New York, July 10, 2026, 16:05 (EDT)
Cognex Corporation NASDAQ:CGNX finished Friday up 1.6% at $66.84, with volume at 1.32 million shares—roughly 53% of the 20-day average. The stock is still down 1.4% from its July 2 close after a 7.6% fall on Tuesday.
Cognex’s market value sits at $11.12 billion, which is just 14% under Zebra Technologies Corporation NASDAQ:ZBRA. But Cognex’s trailing revenue is $1.05 billion—around a fifth of Zebra’s $5.58 billion. Cognex sells machine-vision cameras and software for factories and warehouses. The market is betting on profits growing, not size.
Cognex trades at about 78 times trailing earnings, much higher than Zebra at 33 times and Rockwell Automation, Inc. NYSE:ROK at 49. Both are industrial automation names, with Rockwell more broadly focused. The price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E, compares share price to past 12-month profit. The S&P 500 added 0.42% Friday. Cognex outperformed the index that day.
| Company | Friday close | Day move | Market value | Last-12-month revenue | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognex NASDAQ:CGNX | $66.84 | rose 1.63% | $11.12 billion | $1.05 billion | roughly 78x |
| Zebra Technologies NASDAQ:ZBRA | $272.48 | dropped 0.06% | $12.98 billion | $5.58 billion | 33.1x |
| Rockwell Automation NYSE:ROK | $472.10 | added 0.99% | $52.63 billion | $8.80 billion | 49.1x |
By those numbers, investors put around $10.60 on every dollar of Cognex’s trailing 12-month revenue. That’s a lot more than the $2.30 multiple at Zebra and the $6.00 at Rockwell. The sales multiple is the loudest takeaway from Friday: any slip in performance can lead to a bigger cut in value.
Cognex delivered the margin lift backing some of the premium. First-quarter revenue jumped 24% to $268 million. Adjusted EBITDA doubled to $72 million with margins at 26.9%. Adjusted EPS climbed 113% to $0.34. CEO Matt Moschner said the company acted with urgency to sharpen its strategy, while CFO Dennis Fehr pointed to “disciplined execution.” PR Newswire
Cognex is looking for Q2 revenue between $280 million and $300 million. The company targets an adjusted EBITDA margin of 28% to 31% and sees adjusted EPS in a range of $0.40 to $0.44. At the midpoints, that’s 16.5% revenue growth and 68% earnings growth over last year. As of April 5, Cognex reported $622 million in cash and investments and no debt, after it bought back $99 million of stock during Q1.
TD Cowen’s Joe Giordano told Investor’s Business Daily after the Automate trade show that machine vision looks like the most attractive near-term play for investors who want industrial automation exposure. Cognex and Zebra are the main stocks to watch, Giordano said. Rockwell has a broader automation suite, so it’s not a straight comparison, but Giordano noted Cognex’s stock still needs a clearer story for growth.
The premium can fade fast. Cognex reported that tariffs slightly ate into its Q1 gross-margin improvement. Its SEC filings point to risks including trade tensions, China’s economy, memory-chip supply, less buying from major customers, and swings in order timing. If Q2 lands close to the low end of guidance, especially with softer margins, defending the valuation gap with Zebra and Rockwell gets tougher.
Friday’s bounce clawed back part of the week’s earlier losses but didn’t put valuation questions to rest. Turnover came in at just over half the usual level. The next quarterly results, not this muted rally, look set to test whether Cognex’s 10.6-times sales multiple sticks.
