We think all investors should try to buy and hold high quality multi-year winners. While not every stock performs well, when investors win, they can win big. For example, the Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) share price is up a whopping 310% in the last half decade, a handsome return for long term holders. If that doesn't get you thinking about long term investing, we don't know what will. On top of that, the share price is up 12% in about a quarter.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During five years of share price growth, Cadence Design Systems achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 19% per year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 33% per year, over the same period. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth. This favorable sentiment is reflected in its (fairly optimistic) P/E ratio of 79.30.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

This free interactive report on Cadence Design Systems' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Cadence Design Systems provided a TSR of 17% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. If we look back over five years, the returns are even better, coming in at 33% per year for five years. Maybe the share price is just taking a breather while the business executes on its growth strategy. If you would like to research Cadence Design Systems in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of undervalued companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.