Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.22 EPS

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The semiconductor company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.22), FiscalAI reports. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.71% and a negative net margin of 16.40%.The company had revenue of $122.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.15) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Cohu’s conference call:

• Q4 revenue was $122.2M, up 30% year‑over‑year, with recurring revenue at ~60% of sales and full‑year orders up 29% — management says recurring bookings rose 34% sequentially, signaling improving demand stability.
• Multiple design wins and product traction were highlighted, including Eclipse handler high‑performance orders (qualification unit shipping this summer), Krypton and Neon (HBM) inspection wins, and expanded Diamondx tester deployments; Neon HBM exited 2025 at $11M with a 2026 forecast of $15–20M.
• Q4 gross margin of 40.8% missed guidance due to one‑time inventory charges (management estimates ~350 bps impact) from product discontinuations and consolidation, although they expect margins to rebound to ~45% in Q1 and move higher as revenue ramps.
• Liquidity strengthened via an upsized convertible notes offering that raised $287.5M (1.5% coupon, 32.5% conversion premium), boosting cash and investments to $484M while using a capped call to limit near‑term dilution; total debt stands at $305M.

Cohu Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of NASDAQ COHU opened at $30.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Cohu has a 52-week low of $12.57 and a 52-week high of $34.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.25 and a beta of 1.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on COHU shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Cohu from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Cohu from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Securities lowered their price target on Cohu from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Cohu from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cohu has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cohu by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,819,530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,340,000 after purchasing an additional 5,439 shares during the period. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cohu during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,174,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cohu by 478.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,612,000 after acquiring an additional 972,088 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY lifted its stake in Cohu by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 914,897 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,290,000 after buying an additional 99,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cohu by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 806,191 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,760,000 after acquiring an additional 13,376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cohu

Here are the key news stories impacting Cohu this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue growth and topline beat: Q4 revenue rose ~29.9% year‑over‑year to $122.2M and slightly exceeded consensus, showing demand strength in testing equipment. MarketBeat Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: New HBM opportunity: Cohu is targeting $15M–$20M of HBM (high‑bandwidth memory) revenue in 2026, signaling expanding exposure to higher‑value AI/data‑center markets. MSN Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts largely maintain conviction: Needham and TD Cowen reaffirmed Buy ratings and raised/maintained price targets ($33, $35), highlighting improving utilization, margin recovery and AI/data‑center tailwinds. TipRanks – Needham
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst target tweaks: B. Riley trimmed its target slightly from $35 to $33 but kept a Buy — a modest adjustment rather than a shift to caution. Benzinga Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call materials and transcripts are available for deeper color on margins, backlog and end‑market demand if you want to dig into management commentary. Yahoo Finance Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data reported as zeros in some feeds (likely data artifacts) — not actionable as shown.
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 surprise adjusted loss: Cohu reported an adjusted loss of $0.15/sh vs. consensus +$0.07, which triggered investor selling despite the revenue beat. Fool Article
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious near‑term guidance: Q1 revenue was guided to $115M–$129M (consensus ~ $120.2M) and EPS guidance was not clearly provided, increasing uncertainty around near‑term profitability. Zacks Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: The surprise loss and guidance uncertainty prompted a sharp intraday sell‑off and heavy volume, driving the stock lower on the day. Investing.com

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.