Charting Cognex's Latest Earnings Release

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Cognex (NAS: CGNX) reported earnings on Feb. 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Cognex beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue contracted slightly and GAAP earnings per share shrank.

Gross margins increased, operating margins shrank, net margins contracted.

Revenue details
Cognex booked revenue of $84.0 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected a top line of $81.5 million. GAAP sales were 1.0% lower than the prior-year quarter's $84.9 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.40. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.41 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.44 for Q4 were 6.4% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.47 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 74.8%, 310 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 25.6%, 140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 22.7%, 60 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $79.3 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.35.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $351.0 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.76.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 280 members out of 311 rating the stock outperform, and 31 members rating it underperform. Among 104 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 93 give Cognex a green thumbs-up, and 11 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Cognex is hold, with an average price target of $34.00.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Cognex. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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