Needham & Company analyst Richard Valera reiterated a Buy rating and lifted his price target on Cadence Designs (NASDAQ: CDNS) to $21.00 (from $19.00) following "solid" Q1 results with an increased buyback plan. The analyst notes Emulation is on track.

Valera commented, "Cadence delivered solid 1Q15 results in what it described as a challenging macro environment, beating on both the top and bottom line and reiterating its full-year targets. The company also continued its momentum with its digital products, delivering its next-gen P&R tool, Innovus. Perhaps more importantly, CDNS said it remained on track for 2H15 release of its long-awaited next-gen emulator, which we think should drive both revenue and GM improvement in 2016. Finally, we expect the company's 50% increase in share buyback run rate should be well received by investors. We bump up our PT to $21 (was $19) as we allow for peer multiple expansion and apply the current year 18x multiple to our ex-cash C2016E NG EPS."

The firm's 2015 revs ~unchanged at $1.71B; EPS to $1.01 from $1.00. 2016 estimates unchanged at $1.82B/$1.13.

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Shares of Cadence Designs closed at $18.76 yesterday.