At a glance
Cognex Corporation is worth $9.83B, about 86 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 8.7% to $994.4M in fiscal 2025, with 11.5% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 4.2% a year. It pays a 0.62% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 8 years, and returned $909.3M to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +24.4% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −7.0% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 27.4% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 48.0% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%).
The business in plain English
Cognex, founded in 1981, makes machine vision systems: hardware and software that capture and analyze images so machines can "see." Its products locate, identify, inspect and measure items such as phones, car parts and consumer goods on assembly lines and in warehouses. They are most useful where human eyes are too slow or imprecise, or where automation can cut labor costs and improve quality. Barcode reading is a core product, and Cognex is building artificial intelligence (AI) into more of its tools.
Its customers are manufacturers and distribution companies. They install its products themselves or with help from partners such as machine builders, system integrators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs, firms that build Cognex products into their own machines). Logistics, packaging, consumer electronics and automotive made up about 85% of revenue in 2025. Cognex sees logistics, whose customers include e-commerce and parcel companies, as its biggest growth opportunity. Automotive, historically one of its largest markets, struggled in 2025, partly because of geopolitical and trade uncertainty.
Revenue was $994 million in 2025. Standard products and services brought in 88.5%, and application-specific customer solutions brought in the other 11.5%. Gross margin, the share of sales left after the direct cost of making products, was 66.9%. Cognex aims to double its customer base within five years by reaching customers with simpler needs and fewer engineers.
Price history
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CGNX +24.4% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Standard products and services (1) | $880.0M | 88.5% |
| Application-specific customer solutions | $114.3M | 11.5% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jul 5, 2026), revenue was $291.3M, up 16.9% from a year earlier, and net income was $72.8M (+79.6%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $994.4M (+8.7% year over year; +4.2% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 11.5% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +4.2% watch |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 16.3% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 23.8% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 7.7% weak |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 5.7% watch |
| Cash and investments | $755.0M (no borrowings found in the filings) good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $811.0M | $176.2M | $229.1M |
| FY2021 | $1.04B | $279.9M | $298.6M |
| FY2022 | $1.01B | $215.5M | $223.7M |
| FY2023 | $837.5M | $113.2M | $89.8M |
| FY2024 | $914.5M | $106.2M | $134.0M |
| FY2025 | $994.4M | $114.4M | $236.8M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $9.83B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 85.9 |
| Dividend yield | 0.62% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Cognex’s market value went from $5.45B at the end of 2016 to $9.83B on Oct 28, 2026, up 80%; since the end of 2025 it is up 63%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $9.83B | +63.0% |
| 2025 | $6.03B | -2.0% |
| 2024 | $6.15B | -14.4% |
| 2023 | $7.19B | -11.8% |
| 2022 | $8.15B | -40.7% |
| 2021 | $13.75B | -1.9% |
| 2020 | $14.02B | +46.4% |
| 2019 | $9.58B | +43.8% |
| 2018 | $6.66B | -37.1% |
| 2017 | $10.59B | +94.3% |
| 2016 | $5.45B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CGNX price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +63.1% | +24.4% | +20.0% | -7.0% | +9.4% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +63.1% |
| 2025 | +1.3% |
| 2024 | -13.4% |
| 2023 | -10.8% |
| 2022 | -39.1% |
| 2021 | -2.8% |
| 2020 | +47.6% |
| 2019 | +45.5% |
| 2018 | -36.5% |
| 2017 | +92.9% |
| 2016 | +89.6% |
| 2015 | -17.9% |
| 2014 | +8.3% |
| 2013 | +107.6% |
| 2012 | +6.8% |
| 2011 | +23.0% |
| 2010 | +68.0% |
| 2009 | +22.6% |
| 2008 | -24.5% |
| 2007 | -14.3% |
| 2006 | -20.5% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 47.3% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 64.7%, back to its old high 18.7 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 26.8% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 27.4%, back to its old high 1.2 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 45.2% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 48%, not recovered by the end of the data |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 37 sales ($23.5M), 7 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 2026 | Laura Ann Macdonald VP and PAO | sell | $2.0M |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Joerg Kuechen Head of Corporate M&A | sell | $2.0M |
| May 12, 2026 | Laura Ann Macdonald VP and PAO | sell | $1.7M |
| May 11, 2026 | Mark Fennell Chief Legal Officer &Secretary | sell | $1.2M |
| May 11, 2026 | Laura Ann Macdonald VP and PAO | sell | $1.1M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 6.22% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.21% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| GIC Private Ltd | 4.05% | Dec 31, 2024 |
ETFs with the most weight in CGNX
| MAKX ProShares S&P Kensho Smart Factories ETF | 4.82% |
| BOTZ Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF | 2.12% |
| TDV ProShares S&P Technology Dividend Aristocrats ETF | 1.91% |
| THNQ ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF | 1.5% |
| ROBO ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF | 1.08% |
| IBOT Vaneck Robotics ETF | 0.89% |
| DTEC ALPS Disruptive Technologies ETF | 0.86% |
| ROBT First Trust Nasdaq Artificial Intelligence & Robotics ETF | 0.67% |
What could go wrong
- Cheaper AI tools could squeeze prices. Open-source vision software and free or low-cost tools from large tech companies could make it easier for rivals to enter, pushing down Cognex's prices, market share and gross margins in an already fragmented, competitive market.
- Dependence on large customers. Losing a large customer, or a pause in its spending, can hit sales hard. Cognex's leading e-commerce customers took a "time out" on new capacity from early 2022 into 2023.
- New CEO and a sales overhaul. A new chief executive took over in June 2025 with a different strategy, including a sales overhaul aimed at doubling the customer base within five years. If execution stumbles, costs could rise without the growth.
- Falling behind on new products. Machine vision technology changes fast. If new AI-enabled products launch late or fail to catch on, Cognex could lose market share, and new products may not earn the margins older ones did.
- Sales rise and fall with factory spending. Orders swing with the economy and the timing of big purchases, so results are hard to forecast. Revenue fell from about $1.04 billion in 2021 to $838 million in 2023 before rebounding.
- Tariffs, trade disputes and currency swings. Cognex sells around the world, so trade barriers, political tension and exchange-rate moves can hurt results. Its automotive sales struggled in 2025, partly because of geopolitical and trade uncertainty.
Recent events
- Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Change of auditor
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
For income and retirement investors
Cognex pays a small dividend: the yield was 0.62% as of October 28, 2026, so it offers little income. Leaving aside 2020, which included a special payout, the regular dividend rose every year from 2016 through 2025. It reached $0.325 per share in 2025, up from $0.245 in 2021, growth of about 7.3% a year. That took 47.7% of 2025 earnings but just 23.1% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). Buybacks are bigger: $664 million from 2021 to 2025, versus $245 million in dividends.
In the 2008 financial crisis the shares fell 64.7% from peak to low and took about 19 months from the low to recover. They fell 27.4% in the 2020 COVID crash but recovered within about a month. In the 2022 bear market they fell 48% and had not regained their earlier peak as of October 28, 2026. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Cognex make money?
Cognex makes money by selling machine vision products: hardware and software that capture and analyze images so factory and warehouse equipment can locate, identify, inspect and measure items. In 2025, standard products and services brought in 88.5% of its $994 million in revenue, and application-specific customer solutions brought in the other 11.5%. Customers in logistics, packaging, consumer electronics and automotive accounted for about 85% of revenue. Barcode reading is a core product.
Does Cognex pay a dividend?
Yes, but it is small. The yield was 0.62% as of October 28, 2026. Leaving aside 2020, when it paid a special dividend, regular dividends per share rose every year from 2016 through 2025, reaching $0.325 in 2025. That payout used 47.7% of 2025 earnings and 23.1% of free cash flow. Cognex returns more cash through share buybacks: $664 million from 2021 to 2025, versus $245 million in dividends.
Is Cognex's revenue growing?
Yes, though unevenly. Revenue rose 8.7% to $994 million in 2025, and it was up 16.9% from a year earlier in the quarter ended July 5, 2026. Over the five years from 2020 to 2025, growth averaged only about 4.2% a year. Revenue hit $1.04 billion in 2021, then fell to $838 million in 2023 after its leading e-commerce customers paused spending on new capacity.
Why is Cognex's P/E ratio so high?
Mainly because 2025 earnings were well below their 2021 level, while the share price rose 63.1% in 2026 through October 28. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio compares the share price with profit per share. As of October 28, 2026, it was 85.9 based on 2025 earnings. Diluted earnings per share were $0.68 in 2025, down from $1.56 in 2021. Profit was recovering: net income rose 79.6% from a year earlier in the quarter ended July 5, 2026.
How volatile is Cognex stock?
Quite volatile. As of October 28, 2026, its one-year beta was 1.82. That means the shares tended to move about 1.8 times as much as the overall market. They fell as much as 27.9% within that year. The deepest drop in about 21 years of price history was 74.6%. Calendar-year returns ranged from a 39.1% loss in 2022 to a 107.6% gain in 2013. Cognex lists stock price volatility as a risk in its 10-K.