Synopsys downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler downgraded Synopsys (SNPS) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $520, down from $602. The firm believes the company could see “prolonged headwinds” to growth as the semiconductor industry undergoes an “enormous” reallocation of engineering, materials and fabrication capacity to AI and high-performance data center chips. Piper believes consumer designs are being “crowded out,” with limited fabrication infrastructure being bid away by AI. This is a risk for Synopsys’ $1.75B intellectual property business, contends Piper. The firm sees a challenging 2026 for the company.