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Cadence Design (CDNS) Risk Analysis
Risk Overview Q2, 2026
Source: the company's latest filing for the period ended Jun 30, 2026, filed Jul 28, 2026
Risk Change Over Time
- Cyber Security - Risk 1Cyberattacks that compromise the confidentiality, integrity or availability of our or our third-party providers' information technology systems or confidential information could materially harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on hardware, software, digital infrastructure and computing networks for both internal and customer-facing operations that are critical to our business (collectively, "IT Systems"). We own and manage certain IT Systems but also rely on third parties for IT Systems and related products and services, including cloud computing. In addition, we and certain third-party providers collect, maintain and process data about our customers, employees, business partners and others, including information that relates to individuals and/or constitutes "personal data," "personal information," "personally identifiable information" or similar terms under applicable data privacy laws (collectively "Personal Information"), as well as proprietary data such as trade secrets (together with Personal Information, "Confidential Information"). We face numerous, evolving cybersecurity risks that threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our IT Systems, Confidential Information, products and services, including from diverse threat actors, such as state-sponsored organizations, opportunistic hackers and malicious insiders, as well as through diverse attack vectors, such as social engineering (including phishing), malware (including ransomware) and denial-of-service attacks, and due to human or technological error, such as misconfigurations, "bugs" or other vulnerabilities in software or hardware. Additionally, advances in technology, an increased level of sophistication and expertise of hackers, widespread access to generative AI, and new discoveries in the field of cryptography increase the risk of significant compromises or breaches of our IT Systems or security measures implemented to protect our systems. From time to time, we and certain of our third-party service providers experience varying degrees of cyberattacks and other security incidents. Any such incidents could compromise our or our providers' IT Systems, which could cause system disruptions or slowdowns and lead to the Confidential Information stored on our or third-party systems being accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any actual or perceived unauthorized access or disclosure to our Confidential Information poses significant risk to our business as it could result in reputational and financial harm and further subject us to liability to our customers, suppliers, business partners and others. For example, as described in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2026, we learned that a threat actor obtained a limited amount of Confidential Information from certain of our IT systems including a limited amount of test files, configuration setting files and source code files which are not material to our business. We notified law enforcement, and we believe that the incident was contained. There was no operational disruption, and customer environments were not impacted. Cyberattacks are expected to accelerate on a global basis in frequency and magnitude as threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated in using techniques and tools – including AI – that circumvent security controls, evade detection and remove forensic evidence. Techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage information systems change frequently and include zero-day software vulnerabilities that are unknown until exploited by threat actors. As a result, we may be unable to promptly or effectively detect, investigate, remediate or recover from future attacks or incidents, or to avoid a material adverse impact to our IT Systems, Confidential Information or business. Furthermore, state-supported and geopolitical-related cyberattacks against companies such as ours may increase due to geopolitical conditions. A cyberattack on our IT Systems or IT Systems of one of our third-party providers or customers could result in material adverse impacts due to any or all of the following: compromise to our Cadence Cloud portfolio, which includes both our managed and customer-managed environments, and our data centers and those of our customers and end users; corruption or stealing of Confidential Information such as proprietary information related to our (or our customers') business, products, services and infrastructure or Personal Information; manipulation or stealing of financial data and assets; and/or disruption of our systems and services and those of our customers and others. As a result, we could be exposed to a risk of loss or misuse of Confidential Information, loss of financial assets, business interruption, regulatory investigations, litigation and other liabilities and costs. Because we make extensive use of third-party suppliers and service providers, such as cloud services that support our internal and customer-facing operations, successful cyberattacks that disrupt or result in unauthorized access to third party providers' IT Systems, including those that store our Confidential Information, can materially impact our operations and financial results. Moreover, hardware, software or applications we develop or procure from third parties or through open source solutions may contain defects in design or manufacture or other vulnerabilities and are susceptible to compromise. In addition, we have acquired and continue to acquire companies with less sophisticated security measures, and it takes time to align their security practices to meet our information security policies, procedures and controls, which exposes us to increased cybersecurity and other integration risks. There can be no assurance that our cybersecurity risk management strategy, program, policies, processes and controls will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in protecting any systems or information. An actual or perceived breach of IT Systems or Confidential Information managed by us or a vendor could significantly impact our business through diminished market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures, legal or regulatory actions, substantial fines, penalties and required changes to our business practices, damage to our reputation or our business, loss of existing customers and our ability to obtain new customers (including government customers), significant restoration, remediation and compliance costs, and cause harm to our financial condition. Any or all of the foregoing could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, we cannot guarantee that any costs and liabilities incurred in relation to an attack or incident will be covered by our existing insurance policies or that applicable insurance will be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms or at all.
Risk Highlights Q2, 2026
Risk Word Cloud
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 43
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1At the option of the holders of our outstanding notes, we may, under certain circumstances, be required to repurchase such notes.
Under the terms of the Senior Notes, we may be required to repurchase for cash such notes prior to their respective maturity dates in connection with the occurrence of certain significant corporate events. Specifically, we are required to offer to repurchase such notes upon a "change of control triggering event" (as defined in the indenture related to such notes), such as a change of control accompanied by certain downgrades in the credit ratings of such notes. The repayment obligations under such notes may have the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a takeover of our company. If we were required to pay the Senior Notes prior to their respective maturity dates, it could have a significant negative impact on our cash and liquidity and could impact our ability to invest financial resources in other strategic initiatives.
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2Our bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain disputes between us and our stockholders.
Our bylaws provide that, unless a majority of our Board of Directors consents to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, subject to certain jurisdictional requirements, is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action based upon a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employee or stockholder to us or to our stockholders, any action asserting a claim against us or our current or former directors, officers, employees or stockholders, arising pursuant to the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation, bylaws, or any action asserting a claim against us or our current or former directors, officers or other employees that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. In addition, our bylaws provide that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act. These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder's ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and certain provisions under Delaware law could prevent an acquisition of our company or limit the price that investors might be willing to pay for our common stock.
Anti-takeover defenses in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and certain provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the "DGCL") that apply to us could make it difficult for anyone to acquire control of our company. Our certificate of incorporation allows our Board of Directors to designate and issue, at any time and without stockholder approval, up to 400,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, all of which are currently designated as Series A Preferred, but the number of such shares of preferred stock may be reduced to zero. Subject to the DGCL, our Board of Directors may, as to any shares of preferred stock the terms of which have not then been designated, establish the terms without stockholder approval. Our Board of Directors has the power to issue shares of Series A Preferred with dividend, voting and liquidation rights superior to our common stock at a rate of 1,000-to-1 without further vote or action by the common stockholders. In addition, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our company more difficult, including the following: - our Board of Directors' exclusive right to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by an expansion, resignation, death or removal;- a prohibition on stockholder action by written consent in certain circumstances, forcing certain stockholder actions to be taken at an annual or special meeting of stockholders;- the requirement that a special meeting may be called only by our Board of Directors, the Board Chair, Chief Executive Officer or Secretary upon the written request of certain stockholders that satisfy the requirements specified in our bylaws;- certain amendments to our certificate of incorporation requiring the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than a majority of outstanding voting stock(with different requirements for a related person); and - advance notice procedures required to nominate candidates or to propose matters for a stockholders' meeting. In addition, Section 203 of the DGCL generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination with a person owning 15% or more of its voting stock, or who is affiliated with the corporation and owned 15% or more of its voting stock at any time within three years prior to the proposed business combination, for a period of three years from the date the person became a 15% owner, unless specified conditions are met. All or any one of these factors could limit the price that certain investors would be willing to pay for shares of our common stock and could allow our Board of Directors to resist, delay or prevent an acquisition of our company, even if a proposed transaction were favored by a majority of our independent stockholders.
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4The amount and frequency of our share repurchases may fluctuate, and we cannot guarantee that we will fully consummate our share repurchase authorization, or that it will enhance long-term stockholder value. Share repurchases could also increase the volatility of the trading price of our common stock and diminish our cash reserves.
We repurchase shares of our common stock from time to time in accordance with authorizations from our Board of Directors. The primary objective of our share repurchase activities is to prevent share dilution associated with our stock compensation plans. The actual timing and amount of our share repurchases are subject to business and market conditions, corporate and regulatory requirements, stock price, acquisition opportunities and other factors and may fluctuate based on such factors. Our repurchase authorization does not obligate us to acquire a minimum amount of shares, does not have an expiration date and may be modified, suspended or terminated without prior notice. We cannot guarantee that the authorization will be fully expended or that our share repurchases will enhance long-term stockholder value. Further, our share repurchase activities could affect our stock price, increase stock price volatility, reduce our cash reserves and may be suspended or terminated at any time, which may result in a decrease in our stock price.
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5Our stock price has been and may continue to be subject to fluctuations.
Our stock price is subject to changes in recommendations or earnings estimates by financial analysts, changes in investors' or analysts' valuation measures for our stock, our credit ratings and other factors beyond our control including macroeconomic factors. Furthermore, speculation in the press or investment community about our strategic position, financial condition, results of operations, business or security of our products, can cause changes in our stock price. In addition to these factors and industry and general economic and political conditions, our stock price may be adversely impacted by announcements related to financial results or forecasts that fail to meet or are inconsistent with earlier projections or the expectations of our securities analysts or investors, announcements of new products or acquisitions of new technologies by us, or by other companies, including our competitors or our customers, or announcements of acquisitions, major transactions, litigation developments or management changes. A significant drop in our stock price could expose us to the risk of securities class action lawsuits, stockholder derivative lawsuits or other actions by stockholders, which may result in substantial costs and divert management's attention and resources, which may adversely affect our business.
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