COHU vs TER: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: COHU is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. COHU and TER share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined COHU and TER exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Cohu, Inc. is a global supplier of test, automation, inspection, metrology, and software-analytics products and services to the semiconductor industry. Its equipment sits in the back end of chip manufacturing: test handlers (including thermal handlers like its Eclipse line), test contactors and interface products, inspection and metrology tools, and the software that runs and analyzes them. Roughly 40% of sales come from test and inspection systems, while about 60% is recurring revenue from interface products, spares, software, and services, which cushions the deep cyclicality of capital-equipment orders. Cohu serves customers across automotive, industrial, mobile, computing, and consumer chip end-markets, so its business tracks the broad health of the semiconductor cycle.

Full COHU guide

Teradyne designs and sells automated test equipment (ATE) used to verify that semiconductors work before they ship. Its largest business, Semiconductor Test, sells systems like the UltraFLEX and J750 platforms that test system-on-chip (SoC) and memory devices, including the high bandwidth memory and compute processors that power AI data centers. The company makes money mostly from selling these test systems plus recurring service, software, and consumables. Beyond chip test, Teradyne runs a Robotics segment built around Universal Robots (collaborative robot arms) and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR autonomous mobile robots), plus a smaller Product Test unit, giving it exposure to factory and warehouse automation alongside the core test franchise.

Full TER guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• COHU drivers: AI and high-performance-computing ramp; Cyclical recovery in core end-markets.
• TER drivers: AI compute and HBM test demand; Memory and HBM share gains.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Cohu is small and cyclical, so its orders and revenue are lumpy and swing hard with the semiconductor capital-equipment cycle and with automotive, industrial, and computing chip demand it does not control. For TER, semiconductor test equipment is one of the most cyclical corners of the chip industry, and Teradyne's revenue can swing materially as customers add or pause capacity.

Pick COHU if you believe its drivers more; TER if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the COHU and TER guides.

COHU. As of June 2026 Cohu traded around a ~$2.8 billion market cap on roughly $481 million of trailing revenue, a price-to-sales ratio near 5.8x, while its trailing price-to-earnings ratio was negative because it was still posting losses coming out of the downturn. The valuation reflects an early-cycle recovery and AI/high-performance-computing optimism rather than current earnings, so results and the stock are sensitive to whether 2026 growth guidance of 20% to 25% and margin recovery actually materialize. Figures are approximate and change with each quarter and the chip cycle.

TER. Teradyne's Q1 2026 results set records on AI-driven semiconductor test demand, with Semiconductor Test passing $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time. The valuation reflects high expectations for continued AI test demand, so the multiple is elevated relative to the broader semiconductor group. These figures are point-in-time and change with each earnings report and with the stock price, so confirm current numbers before relying on them.

Headline figures (approximate, JUNE 2026): COHU shows revenue (fy2025) ~$453 million (up ~13%), revenue (ttm) ~$481 million, q1 2026 revenue ~$125 million, net income (ttm) ~-$56 million (loss); TER shows q1 2026 revenue ~$1.28 billion (up ~87% year over year), segment mix (q1 2026) ~$1,111M Semiconductor Test, ~$91M Robotics, ~$80M Product Test, ai-related revenue ~70% of total revenue tied to AI demand, gross margin ~60.9% (record), non-GAAP operating margin ~37.5%.

COHU and TER are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined COHU and TER exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.