ADSK vs PTC: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of September 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ADSK and PTC share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ADSK and PTC exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Autodesk is a large-cap software company whose tools are the default in several design and engineering fields. Its best-known products are AutoCAD (2D and 3D drafting), Revit (building information modeling for architecture, engineering and construction), Fusion (cloud product design and manufacturing), and Maya and 3ds Max (media and entertainment). It serves roughly four end markets: architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), product design and manufacturing, media and entertainment, and a broad base of individual and small-business users.

Full ADSK guide

PTC Inc. is a Boston-based industrial-software company that builds the digital tools manufacturers use to design, engineer, and manage physical products. Its core franchises are Creo (parametric CAD for mechanical design), Windchill (enterprise PLM that manages product data across design, manufacturing, and service), and Onshape (browser-based cloud CAD acquired in 2019). Around those sit Arena (cloud PLM and quality management), Codebeamer (application lifecycle management for software-defined products), ThingWorx (industrial IoT), and ServiceMax (service lifecycle management). Nearly all of PTC's revenue is now subscription-based and recurring, which is why management steers the business by annual recurring revenue (ARR) rather than headline sales, and why the company earns software-like margins.

Full PTC guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ADSK drivers: Recurring revenue and high retention; Margins and free cash flow.
• PTC drivers: Recurring-revenue ARR compounding; Margin expansion and free cash flow.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The most-cited risk is valuation: as a high-quality, profitable software name, Autodesk often trades at a premium multiple, so growth that merely meets expectations can still disappoint the stock. For PTC, the most immediate risk is valuation: PTC trades at a premium software multiple (forward P/E around 15 and a much lower trailing figure inflated by a one-time divestiture gain), so disappointing ARR or margins could compress the stock even if the business stays healthy.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ADSK if you believe its drivers more; PTC if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ADSK and PTC guides.

ADSK. Figures are approximate, tied to the asOf date, and use Autodesk's fiscal calendar (its year ends in late January), so verify live numbers before acting. Autodesk's transition to subscriptions and past changes to its billing model can distort year-over-year comparisons, so free cash flow and remaining performance obligations are often more useful than a single quarter's headline revenue. As a profitable compounder, its multiple prices in continued growth, which raises the bar for the stock even when the business executes well.

PTC. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. PTC's trailing P/E looks low mainly because GAAP earnings were boosted by a large one-time gain on the Kepware divestiture, so the forward multiple around 15x is the more meaningful gauge of its recurring economics. Analyst targets skew bullish on continued ARR growth and margin expansion, but they embed an assumption that industrial-software demand and AI-driven upsell stay strong.

Headline figures (approximate, Jul 2026): ADSK shows revenue (fiscal 2026) About $7.2 billion, up roughly 18% year over year, almost all subscription, recurring revenue mix Around 97% of revenue is recurring subscription and maintenance, profitability Solidly profitable; record operating income near $1.6 billion in fiscal 2026, free cash flow Strong, roughly $2.4 billion in fiscal 2026, up sharply as billing patterns normalized; PTC shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.5 billion (fiscal Q2 2026 was ~$774 million, up ~22% year over year), annual recurring revenue (arr) ~$2.39 billion (constant currency), growing ~8.5% (~11% excluding divestitures), non-gaap operating margin (q2 fy26) ~53% (non-GAAP operating income up ~37% to ~$411 million), fy2026 revenue guidance ~$2.58 billion to ~$2.82 billion (raised).

ADSK and PTC are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ADSK and PTC exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.