Cognex Corp (CGNX)
NASDAQ:CGNX
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Cognex
(NASDAQ:CGNX)
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Rating:71Outperform
Price Target:
$54.00
▼(-2.70% Downside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:02/18/26
The score is driven primarily by strong financial resilience (low leverage and robust 2025 free cash flow) and upbeat earnings-call guidance targeting further margin expansion. Offsetting these positives are a stretched technical setup (overbought momentum) and a rich valuation (high P/E and low yield).
Positive Factors
Balance Sheet Strength
Extremely low leverage and a sizable equity base provide durable financial flexibility: supports continued R&D and AI investment, funds buybacks/dividends, and cushions cyclical downturns without forcing distress-driven asset sales or emergency capital raises.
Negative Factors
Weaker Returns on Capital
Material step-down in ROE and compressed operating profitability versus prior peaks signals weaker long-term earnings power. Improving margins will be required to restore historical returns; otherwise capital deployment may yield lower long-run shareholder returns.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Balance Sheet Strength
Extremely low leverage and a sizable equity base provide durable financial flexibility: supports continued R&D and AI investment, funds buybacks/dividends, and cushions cyclical downturns without forcing distress-driven asset sales or emergency capital raises.
Read all positive factors
Cognex (CGNX) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$8.94B
Dividend Yield0.89%
Average Volume (3M)1.75M
Price to Earnings (P/E)46.1
Beta (1Y)1.12
Revenue Growth8.73%
EPS Growth10.05%
CountryUS
Employees2,914
SectorTechnology
Sector Strength88
IndustryHardware, Equipment & Parts
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)0.27
Shares Outstanding167,013,850
10 Day Avg. Volume1,736,238
30 Day Avg. Volume1,753,462
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio5.46
Price to Book (P/B)4.05
Price to Sales (P/S)6.08
P/FCF Ratio25.54
Enterprise Value/Market Cap0.98
Enterprise Value/Revenue8.80
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit13.15
Enterprise Value/Ebitda44.15
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$63.43Price Target Upside14.29% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering14
EPS Forecast (FY)1.24
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.06B
Cognex Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information in order to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of...
How the Company Makes Money
Cognex primarily makes money by selling machine vision and industrial identification hardware and associated software used in factory automation and logistics. Key revenue streams include (1) Machine vision systems and sensors: sales of smart came...
Cognex Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Cognex Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Feb 11, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:May 06, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call conveyed strong operational and financial momentum: year-over-year revenue and substantial margin expansion, double-digit EPS growth, robust free cash flow generation, aggressive capital returns, meaningful product launches, and accelerated customer acquisition were emphasized as evidence of a successful turnaround. Key challenges include a $30M E&O charge, planned exits of ~$22M low-margin revenue (with near-term mix effects), netting of cost reductions by compensation/wage/FX offsets in 2025, and persistent end-market/geographic softness in automotive and parts of Asia. Management expects to realize an additional $35M–$40M of annualized cost savings in 2026 and is targeting a 25% adjusted EBITDA margin run-rate exiting 2026. Overall, the positive operational and financial trends and clear roadmap for margin expansion outweigh the noted challenges and one-time charges.Positive Updates
Revenue Growth and Recovery
2025 revenue of $994M increased 9% year-over-year (8% constant currency). Excluding a one-time commercial partnership benefit, revenue was $982M, up 7% year-over-year (constant currency), marking the first year of substantial organic growth since 2021.
Negative Updates
Inventory & E&O Charge
Recorded a $30M inventory and excess & obsolescence (E&O) charge in Q4 following a reserve update tied to focusing on select products; this item was excluded from non-GAAP results but represents a near-term cost related to portfolio tightening.
Read all updates
Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Revenue Growth and Recovery
2025 revenue of $994M increased 9% year-over-year (8% constant currency). Excluding a one-time commercial partnership benefit, revenue was $982M, up 7% year-over-year (constant currency), marking the first year of substantial organic growth since 2021.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Cognex guided Q1 2026 to revenue of $235–255M (midpoint ≈ +13% YoY vs a weak comp), adjusted EBITDA margin 19–22% (midpoint ≈ +370 bps YoY) and adjusted EPS $0.22–0.26 (midpoint ≈ +50% YoY). For 2026 and through‑cycle targets they are aiming for a 25% adjusted EBITDA margin run‑rate exiting 2026 and at least 20% adjusted EPS growth in 2026, raised through‑cycle adjusted EBITDA range to 25–31% (from 20–30%), maintain a through‑cycle revenue CAGR of 13–14% and continue to target >100% free‑cash‑flow conversion. Key drivers cited: $35–40M of identified incremental annualized cost reductions in 2026, exiting ~ $22M of low‑growth/low‑margin revenue (closing by Q2), and continued OpEx and COGS productivity after $33M gross cost reductions in 2025 (net $8M after offsets). The outlook is supported by 2025 results of ~$994M revenue ($982M ex one‑time), a 20.7% adjusted EBITDA margin ex‑partnership, adjusted EPS $0.97 ex‑partnership, Q4 adj. EBITDA margin 22.7% (+420 bps YoY) and Q4 adj. EPS $0.27 (+35% YoY), $237M free cash flow in 2025 (+77% YoY) with TTM FCF conversion of 138%, $206M returned to shareholders in 2025 (incl. $151M repurchases), ~$642M net cash and a board‑approved $500M increase to the buyback authorization.Cognex Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
72
Positive
Balance Sheet
88
Very Positive
Cash Flow
83
Very Positive
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 994.36M | 914.51M | 837.55M | 1.01B | 1.04B |
| Gross Profit | 665.39M | 625.79M | 601.24M | 721.90M | 759.83M |
| EBITDA | 193.36M | 147.75M | 144.58M | 288.29M | 335.38M |
| Net Income | 114.44M | 106.17M | 113.23M | 215.53M | 279.88M |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 2.02B | 1.99B | 2.02B | 1.96B | 2.00B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 262.93M | 246.05M | 332.05M | 400.13M | 323.62M |
| Total Debt | 76.59M | 70.22M | 78.60M | 39.75M | 25.58M |
| Total Liabilities | 524.65M | 475.35M | 513.06M | 519.75M | 573.57M |
| Stockholders Equity | 1.49B | 1.52B | 1.50B | 1.44B | 1.43B |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 236.77M | 134.04M | 89.84M | 223.74M | 298.61M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 245.51M | 149.08M | 112.92M | 243.41M | 314.06M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 28.02M | -38.97M | 32.27M | -4.45M | -252.54M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -206.69M | -118.42M | -125.61M | -240.37M | -141.62M |
Cognex Technical Analysis
Positive
55.50
Price Trends
51.53
Positive
44.82
Positive
43.05
Positive
Market Momentum
1.43
Negative
63.70
Neutral
82.27
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CGNX, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 55.5 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 51.52, above the 50-day MA of 51.53, and above the 200-day MA of 43.05, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 1.43 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 63.70 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 82.27 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for CGNX.
Cognex Risk Analysis
Cognex disclosed 26 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Cognex reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Cognex Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
71 Outperform | $8.94B | 46.06 | 7.72% | 0.89% | 8.73% | 10.05% | |
70 Outperform | $11.18B | 18.96 | 7.33% | ― | 44.48% | 8.59% | |
69 Neutral | $3.67B | 18.75 | 17.44% | ― | -3.99% | 14.06% | |
69 Neutral | $17.87B | 36.46 | 11.54% | 0.54% | 9.59% | 55.93% | |
68 Neutral | $3.44B | 40.71 | 18.76% | 0.82% | 5.19% | -2.69% | |
65 Neutral | $4.92B | 13.43 | 34.02% | 0.26% | 3.24% | 0.27% | |
61 Neutral | $37.18B | 12.37 | -10.20% | 1.83% | 8.50% | -7.62% |
* Technology Sector Average
CGNX
Cognex
53.52
26.44
97.63%
BMI
Badger Meter
117.86
-101.09
-46.17%
ITRI
Itron
82.69
-28.60
-25.70%
MKSI
MKS
265.44
195.81
281.19%
SANM
Sanmina-Sci
208.67
131.88
171.74%
VNT
Vontier
34.72
2.99
9.44%
Cognex Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Cognex Announces Board Refresh to Drive AI Growth
Positive
Feb 17, 2026
On February 11, 2026, Cognex Corporation’s board appointed automation veteran Dr. Sami Atiya and enterprise sales executive Chris Donato as directors, effective March 2, 2026, with Atiya’s term running to the 2028 shareholder meeting a...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackDividendsFinancial Disclosures
Cognex Delivers Profitable Growth and Boosts Shareholder Returns
Positive
Feb 11, 2026
On February 11, 2026, Cognex reported that fourth‑quarter 2025 revenue rose 10% year on year to $252 million, with constant‑currency growth of 9%, while full‑year revenue increased 9% and adjusted EPS climbed 38%, marking a retur...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.