Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.76% and a negative net margin of 16.40%.The business had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Cohu’s conference call:

• Orders increased 57% year‑over‑year and Q1 revenue of $125.1M beat guidance; management raised Q2 guidance to about $144M and now expects full‑year revenue growth of 20%–25%.
• Cohu cites an approximately $750M computing segment opportunity (about $650M test handlers and $100M HBM inspection) and raised its FY2026 HPC revenue outlook to $80M–$100M, with 12 customers engaged and multiple qualifications underway.
• The company is building recurring, high‑margin software revenue (ARR ~$1.2M, targeting ~$3M software revenue in 2026), citing examples where a $20M system carries ~$330k/year of subscription that could translate to roughly $5M lifetime recurring revenue.
• Operating expenses rose to $55M as Cohu scales resources for HPC, and higher initial supply‑chain and production costs for the Eclipse platform (plus elevated component, energy and freight costs) are expected to pressure gross margins toward the mid‑40% range near term.
• Balance sheet shows cash and investments of $489M (cash from operations ~$10M) but total debt of $305M, which includes $288M of convertible debt; no share repurchases were executed in Q1.

Cohu Price Performance

COHU traded up $2.64 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $47.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,466,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,124,469. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.78 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.47. The company has a current ratio of 6.88, a quick ratio of 5.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Cohu has a 12 month low of $15.34 and a 12 month high of $48.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cohu news, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $38,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 175,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,657,676. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 3.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COHU. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Cohu during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cohu during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Cohu by 202.7% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Cohu during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Cohu in the third quarter worth $81,000. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COHU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Cohu from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a report on Tuesday. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cohu has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.