CDNS vs COHR Stock Comparison
CDNS currently leads COHR in this stock comparison, with AIQ scores of 51 vs 34. The clearest difference is quality.
What is the main difference between CDNS and COHR?
CDNS leads the current stock comparison as Cadence Design Systems, Inc., with the clearest separation coming from quality and the broader AIQ evidence mix.
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. vs Coherent, Inc.
CDNS leads
CDNS leads by 17 AIQ points, primarily on Quality and Momentum, but the lead has narrowed from 21 points over 30 sessions. Wall Street currently favors COHR on target upside.
Competitive: 4 of 6 evidence groups support CDNS, and its lead is narrowing.
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Coherent, Inc.
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors CDNS over COHR, 51 versus 34 as of Oct 21, 2026. CDNS's advantage is driven primarily by stronger quality and momentum. CDNS also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average, though analyst target upside currently favors COHR. 4 of 6 covered evidence groups favor CDNS today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader's advantage has been narrowing. CDNS lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 21 to 17 points over 30 sessions.
Compare Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and Coherent, Inc. across the Algovestiq AIQ Score, valuation, quality, momentum, risk, technicals and analyst expectations.
Performance over time
Price return from daily closes; distributions are not included.
Price return comparison
Growth of $10,000, price only
Split-adjusted closes only. Distributions are excluded, which understates the return of any fund or stock that pays them.
Compare CDNS and COHR against another ticker
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AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Quality77 vs 50CDNS +27
- Momentum39 vs 13CDNS +26
- Risk Resilience58 vs 36CDNS +22
- Value32 vs 33Even
4 of 6 evidence groups favor CDNS. CDNS’s edge is concentrated in quality and momentum.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.
Largest factor move: Momentum -7
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 2 active signals are unchanged.
Largest factor move: Momentum +1
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 4 active signals are unchanged.
CDNS's lead narrowed by 3 AIQ points in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — CDNS and COHR both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
CDNS (Cadence Design Systems, Inc.): the stronger current systematic profile, led by quality and momentum.
COHR (Coherent, Inc.): the counter-case, on analyst expectations — but at materially higher volatility, 81.7% against 37.5%.
The AIQ Score and Wall Street therefore point in different directions on this pair.
Which one fits your objective
The same two names rank differently depending on what you are optimizing for. All six reads are shown at once — none of them is hidden behind a toggle.
Balanced
CDNSCDNS on the overall AIQ Score, which weights Quality and Value most heavily.
Growth
COHRCOHR on combined revenue and EPS growth.
Value
EvenThe two are level on Value.
Momentum
CDNSCDNS on the Momentum factor, by 26 points.
Lower downside
CDNSCDNS on Risk Resilience, by 22 points.
Analyst upside
COHRCOHR on implied upside to the consensus price target.
AIQ vs Wall Street
The model and the Street disagree here: AIQ favors CDNS, analyst targets favor COHR. That disagreement is the most useful thing on this page.
| Measure | CDNS | COHR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implied upside to target | +23.2% | +64.6% | COHR has more room |
| Target dispersion | +37.3% | +57.6% | Lower is tighter analyst agreement |
| Consensus | Buy | Buy | Context, not a primary driver |
| Analysts covering | 11 | 9 | Higher coverage generally improves confidence |
The two are measuring different things. The AIQ Score reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; analyst targets price forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something already priced in — it is worth resolving before acting on either.
Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions. Dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
4 of 6 covered evidence groups favor CDNS. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | CDNS | 51 vs 34 |
| Fundamentals | CDNSon balance | revenue growth 7.5% vs 13.3%; EPS growth 8.9% vs 21.8%; TTM ROE 22.9% vs 8.4%; gross margin 88.5% vs 37.5%; operating margin 30.8% vs 12% — CDNS takes 3 of 5 decided legs, not all of them |
| Valuation | Even | Value 32 vs 33 |
| Technicals | CDNS | Price vs 50-day 2.1% vs -19.5%; vs 200-day -2.2% vs -21.2% |
| Risk Resilience | CDNS | Risk Resilience 58 vs 36 |
| Analyst expectations | COHR | Target upside 23.2% vs 64.6% |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of CDNS and COHR and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
- The AIQ gap is wide at 17 points. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader's advantage has been narrowing. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on CDNS.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jun 21 – Oct 20CDNS lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 21 to 17 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- CDNS +17
- 51 vs 34
- 7 sessions ago
- CDNS +20
- 54 vs 34
- 30 sessions ago
- CDNS +21
- 63 vs 42
- 90 sessions ago
- COHR +3
- 48 vs 51
The lead changed hands 5 times in this window, most recently on Sep 23 when CDNS moved ahead of COHR.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
0 bullish / 2 bearish
Only CDNS
- Death Cross Active — bearish, trend, long horizon (2.45%)
1 bullish / 2 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
Only COHR
- Golden Cross Active — bullish, trend, long horizon (0.04%)
- ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode — neutral, volatility, short horizon (9.34%)
- Keltner Channel Breakdown — bearish, volatility, short horizon
Both carry 1 more signal that do not separate them: MACD Bearish Crossover.
COHR is conflicted, so the timing case there is weaker than the score alone suggests.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Price is up while the AIQ Score moved down 2 points over the same session — price and model disagree (price +1.94%, AIQ -2 points).
Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +2.47%, AIQ +1 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1COHR closes the Quality gap — currently 27 points behind, the largest single contributor to CDNS's edge.
- 2COHR's Keltner Channel Breakdown resolves — a bearish volatility rule currently active against it.
- 3CDNS starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals.
- 4The narrowing continues — the lead has already given back 4 points over 30 sessions, and a further 17-point move would eliminate CDNS's advantage entirely.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Fundamentals
CDNS leads on balance| Metric | CDNS | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 7.5% | 13.3% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 8.9% | 21.8% |
| Gross margin | 88.5% | 37.5% |
| Operating margin | 30.8% | 12% |
| Return on equity (TTM) | 22.9% | 8.4% |
| Debt to equity | 0.36 | 0.32 |
Performance
CDNS leads 4 of 6 windows| Metric | CDNS | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | -4.3% | -20.1% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | 5.6% | -25.3% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -5.1% | -25.8% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -1.8% | -32.5% |
| Year to date | 2.3% | 25.6% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -1.4% | 105.7% |
Technicals
CDNS has the stronger structure| Metric | CDNS | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 44.3 | 35.1 |
| ADX (14) | 23 | 19 |
| Price vs 50-day | 2.1% | -19.5% |
| Price vs 200-day | -2.2% | -21.2% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 37.5% | 81.7% |
Risk
CDNS is the more resilient| Metric | CDNS | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 1.55 | 3.36 |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.06 | 1.18 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.08 | 1.84 |
| Max drawdown | -34.2% | -48% |
| Current drawdown | -23.2% | -45.7% |
| Annualized volatility | 40.4% | 87.7% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -3.6% | -9.6% |
Straight answers
Each answer is regenerated from the current snapshot, not written once and left to age.
Which is better, CDNS or COHR?
On the Algovestiq AIQ Score, CDNS is the stronger of the two as of Oct 21, 2026, scoring 51 against COHR's 34. The edge comes from quality and momentum. This is a systematic score, not a recommendation: it ranks the two on the same evidence, it does not know your holding period or tax position.
Is CDNS or COHR the better buy right now?
CDNS carries the stronger systematic profile as of Oct 21, 2026, and the comparison is rated Competitive — 4 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. A Competitive rating means the two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
Why does the AIQ Score favor CDNS over COHR?
The composite weights Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk Resilience. CDNS leads Quality by 27 points; CDNS leads Momentum by 26 points; CDNS leads Risk Resilience by 22 points. Where the two split, the factor with the larger weight carries the result.
Which has more analyst upside, CDNS or COHR?
Analyst price targets imply +23.2% upside for CDNS and +64.6% for COHR, so the Street currently favors COHR. That points the opposite way to the AIQ Score, which favors CDNS. The two are measuring different things: the model reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; the Street is pricing forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something the analysts have already priced — it is the single most useful row on this page to investigate. Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions, and dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
Which is better value, CDNS or COHR?
Neither name separates on the peer-relative Value factor. The two are level on Value. The Value factor reads valuation relative to sector peers and to the company's own fundamental quality, so it is not the same as simply having the lower multiple.
Which has stronger growth, CDNS or COHR?
COHR on combined revenue and EPS growth. Growth here is measured on reported revenue and earnings, not on forward estimates — it describes what the businesses have delivered, not what the Street expects next.
Which has stronger momentum, CDNS or COHR?
CDNS on the Momentum factor, by 26 points. Momentum is one of the four weighted factors in the AIQ composite. It has documented persistence over three- to twelve-month horizons, which makes it a timing input rather than a reason to hold something indefinitely.
Which is riskier, CDNS or COHR?
CDNS is the more resilient of the two, so the other name carries the higher downside risk. CDNS on Risk Resilience, by 22 points. Risk Resilience is a weighted factor in the composite; position sizing usually responds to it more usefully than the buy/avoid decision does.
Is CDNS more profitable than COHR?
CDNS leads on the comparable margin measures — gross margin 88.5% vs 37.5%; operating margin 30.8% vs 12%; ttm roe 22.9% vs 8.4%.
Is CDNS's lead over COHR getting stronger or weaker?
CDNS lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 21 to 17 points over 30 sessions. This is measured from 120 daily comparison snapshots between 2026-06-21 and 2026-10-20. The lead has changed hands 5 times in that window, most recently on 2026-09-23, when CDNS moved ahead of COHR.
What would change the CDNS vs COHR verdict?
The result is a state, not a forecast, so it changes when the underlying evidence changes. Concretely: COHR closes the Quality gap — currently 27 points behind, the largest single contributor to CDNS's edge; COHR's Keltner Channel Breakdown resolves — a bearish volatility rule currently active against it; CDNS starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals; the narrowing continues — the lead has already given back 4 points over 30 sessions, and a further 17-point move would eliminate CDNS's advantage entirely.
What do the current signals say about CDNS and COHR?
CDNS: 0 bullish / 2 bearish. COHR: 1 bullish / 2 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted. A conflicted state means bullish and bearish rules are active on the same name at once — the technical evidence is not pointing one way, and a decision taken on it carries more timing risk. The most decision-relevant rule on CDNS is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon). On COHR it is Golden Cross Active (bullish, long horizon).
Compare CDNS and COHR with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.