Prediction: Synopsys Could Be The Next AI Winner
Synopsys has taken a beating this year while its fundamentals moved sharply in the opposite direction, and that gap between price and earnings power is exactly where our model tends to find its best setups.
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Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS | SNPS Price Prediction) sits at the intersection of two of the most durable AI trades on the market: silicon design software and engineering simulation. After a rough 15.45% year-to-date pullback, the stock now trades at a level our proprietary model reads as materially undervalued relative to the AI-driven earnings power management laid out on the last earnings call.
Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Synopsys is $496.97, implying 25.13% upside from the $397.17 close on September 10, 2026. The recommendation is buy with high model confidence.
24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Current Price | $397.17 |
| 24/7 Wall St. Price Target | $496.97 |
| Upside | 25.13% |
| Recommendation | BUY |
| Confidence Level | 90% |
A Reset That Looks Overdone
SNPS is down 4.6% over the past week and 3.34% over the last month, trading well off its 52-week high of $539.48 but firmly above the $366 low. Yet the fundamentals moved the other way.
Q3 FY2026 revenue landed at $2.48 billion, up 42.4% year over year, with non-GAAP EPS of $3.91 beating consensus. Management raised FY2026 guidance to a $9.715 billion revenue midpoint and $15.07 non-GAAP EPS midpoint. Shares even outperformed the market on September 10, hinting the reset may be maturing.
Why Bulls See a Path Above $570
CEO Sassine Ghazi framed the setup as AI “driving unprecedented complexity and increasing demand for the silicon IP and engineering solutions necessary to deliver next-generation AI compute.”
On the Q2 call, management flagged agentic EDA under evaluation by 20 customers across more than 25 specialized AI agents, plus a $400 million semiconductor multi-physics revenue synergy tied to Ansys, beginning in FY2027.
Backlog stood at $11.4 billion exiting FY2025. Our bull scenario prices SNPS at $570.28 in 12 months if agentic monetization and IP recovery both compound.
Risks Worth Watching
The bear case starts with China. Export controls and Entity List restrictions continue to pressure design starts, and management acknowledged a challenged China environment. Trailing P/E of 69 looks steep, and $234.2 million in H1 restructuring charges plus roughly $403.6 million in quarterly intangible amortization compress GAAP profitability.
In fairness, bulls would argue the amortization is a non-cash Ansys artifact and the restructuring reflects synergy capture tied to the Ansys integration. Our bear scenario lands at $446.70, still above spot.
How Synopsys Compares to Cadence and Autodesk
Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) is the direct EDA competitor. Cadence trades at a forward P/E of 29 with a consensus target of $403.12, yet CDNS is down 15.83% over one year. Against CDNS, SNPS looks cheaper on forward multiple (22) with faster reported revenue growth, which makes our target look reasonable rather than aggressive.
Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) is the closest design-software comparable outside chips and a useful valuation floor. Autodesk trades at a forward P/E of 17 with slower quarterly revenue growth near the mid-teens. SNPS commands a premium, but with AI-linked growth roughly 2.5x Autodesk’s, the premium is defensible.
| Company | Forward P/E | Analyst Target |
|---|---|---|
| Synopsys | 22 | $544.97 |
| Cadence | 29 | $403.12 |
| Autodesk | 17 | $315.37 |
Synopsys Price Prediction 2026-2030
The 24/7 Wall St. price target of $496.97 with 90% confidence points to a constructive setup. Key catalysts to watch include the September 30 investor day, which could validate the agentic AI monetization roadmap and IP recovery trajectory.
Risks to monitor include widening China restrictions or an Ansys cost-synergy timeline that slips into FY2028.
| Year | 24/7 Wall St. Price Target |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $496.97 |
| 2027 | $520.41 |
| 2028 | $607.11 |
| 2029 | $665.00 |
| 2030 | $723.09 |
These projections assume Synopsys executes on Ansys integration and agentic AI monetization. Significant upside or downside could come from foundry engagements, hyperscaler custom silicon adoption, or a broader export-control regime shift.
The same AI buildout driving SNPS demand is reshaping the wider infrastructure stack, and we profiled seven suppliers riding that wave (power, cooling, networking) in a free report on the AI boom beyond the chipmakers.
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Vandita Jadeja is a financial publisher with over a decade of experience writing about financial topics, including investment, savings, retirement, insurance and banking. Vandita is a Chartered Accountant who loves to debunk financial concepts for readers.
Her work has appeared on sites that include The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, and Benzinga. She covers investing and focuses on stock picks and price prediction for 24/7 Wall St.
When not looking for the next stock investment opportunity, she can be found traveling, reading, chasing sunsets and enjoying her iced latte.
