As noted earlier, DA Davidson upgraded Cadence to Buy from Neutral. As reasons for the upgrade, the firm cited valuation, as well as its upbeat view of the company's 2016 guidance. The firm thinks the guidance shows that the company is gaining share, and should alleviate investors' fears of an overall semiconductor slowdown. Target $25.

KeyBanc raised the firm's price target on Cadence Design to $340 from $335 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Synopsys (SNPS) provided updated Q2 and FY24 guidance during its investor day on March 20th, but the firm believes it was easily missed that the company raised its full year growth guidance on EDA + IP strength. A positive sign for underlying EDA + IP demand, KeyBanc thinks, bodes well for Cadence and is positive into earnings. Thus, the firm sees potential for a Q1 beat and for 2024 organic growth guidance to move modestly higher. KeyBanc also sees backlog as likely to come in flattish year-over-year and a nominal contraction quarter-over-quarter, but any expansion over $6B to be viewed very positively. KeyBanc continues to view Cadence as a core holding, with substantial opportunities from AI and 3D-IC.