Cognex Corp key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Cognex Corp had return on equity of 7.6%, an operating margin of 16.3%, debt equal to 0.0% of equity and a current ratio of 3.80. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Cognex Corp: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2009Dec 2009	2010Dec 2010	2011Dec 2011	2012Dec 2012	2013Dec 2013	2014Dec 2014	2015Dec 2015	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMJul 2026
Gross margin	67.9%	73.3%	75.8%	75.5%	79.6%	77.9%	77.2%	75.2%	75.6%	74.4%	73.8%	74.5%	73.3%	71.8%	71.8%	68.4%	66.9%	68.9%
Operating margin	−7.2%	26.0%	26.5%	25.7%	25.0%	30.0%	27.0%	29.1%	33.8%	27.4%	19.7%	21.0%	30.4%	24.5%	15.6%	12.6%	16.3%	21.9%
Net margin	−2.8%	21.1%	21.7%	21.0%	23.9%	28.5%	41.5%	27.1%	23.1%	27.2%	28.1%	21.7%	27.0%	21.4%	13.5%	11.6%	11.5%	16.1%
Free-cash-flow margin	3.9%	24.2%	24.4%	28.1%	27.9%	33.5%	24.4%	32.0%	25.5%	23.1%	31.9%	28.2%	28.8%	22.2%	10.7%	14.7%	23.8%	24.6%
Return on equity	−1.2%	14.1%	13.6%	12.1%	12.1%	17.6%	23.8%	16.0%	17.2%	19.7%	16.4%	13.5%	20.8%	15.0%	7.7%	7.0%	7.6%	11.2%
Return on assets	−1.1%	12.6%	12.2%	11.0%	11.0%	15.9%	21.9%	14.9%	15.2%	17.0%	12.8%	9.6%	14.7%	10.9%	5.7%	5.3%	5.7%	8.3%
Asset turnover	0.40	0.60	0.56	0.52	0.46	0.56	0.53	0.55	0.66	0.63	0.46	0.44	0.55	0.51	0.42	0.46	0.50	0.52
Current ratio	6.45	5.13	5.27	4.78	5.44	3.37	8.28	8.00	5.59	8.54	5.04	4.55	3.39	3.82	4.47	3.62	3.80	3.93
Debt to equity	0.0%	—	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Effective tax rate	—	19.3%	19.8%	21.4%	14.4%	15.9%	15.2%	11.2%	33.7%	6.5%	−25.1%	5.7%	12.2%	14.0%	16.3%	19.3%	37.4%	32.3%
R&D as % of revenue	17.7%	11.4%	12.7%	12.8%	14.4%	13.1%	15.5%	14.8%	12.9%	14.4%	16.5%	16.2%	13.1%	14.0%	16.6%	15.3%	14.0%	12.9%
SG&A as % of revenue	54.8%	35.9%	36.6%	37.0%	40.1%	34.9%	34.8%	31.4%	28.8%	32.6%	37.7%	33.0%	29.8%	31.0%	40.5%	40.6%	36.6%	34.1%
Capital spending as % of revenue	3.1%	2.0%	2.4%	3.0%	3.1%	4.9%	4.0%	2.4%	3.8%	4.6%	3.0%	1.6%	1.5%	2.0%	2.8%	1.6%	0.9%	0.8%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	—	114.8%	112.3%	134.0%	116.7%	117.6%	58.9%	117.8%	110.7%	85.0%	113.6%	130.0%	106.7%	103.8%	79.3%	126.2%	206.9%	153.5%
Dividends ÷ net income	—	16.3%	21.6%	97.2%	0.0%	0.0%	9.7%	17.5%	16.4%	14.5%	17.2%	221.6%	15.5%	21.3%	43.3%	49.3%	47.7%	32.1%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	174.5%	14.2%	32.0%	72.6%	55.8%	41.8%	131.2%	42.8%	78.1%	126.5%	41.8%	192.7%	68.6%	111.8%	143.4%	89.1%	86.9%	78.4%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Cognex Corp: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q3Sept 2024	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Apr 2026	2026 Q2Jul 2026
Gross margin	67.9%	68.7%	66.8%	67.4%	67.6%	65.7%	71.1%	70.6%
Operating margin	13.4%	13.4%	12.1%	17.4%	20.9%	14.0%	22.3%	29.4%
Net margin	12.6%	12.3%	10.9%	16.3%	6.4%	12.9%	19.3%	25.0%
Free-cash-flow margin	22.1%	21.5%	17.6%	16.2%	31.1%	28.7%	15.8%	23.2%
Current ratio	3.94	3.62	3.14	3.29	3.96	3.80	3.64	3.93
R&D as % of revenue	15.0%	14.2%	16.1%	13.3%	12.7%	14.3%	13.8%	11.1%
SG&A as % of revenue	39.5%	41.1%	38.7%	36.7%	34.1%	37.5%	35.0%	30.2%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 2 checks passed · July 5, 2026

What it owns · $2.2bn

Short-term assets $850mLonger-term assets $1.3bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $2.2bn

Short-term liabilities $216mLonger-term liabilities $333mShareholders' equity $1.6bn

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $850m of assets due within a year against $216m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $850m short-term assets against $333m of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Cognex Corp's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

83 /100

Strong moat

How hard Cognex's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 20 / 20

Cash operating profit has been a median 17.4% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 19 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 72.8%, moving by 2.6 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 14 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 21.1%; its worst year was 11.0%.
Cash conversion 20 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 22.9% of revenue.
Discipline 15 / 20

The diluted share count fell 5.8% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 5.0% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (88 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Cognex Corp's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Cognex Corp.