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13 Feb 2025
Machine vision company reports 9% rise in annual sales, largely thanks to addition of the Japanese optical component maker.
Cognex, the Massachusetts-based machine vision specialist, has posted sales of $230 million for the closing quarter of 2024, bringing its annual total to $915 million.
That latter figure represented a 9 per cent increase on the prior year, a rise that can be almost entirely attributed to the firm’s late-2023 acquisition of Japanese optical components firm Moritex.
Historically very profitable, Cognex was able to post a pre-tax income of $131 million for 2024, down slightly from $135 million in 2023.
AI: threat and opportunity
Cognex CEO Robert Willett told an investor conference call that the firm’s key logistics market was now back into a normal growth phase, helping to push the quarterly sales figure up 17 per cent year-on-year.
“Growth was driven by continued momentum in our logistics and semiconductor businesses, including accelerated demand late in the quarter,” he added. “Across most of our other factory automation end markets, demand remains soft but stable, while automotive remains very weak.”
The CEO also highlighted the company’s efforts to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI), describing the technology as “both a great opportunity and a potential threat” to Cognex.
One internal development shows how AI can be used to help spot material defects with greater precision, while the firm’s first AI-enabled barcode readers are able to decipher damaged or low-quality codes.
“Powerful AI models are making our advanced technology easier to use, enabling us to improve our customers' experience and address many more use cases,” Willett said.
“We recently launched ‘VisionPro Deep Learning 4.0, Cognex's first product to utilize next-generation AI Transformer models, and our new AI-driven DataMan series, our most powerful and easiest-to-use ID readers yet.”
Tariff ‘confusion’
Asked to comment on the potential effect that new trade tariffs would have on the Cognex business, Willett and Cognex CFO Dennis Fehr said that although the initial moves by the new US administration would have little impact, uncertainty over retaliatory actions and further US tariffs could be more of a problem as it was causing customer confusion.
Overall Cognex may benefit if the protectionist measures do prompt US firms to “re-shore” manufacturing to domestic locations, although further uncertainty hangs over Biden-era measures contained within the Inflation Reduction Act that were intended to incentivize just that.
“In the longer term the re-shoring opportunity could be tremendous for Cognex,” Fehr said.
Looking ahead, the Cognex team is expecting sales in the opening quarter of 2025 to be around $210 million, a drop from the December 2024 quarter explained by growth in logistics and semiconductor applications offset by a still-weak automotive sector, a $5 million drag from currency effects, and some customer shipments that were fast-tracked from 2025 to 2024 late in the year.
• Immediately following the update, Cognex’ stock price dropped in value by around 10 per cent on the Nasdaq and is now trading close to an eight-year low, at just under $35.
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