Keysight Technologies IncKEYS
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Keysight completed acquisition of VPIphotonics, adding full optical-link simulation to its portfolio, strengthening its position in silicon photonics and AI/data-center interconnect.
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Qualcomm and Arm open new trial over chip testing tools
Qualcomm and Arm Holdings began a new trial on Monday, with Qualcomm claiming Arm withheld chip testing tools required under their contract. Qualcomm also alleges Arm leaked information to the media about its 2024 threat to cancel a critical license agreement, which hurt negotiations for a chip deal between Qualcomm and Meta Platforms. In the lawsuit filed in US federal court in Delaware, Qualcomm is seeking to stop paying royalties to Arm for up to five years, an amount that could be worth billions of dollars. Judge Maryellen Noreika is considering whether to remove the five-year royalty hold provision from the contract; if removed, Qualcomm would only be able to seek a smaller amount in damages. Arm, owned by Japan's SoftBank Group, has denied breaking the contract and argued it did not harm Qualcomm's chip deals, which it called speculative, and countered that Qualcomm cannot seek damages for the leaked termination letter because Qualcomm leaked confidential details of antitrust investigations into Arm to the media. The five-day jury trial represents another chapter in the difficult relationship between the two companies.
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Semiconductors › EDA & Semiconductor IP ▼Competition
Semiconductors › Logic, Compute & Connectivity Processors Competition
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Artificial Intelligence › Edge & On-device AI Silicon Competition
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ARM · Regulation · Negative Qualcomm's lawsuit seeks to halt up to five years of royalty payments to Arm, a legal/contract threat to Arm's licensing revenue.
QCOM · Regulation · Positive Qualcomm is the plaintiff seeking to stop paying Arm royalties for up to five years, potentially worth billions.
United StatesSynopsys Signs $1 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase With JPMorgan
Synopsys has entered into a $1 billion accelerated share repurchase agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association. Under the terms of the ASR, the Sunnyvale, California-based chip design software company will receive an initial delivery of approximately 1,735,000 shares, with any remainder to be settled on or before January 5, 2027. The final number of shares Synopsys repurchases will be based on the average of its daily volume-weighted average share prices during the repurchase period, less a discount. Synopsys trades on Nasdaq under the ticker SNPS.
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Artificial Intelligence › EDA & Semiconductor IP Capital
SNPS · Capital · Positive Synopsys signs a $1 billion accelerated share repurchase agreement, a buyback that returns capital to shareholders.
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Rapidus Partners with 17 Companies Including Toshiba on Semiconductor Design
Rapidus, which aims to mass-produce advanced semiconductors, announced on the 5th that it will partner with 17 semiconductor design-related companies in Japan and abroad, including Toshiba. The partners include Toshiba Information Systems, a Toshiba subsidiary, as well as Dai Nippon Printing, TOPPAN, and major U.S. semiconductor design firms Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems. The aim is to strengthen its support system spanning everything from the design to the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors in line with customer needs, thereby winning more orders. Going forward, it plans to work with its partners to support customers' semiconductor design and increase the volume of production contracted to Rapidus.
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Semiconductors › Foundry & Contract Fabrication ▲Supply
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Semiconductors › EDA & Semiconductor IP ▲Supply
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Qualcomm Licenses Huawei's LogicFolding Chip Patents in Cross-License Deal
Qualcomm Inc. has agreed to license patents underpinning Huawei Technologies Co.'s LogicFolding chipmaking technique as part of a multiyear cross-license agreement between the two chipmakers. A Huawei spokesperson said Monday that the deal spans technologies related to 5G devices, AI services, near- and co-packaged optics and networks. The agreement helps validate the Shenzhen-based company's chipmaking capabilities, with Huawei viewing its new architecture as a breakthrough that boosts semiconductor performance and narrows the gap with industry leaders such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Huawei did not disclose the value of the cross-license agreement, which is subject to US Federal Trade Commission review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, applying to deals valued at more than $133.9 million. The spokesperson said Huawei expects the overall contract value of all its patent licensing agreements to exceed $6.9 billion following the deal with Qualcomm.
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Semiconductors › EDA & Semiconductor IP Technology
QCOM · Technology · Positive Qualcomm licenses Huawei's LogicFolding chipmaking patents in a multiyear cross-license deal spanning 5G, AI, optics and networks
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Cadence Launches RTL Generation Agent in ChipStack AI Super Agent
Cadence Design Systems introduced a new RTL Generation Agent within its ChipStack AI Super Agent in late September 2026, automating front-end digital design and verification from natural language. The announcement of the RTL Generation Agent came on 22 September 2026, extending ChipStack from verification into spec-to-RTL creation and updates, with early evaluations lined up with customers including Honda. Separately, Cadence tools helped Global Unichip Corp. deliver custom AI accelerators and hyperscale silicon on TSMC's advanced process technologies. Cadence's narrative projects $8.4 billion in revenue and $2.0 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 12.9% yearly revenue growth and about a $0.6 billion earnings increase from $1.4 billion today, with a $405.47 fair value implying 15% upside to its current price. Some of the lowest ranked analysts were already assuming revenue of about US$8.1 billion and earnings near US$1.7 billion by 2029.
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Artificial Intelligence › AI Compute & Accelerator Silicon Technology
CDNS · Technology · Positive Cadence launched a new RTL Generation Agent within ChipStack, extending its AI tooling from verification into spec-to-RTL creation.
CDNS · Capital · Positive Cadence's narrative projects $8.4B revenue and $2.0B earnings by 2029 with a $405.47 fair value implying 15% upside.
3443.TW · Demand · Positive Cadence tools helped Global Unichip deliver custom AI accelerators and hyperscale silicon on TSMC advanced processes.
United States▲3impact 4
Synopsys Lands Billion-Dollar Amazon and OpenAI Deals, Lifts FY27 Outlook
Synopsys unveiled a $1 billion multi-year deal with Amazon and a multi-year agreement with OpenAI, sending its shares up 12.78 percent on Thursday to close at $490.54 apiece. The Amazon agreement expands Synopsys' silicon IP business, with Amazon as its lead customer, and the two will also collaborate on applying AI across silicon-to-system engineering workflows. The OpenAI deal covers development and delivery of the GPT-Synopsys model for chip design, combining OpenAI's frontier AI with Synopsys' EDA tools, under a revenue-sharing arrangement and go-to-market collaboration. The deals bolstered Synopsys' revenue growth outlook for fiscal year 2027, with the company targeting revenues between $11 billion and $11.2 billion, an implied increase of 13 percent to 15 percent from the $9.715 billion midpoint target for full fiscal year 2026, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $19.04 to $19.12 versus $15.07 guidance for the year earlier. Analysts raised price targets after the news, including Deutsche Bank to $640 from $590, Rosenblatt to $620 from $570, KeyBanc to $605 from $600, and Bank of America to $600 from $500.
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SNPS · Capital · Positive The deals lifted Synopsys' FY27 revenue and EPS outlook, and analysts including Deutsche Bank, Rosenblatt, KeyBanc and BofA raised price targets.
SNPS · Demand · Positive Synopsys unveiled a $1 billion multi-year Amazon deal and a multi-year OpenAI agreement, concrete customer orders expanding its silicon IP and EDA business.