Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. Cognex had a net margin of 11.33% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million.

Cognex Trading Down 1.3%

CGNX traded down $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,037,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,773,397. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.24 and a beta of 1.53. Cognex has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $49.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.18.

Cognex News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and profitability growth — Q4 revenue of ~$252.3M was roughly +10% y/y and above consensus; gross profit, operating profit and net income all rose year‑over‑year, supporting the narrative of profitable growth. Cognex Reports Fourth Quarter 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cash flow and balance sheet metrics — operating cash flow jumped (~+70% y/y) and cash & equivalents increased materially, giving the company flexibility for buybacks/dividends or opportunistic investments. Cognex Corporation (CGNX) stock rises on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Notable institutional buying reported — several large managers materially increased positions in recent filings, which can provide multi‑quarter demand support. Cognex Corporation (CGNX) stock rises on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views and price targets are mixed — several buy/overweight ratings and some underweight calls leave the consensus target range wide (median near ~$44.5), so analyst guidance may continue to drive volatility. Cognex Corporation (CGNX) stock rises on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach scheduled — CFO presentations at upcoming conferences may provide additional color on guidance, markets and margin cadence. Cognex Announces Participation at Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Negative Sentiment: EPS figures and consistency questions — some sources show diluted EPS figures that were below certain estimates (creating mixed headlines versus outlets that reported an EPS beat), which likely contributed to intraday selling despite the revenue beat. Cognex Corporation (CGNX) stock rises on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and higher cost of sales — recent insider sales were disclosed and cost of sales rose y/y, which are potential near‑term headwinds for sentiment and margins. Cognex Corporation (CGNX) stock rises on Q4 2025 Earnings

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CGNX. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in Cognex by 0.9% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $151,264,000 after buying an additional 40,927 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,328,494 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $105,483,000 after acquiring an additional 34,446 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,161,987 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $97,938,000 after acquiring an additional 367,338 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.3% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,029,648 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $64,366,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Cognex by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,718,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $77,830,000 after purchasing an additional 70,581 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.