Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Releases Q2 2026 Earnings Guidance

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) issued an update on its second quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.400-0.440 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.300. The company issued revenue guidance of $280.0 million-$300.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $269.3 million.

Cognex Stock Up 5.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $3.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,791,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,122,356. The firm has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.93 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex has a 1 year low of $27.82 and a 1 year high of $63.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.95.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson set a $55.00 target price on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $10,338,066.28. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 23,326 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the first quarter worth about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 24.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,223 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 7.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in 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.