Methods and apparatus for performing profile-guided optimization of integrated circuit hardware are provided. Circuit design tools may receive a source code and compile the source code to generate a hardware description. The hardware description may include profiling blocks configured to measure useful information required for optimization. The hardware description may then be simulated to gather profiling data. The circuit design tools may then analyze the gathered profiling data to identify additional opportunities for hardware optimization. The source code may then be modified based on the analysis of the profiling data to produce a smaller and faster hardware that is better suited to the application.