Exhibit 99.1

MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION TO RELEASE FISCAL Q4 2011 FINANCIAL

RESULTS ON FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Company Expects to Meet or Exceed Q4 2011 Financial Guidance

WILSONVILLE, Ore., February 17, 2011—Mentor Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced that the company will release financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter, ended January 31, 2011, on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at approximately 4:15 p.m. Eastern time. A conference call with investors to discuss the financial results is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The company today affirmed that it expects to meet or exceed its outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2011, as provided on November 19, 2010. This guidance was for revenue of about $293 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of approximately $0.46, and GAAP earnings per share of about $0.40 for the fourth quarter, up from reported revenues of $237.1 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.30, and GAAP earnings per share of $0.39 for the fourth quarter of the preceding fiscal year. For the full fiscal year ending January 31, 2011, the company expected revenue in the range of $900 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of about $0.67, and GAAP earnings per share of approximately $0.19, as compared to reported revenues of $802.7 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.47, and a GAAP loss per share of $0.23 for the preceding fiscal year. For a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP guidance, see “Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below.

Mentor Graphics’ board and management team are focused on delivering shareholder value. The company’s share price has grown by more than 70% over the last year and it also grew by more than 70% during the prior year period, for a two year growth of approximately 200%, significantly outperforming its peer group and the market.

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About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronic, semiconductor and systems companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $850 million. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.

(Mentor Graphics and Mentor are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.)

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Statements in this press release regarding the company’s guidance for future periods constitute “forward-looking” statements based on current expectations within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company or industry results to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: (i) the company’s ability to successfully offer products and services that compete in the highly competitive EDA industry; (ii) product bundling or discounting of products and services by competitors; (iii) effects of foreign currency fluctuations on the company’s business; (iv) changes in accounting or reporting rules or interpretations; (v) the impact of tax audits, or changes in the tax laws, regulations or enforcement practices; (vi) effects of unanticipated shifts in product mix on gross margin; and (vii) effects of customer seasonal purchasing patterns and the timing of significant orders which may negatively or positively impact the company’s quarterly results of operations and liquidity, all as may be discussed in more detail under the heading “Risk Factors” in the company’s most recent Form 10-K or Form 10-Q. Given these uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. In addition, statements regarding guidance do not reflect potential impacts of mergers or acquisitions that have not been announced or closed as of the time the statements are made. Mentor Graphics disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect future events or developments.

Fiscal Year Definition

Mentor Graphics fiscal year runs from February 1 to January 31. The fiscal year is dated by the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends. As a result, the first three fiscal quarters of any fiscal year will be dated with the next calendar year, rather than the current calendar year.

Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Mentor Graphics management evaluates and makes operating decisions using various performance measures. In addition to our GAAP results, we also consider adjusted gross margin, operating margin, net income (loss), and earnings (loss) per share which we refer to as non-GAAP gross margin, operating margin, net income (loss), and earnings (loss) per share, respectively. These non-GAAP measures are derived from the revenues of our product, maintenance, and services business operations and the costs directly related to the generation of those revenues, such as cost of revenue, research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, that management considers in evaluating our ongoing core operating performance. These non-GAAP measures exclude amortization of intangible

assets, special charges, equity plan-related compensation expenses and charges, interest expense attributable to net retirement premiums or discounts on the early retirement of debt and associated debt issuance costs, interest expense associated with the amortization of debt discount and premium on convertible debt, impairment of long-lived assets, impairment of cost method investments, and the equity in income or losses of unconsolidated entities, which management does not consider reflective of our core operating business.

Identified intangible assets consist primarily of purchased technology, backlog, trade names, customer relationships, and employment agreements. Special charges primarily consist of costs incurred for employee terminations due to a reduction of personnel resources driven by modifications of business strategy or business emphasis. Special charges may also include expenses incurred related to potential acquisitions, abandonment of in-process research and development, excess facility costs, asset-related charges, post-acquisition rebalance costs and restructuring costs, including severance and benefits. Equity plan-related compensation expenses represent the fair value of all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options. For purposes of comparability across other periods and against other companies in our industry, non-GAAP net income (loss) is adjusted by the amount of additional tax expense or benefit that we would accrue using a normalized effective tax rate applied to the non-GAAP results.

Management excludes from our non-GAAP measures certain recurring items to facilitate its review of the comparability of our core operating performance on a period-to-period basis because such items are not related to our ongoing core operating performance as viewed by management. Management considers our core operating performance to be that which can be affected by our managers in any particular period through their management of the resources that affect our underlying revenue and profit generating operations during that period. Management uses this view of our operating performance for purposes of comparison with our business plan and individual operating budgets and allocation of resources. Additionally, when evaluating potential acquisitions, management excludes the items described above from its consideration of target performance and valuation. More specifically, management adjusts for the excluded items for the following reasons:

In certain instances our GAAP results of operations may not be profitable when our corresponding non-GAAP results are profitable or vice versa. The number of shares on which our non-GAAP earnings per share is calculated may therefore differ from the GAAP presentation due to the anti-dilutive effect of stock options in a loss situation.

Non-GAAP gross margin, operating margin, and net income (loss) are supplemental measures of our performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. Moreover, they should not be considered as an alternative to any performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP, or as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. We present non-GAAP gross margin, operating margin, and net income (loss) because we consider them to be important supplemental measures of our operating performance and profitability trends, and because we believe they give investors useful information on period-to-period performance as evaluated by management. Non-GAAP net income (loss) also facilitates comparison with other companies in our industry, which use similar financial measures to supplement their GAAP results. Non-GAAP net income (loss) has limitations as an analytical tool, and therefore should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. In the future we expect to continue to incur expenses similar to the non-GAAP adjustments described above and exclusion of these items in our non-GAAP presentation should not be construed as an inference that these costs are unusual, infrequent or non-recurring. Some of the limitations in relying on non-GAAP net income (loss) are:

Important Information

This release may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the solicitation of proxies from shareholders in connection with the company’s 2011 annual meeting of shareholders. The company, its directors and certain of its executive officers and employees may be deemed to be participants in such solicitation. The company will file a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with its 2011 annual meeting of shareholders. The proxy statement, any other relevant documents and other material filed with the SEC concerning the company will be, when filed, available free of charge at http://www.sec.gov and http://www.mentor.com/company/investor_relations. Shareholders are urged to read the proxy statement and any other relevant documents filed when they become available because they will contain important information.

Information Regarding Participants

The company, its directors and certain of its executive officers and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders in connection with the company’s 2011 annual meeting of shareholders. Information concerning these participants is available in the company’s proxy statement for the 2010 annual meeting of shareholders filed with the SEC on May 28, 2010, and in subsequent SEC filings on Forms 3, 4 and 5. Shareholders are advised to read the company’s proxy statement for the 2011 annual meeting of shareholders and other relevant documents when they become available, because they will contain important information, including information with respect to such participants. You can obtain free copies of these referenced documents as described above.

MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION

UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP ADJUSTMENTS

(In thousands, except earnings per share data)

Twelve months ended January 31, 2010: Special charges consist of (i) $10,713 of costs incurred for employee rebalances which includes severance benefits, notice pay, and outplacement services, (ii) $4,700 in advisory fees, (iii) $2,530 related to the abandonment of excess leased facility space, (iv) $2,067 in acquisition costs, (v) $566 related to a casualty loss, (vi) $405 related to an asset abandonment, (vii) $302 in lease restoration costs, and (viii) $51 in other costs.

Twelve months ended January 31, 2010: Other income (expense), net consists of: (i) loss of $995 on investment accounted for under the equity method of accounting and (ii) an impairment of $113 for an investment accounted for under the cost method.

Twelve months ended January 31, 2010: $2,764 in amortization of original issuance debt discount and $(354) in discounts and unamortized debt costs related to a partial redemption of the $110.0M convertible debt.

MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION

UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP

EARNINGS PER SHARE GUIDANCE

The following table reconciles management’s estimates of the specific items excluded from GAAP in the calculation of expected non-GAAP loss per share for the periods shown below: