, and operations into an open, modular architecture supported by partners including Vertiv, Schneider Electric, Eaton, Jacobs, Phaidra, Procore, PTC, Siemens, Switch, Trane Technologies, Cadence, and Dassault Systèmes.”
Cadence Design Systems - MentionedRothschild & Co LongRun EquityJune 2026
“Connectors typically account for a very small share of a system's total cost, often well below 1%, yet their failure is simply not an option. A failed connector can ground an aircraft, halt a production line or take down an AI data centre. Attentive readers will recognise the pattern from our Cadence and O'Reilly case studies: products that are mission critical yet represent only a small fraction of customers' overall spending tend to enjoy strong pricing power.”
Cadence Design Systems
Fund coverage · 3 theses
- Generation IM Global Equity StrategyOctober 2026
Cadence Design Systems is attractive because it jointly dominates chip-design software and benefits from high switching costs.
Read the full thesis - Rothschild & Co LongRun EquitySeptember 2025
Cadence Design Systems is a market leader in Electronic Design Automation software, essential for designing complex semiconductor chips that power modern technology, with strong growth prospects driven by AI adoption and increasing chip complexity.
Read the full thesis - Rothschild & CoMarch 2025
Cadence is a leading provider of EDA software for semiconductor design, positioned for double-digit growth and strong revenue visibility through recurring subscriptions.
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