Cognex (CGNX) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results

The quarter ended October 4, 2026 and Cognex published the results on November 4, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison. Cognex reports EPS two ways: GAAP, under the accounting rules every US filer follows, and Adjusted EPS (diluted), which leaves out items the company considers outside its operating results. The release reconciles the two, and when they diverge, the reconciliation says why.

• Q3 2025 revenue included about $13 million of one-time revenue from a commercial partnership with a medical lab automation channel partner. Excluding it, Cognex says Q3 2026 revenue grew 19%.
• Cognex's fiscal quarters end on a Sunday; Q3 2026 ended October 4, 2026. Q3 2025 GAAP EPS included a $33.7 million discrete tax expense.

Source: Cognex Q3 2026 results, November 4, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 4, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How Cognex splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 2026 against Q3 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• Cognex's Americas revenue was $135 million in Q3 2026, up 29% from $105 million in Q3 2025, 43% of total revenue.
• Cognex's Europe revenue was $59.9 million in Q3 2026, down 20% from $74.7 million in Q3 2025, 19% of total revenue.
• Cognex's Greater China revenue was $66.9 million in Q3 2026, up 35% from $49.7 million in Q3 2025, 21% of total revenue.
• Cognex's Other Asia revenue was $51.2 million in Q3 2026, up 7% from $48.0 million in Q3 2025, 16% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

Cognex gives its numbers in tables. Q4 2026: revenue $270 to $290 million, Adj. EBITDA margin 29% to 32%, Adj. EPS (diluted) $0.37 to $0.41. Full year 2026: revenue $1,143 to $1,163 million (prior $1,130 to $1,150 million), Adj. EBITDA margin 31% to 32%, Adj. EPS (diluted) $1.68 to $1.72.

In its Q3 2026 release, Cognex said:

“Increased full-year 2026 guidance; continue to anticipate strong double-digit revenue growth and year-over-year expansion in profitability.”

“Cognex issued fourth-quarter guidance and increased full-year 2026 guidance; details are summarized in the tables below.”

Source: Cognex Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Nov 4, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the CGNX forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP revenue and diluted EPS, each as first reported in that quarter's release.

We do not hold a confirmed date for Cognex's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Nov 4, 2026

Cognex reported record quarterly revenue of $313 million in Q3 2026, up 13% from $277 million, which it put down to broad-based strength across most major end markets. Excluding about $13 million of one-time revenue a year earlier from a commercial partnership with a medical lab automation channel partner, revenue grew 19%. Foreign currency did not have a meaningful impact. (Cognex Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Nov 4, 2026; Cognex Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 5, 2026)

Cognex sells machine vision products used in automated production, distribution and quality assurance, across end markets including logistics, consumer electronics, automotive, packaging and semiconductor. Service revenue was less than 10% of the total. Standard products and services were $266.4 million of Q3 revenue and application-specific customer solutions $47.0 million. (Cognex Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 5, 2026)

By geography, revenue from the Americas rose 29% to $135.3 million, or 43% of the total, and Greater China rose 35% to $66.9 million. Europe fell 20% to $59.9 million, dropping from 27% of revenue to 19%. Other Asia grew 7%. (Cognex Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 5, 2026)

Gross margin was 70.8%, up from 67.6%, which Cognex attributed to favorable mix, higher volume and faster-than-expected pricing execution, more than offsetting expected memory cost headwinds. (Cognex Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Nov 4, 2026)

Cognex's GAAP diluted EPS was $0.50 in Q3 2026 against $0.10, and Adjusted EPS (diluted) was $0.53 against $0.33. The year-ago GAAP figure carried a $33.7 million discrete tax expense, which Cognex's 10-Q links to a change in tax rates from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Its effective tax rate was 18% this quarter against 72% a year earlier. (Cognex Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Nov 4, 2026; Cognex Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 5, 2026)

Cognex's adjusted figures exclude acquisition and integration costs ($2.8 million), amortization of acquisition-related intangibles ($2.3 million), reorganization charges ($1.2 million), $2.4 million of losses on selling investments to fund an acquisition, and discrete tax items. Adjusted net income was $89.8 million against GAAP net income of $84.8 million. (Cognex Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Nov 4, 2026)

Diluted weighted-average shares were 171.0 million. Cognex repurchased 2,501,000 shares for $105,231,000 in the first nine months of 2026, leaving $9,789,000 under its existing program plus a further $500,000,000 authorized in February 2026. It raised its quarterly dividend to $0.09 per share from $0.085. (Cognex Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Nov 4, 2026; Cognex Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 5, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Cognex guides each quarter and for the full year in tables in its release. For Q4 2026 it expects revenue of $270 - $290 million, an Adj. EBITDA margin of 29% - 32% and Adj. EPS (diluted) of $0.37 - $0.41, against Q4 2025 Adjusted EPS of $0.27. It raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $1,143 - $1,163 million from $1,130 - $1,150 million and Adj. EPS to $1.68 - $1.72 from $1.64 - $1.68. (Cognex Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Nov 4, 2026)

The outlook comes as Cognex agreed to acquire RealSense, a maker of depth-sensing cameras for robotic perception, in an all-cash deal expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2026. Cognex does not reconcile its non-GAAP guidance to GAAP. (Cognex Q3 2026 release (8-K Exhibit 99.1), Nov 4, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Cognex, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Cognex's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning CGNX is on is CGNX a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the CGNX forecast, and what the company does is on the Cognex (CGNX) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Cognex published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.