# Cohu (COHU.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/COHU

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:27:36.896Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $54.90 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $22.03 per share, central $23.65 per share, high $25.80 per share. Buy at or below the central value $23.65 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:27:36.896Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 5.0% at the stated quote. About 5.0% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 3 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 3

- Years with a net loss: 5

- Operating margin variation: 11.60×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.02×

- FY2017: 0.10×

- FY2018: -0.07×

- FY2019: -0.09×

- FY2020: 0.01×

- FY2021: 0.23×

- FY2022: 0.15×

- FY2023: 0.07×

- FY2024: -0.18×

- FY2025: -0.13×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 7.1pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 2.6%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -13.8%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 7.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 41.6%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 34.5%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 2.2%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 4.9%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 4.6%

- FY2017: 42.4%

- FY2018: -4.8%

- FY2019: -8.8%

- FY2020: 0.6%

- FY2021: 41.0%

- FY2022: 22.2%

- FY2023: 6.5%

- FY2024: -14.9%

- FY2025: -13.8%

### economics: fail

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 2.19×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $324M

- Net income, five-year total: $148M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 1.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 8.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 44.3%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 1.22×

- FY2022: 1.32×

- FY2023: 2.20×

- FY2024: 0.40×

- FY2025: 0.56×

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 4.6% vs -13.8%

- Per-share earnings: 0.11 to -1.49 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- acquired goodwill and intangibles (proxy) exceeds half of ten-year net income with low and deteriorating ROIC

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 5.7%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 2.2%

- Market cap gain: $787M

- Cumulative retained earnings: $50M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 5.7%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 2.2%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$1.60

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $0.11

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$1.49

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.18

- Average buyback yield: 1.1%

- Buyback history: 9 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $541M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $68M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 4.6%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -13.8%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $0.11

- FY2017: $1.14

- FY2018: -$1.01

- FY2019: -$1.69

- FY2020: -$0.33

- FY2021: $3.45

- FY2022: $1.98

- FY2023: $0.59

- FY2024: -$1.49

- FY2025: -$1.59

### accounting: pass

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: -8.5%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.05×

- Restructuring years, last five: 2

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 72.7%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.46×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -6.2%

- FY2017: -1.6%

- FY2018: -5.9%

- FY2019: -8.1%

- FY2020: -5.8%

- FY2021: 5.5%

- FY2022: -1.3%

- FY2023: -6.4%

- FY2024: -7.3%

- FY2025: -8.5%

## Holders

- [Matthew McLennan](https://gigainvestors.com/FE): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 26% since Jun 2026 · "Cohu (COHU) Secures $30M in Follow-on Orders for Eclipse HPC Test Platform" (finance.yahoo.com, Apr 2026) · sales +12.7%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:32.725Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 16.2% a year for ten years

- 2025-09-17: Cohu raises HBM revenue forecast, bags additional orders for Neon platform ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4495536-cohu-raises-hbm-revenue-forecast-bags-additional-orders-for-neon-platform?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-01-06: Cohu, BE Semiconductor upgraded by Needham on HBM momentum ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4536964-cohu-be-semiconductor-upgraded-by-needham-on-hbm-momentum?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-04-30: Cohu (COHU) Secures $30M in Follow-on Orders for Eclipse HPC Test Platform ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/cohu-cohu-secures-30m-orders-135659605.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +12.7%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21535/000143774926004339/cohu20251227_10k.htm; observed 2026-02-17.

- FY2016: $282M 

- FY2017: $353M 

- FY2018: $452M 

- FY2019: $583M 

- FY2020: $636M 

- FY2021: $887M 

- FY2022: $813M 

- FY2023: $636M 

- FY2024: $402M 

- FY2025: $453M 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 34.5%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21535/000143774926004339/cohu20251227_10k.htm; observed 2026-02-17.

- FY2016: 33.6% 

- FY2017: 39.9% 

- FY2018: 39.5% 

- FY2019: 39.4% 

- FY2020: 43.3% 

- FY2021: 43.6% 

- FY2022: 47.1% 

- FY2023: 47.6% 

- FY2024: 44.8% 

- FY2025: 34.5% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in semiconductor equipment & materials; annual sales are USD 453 million.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21535/000143774926004339/cohu20251227_10k.htm (filed 2026-02-17); FY2025: revenue 452956000; grossProfit 156153000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); COHU.US: Cohu, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and internationally. It supplies test and inspection metrology automation systems, micro-electromechanical system test modules, test contactors, thermal subsystems, and data analytics software for semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors. The company also provides semiconductor automated test equipment for wafer level and device package testing; various test handlers, including pick-and-place, turret, gravity, strip, film frame, laser marker, and thermal sub-systems; interface products comprising test contactors, and probe heads and pins; spares and kits; various parts and labor warranties on test and handling systems, and instruments; and training on the maintenance and operation of its systems, as well as application, data management software, and consulting services on its products. In addition, it offers data analytics product that includes DI-Core, a software suite used to optimize Cohu equipment performance, which provides real-time online performance monitoring and process control. Further, the company provides artificial intelligence process control and analytics-based monitoring software. It markets its products through direct sales force and independent sales representatives. The company was formerly known as Cohu Electronics, Inc. and changed its name to Cohu, Inc. in 1972. Cohu, Inc. was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 34.5% to 47.6% during 2023–25; it earns 2.6% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 47.6%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 44.8%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21535/000143774926004339/cohu20251227_10k.htm (filed 2026-02-17); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 34.5%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.04601144585087906],[2017,0.42359553059226684],[2018,-0.04782647319504639],[2019,-0.08791498393295011],[2020,0.005911164972778436],[2021,0.40989059551226925],[2022,0.2216795004855062],[2023,0.06514618447292292],[2024,-0.1494450882004366],[2025,-0.13784695972578767]]; median 0.02596130541182875. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 7 of 10 years; bought back USD 7.4 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 3452000; owner earnings 9999000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 6093000; owner earnings 35945000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 18660000; owner earnings 20243000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 12000000; owner earnings 203893000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 14770000; owner earnings 128093000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 16053000; owner earnings 61847000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); Dividend observations: [[2016,6351000],[2017,6577000],[2018,6949000],[2019,9827000],[2020,4971000],[2021,0],[2022,11102000],[2023,68085000],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21535/000143774926004339/cohu20251227_10k.htm (filed 2026-02-17); FY2025: cash repurchases 7399000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 2.6% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); COHU.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 2.588 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 16.2% yearly over ten years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-17); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.2215483229275229. Price 54.9; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share 0.1842989398238017 → FY2025 -0.8927080880936583. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $11.19 per share

- 2016-11: $12.45 per share

- 2016-12: $13.90 per share

- 2017-01: $13.20 per share

- 2017-02: $16.65 per share

- 2017-03: $18.46 per share

- 2017-04: $18.73 per share

- 2017-05: $18.33 per share

- 2017-06: $15.74 per share

- 2017-07: $18.22 per share

- 2017-08: $18.76 per share

- 2017-09: $23.84 per share

- 2017-10: $25.80 per share

- 2017-11: $22.76 per share

- 2017-12: $21.95 per share

- 2018-01: $22.77 per share

- 2018-02: $20.03 per share

- 2018-03: $22.81 per share

- 2018-04: $21.40 per share

- 2018-05: $24.02 per share

- 2018-06: $24.51 per share

- 2018-07: $25.18 per share

- 2018-08: $26.38 per share

- 2018-09: $25.10 per share

- 2018-10: $20.80 per share

- 2018-11: $19.60 per share

- 2018-12: $16.07 per share

- 2019-01: $17.54 per share

- 2019-02: $17.89 per share

- 2019-03: $14.75 per share

- 2019-04: $14.83 per share

- 2019-05: $14.55 per share

- 2019-06: $15.43 per share

- 2019-07: $15.16 per share

- 2019-08: $11.92 per share

- 2019-09: $13.51 per share

- 2019-10: $16.62 per share

- 2019-11: $17.74 per share

- 2019-12: $22.85 per share

- 2020-01: $22.37 per share

- 2020-02: $20.47 per share

- 2020-03: $12.38 per share

- 2020-04: $16.53 per share

- 2020-05: $15.06 per share

- 2020-06: $17.34 per share

- 2020-07: $18.83 per share

- 2020-08: $17.20 per share

- 2020-09: $17.18 per share

- 2020-10: $21.73 per share

- 2020-11: $28.39 per share

- 2020-12: $38.18 per share

- 2021-01: $40.68 per share

- 2021-02: $43.45 per share

- 2021-03: $41.84 per share

- 2021-04: $40.01 per share

- 2021-05: $37.22 per share

- 2021-06: $36.79 per share

- 2021-07: $35.41 per share

- 2021-08: $35.68 per share

- 2021-09: $31.94 per share

- 2021-10: $32.04 per share

- 2021-11: $32.97 per share

- 2021-12: $38.09 per share

- 2022-01: $32.98 per share

- 2022-02: $31.18 per share

- 2022-03: $29.60 per share

- 2022-04: $26.56 per share

- 2022-05: $30.43 per share

- 2022-06: $27.75 per share

- 2022-07: $28.58 per share

- 2022-08: $26.83 per share

- 2022-09: $25.78 per share

- 2022-10: $32.92 per share

- 2022-11: $35.82 per share

- 2022-12: $32.05 per share

- 2023-01: $36.08 per share

- 2023-02: $37.20 per share

- 2023-03: $38.39 per share

- 2023-04: $33.84 per share

- 2023-05: $38.34 per share

- 2023-06: $41.56 per share

- 2023-07: $43.65 per share

- 2023-08: $37.39 per share

- 2023-09: $34.44 per share

- 2023-10: $30.14 per share

- 2023-11: $31.73 per share

- 2023-12: $35.39 per share

- 2024-01: $31.86 per share

- 2024-02: $32.13 per share

- 2024-03: $33.33 per share

- 2024-04: $30.32 per share

- 2024-05: $32.24 per share

- 2024-06: $33.10 per share

- 2024-07: $31.99 per share

- 2024-08: $26.91 per share

- 2024-09: $25.70 per share

- 2024-10: $24.92 per share

- 2024-11: $26.40 per share

- 2024-12: $26.70 per share

- 2025-01: $22.91 per share

- 2025-02: $19.66 per share

- 2025-03: $14.71 per share

- 2025-04: $16.00 per share

- 2025-05: $17.07 per share

- 2025-06: $19.24 per share

- 2025-07: $17.86 per share

- 2025-08: $19.90 per share

- 2025-09: $20.33 per share

- 2025-10: $23.79 per share

- 2025-11: $24.32 per share

- 2025-12: $23.27 per share

- 2026-01: $28.54 per share

- 2026-02: $30.20 per share

- 2026-03: $30.62 per share

- 2026-04: $47.35 per share

- 2026-05: $52.75 per share

- 2026-06: $73.91 per share

- 2026-07: $47.99 per share

- 2026-08: $46.10 per share

- 2026-09: $68.14 per share

- 2026-10: $54.90 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $6.51 per share, central $6.79 per share, high $7.17 per share

- FY2017: low $9.86 per share, central $10.52 per share, high $11.38 per share

- FY2018: low $10.42 per share, central $11.18 per share, high $12.19 per share

- FY2019: low $6.55 per share, central $7.24 per share, high $7.86 per share

- FY2020: low $9.04 per share, central $9.77 per share, high $10.74 per share

- FY2021: low $13.84 per share, central $14.72 per share, high $15.89 per share

- FY2022: low $13.85 per share, central $15.35 per share, high $16.64 per share

- FY2023: low $20.80 per share, central $22.74 per share, high $25.33 per share

- FY2024: low $14.52 per share, central $15.77 per share, high $17.44 per share

- FY2025: low $20.46 per share, central $21.88 per share, high $23.77 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21535/000143774926004339/cohu20251227_10k.htm); period 2025-12-27, filed 2026-02-17.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.