Cognex vs Novanta
Cognex reported revenue of $994 million in fiscal 2025, about the same as Novanta's $981 million in fiscal 2025. Cognex's revenue grew 8.7% in its latest year, and Novanta's grew 3.3%. Cognex had an operating margin of 16.4%, against 9.6% at Novanta. Free cash flow was $237 million at Cognex and $48 million at Novanta.
Side by side
| Cognex | Novanta | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $994M | $981M |
| Revenue growth | 8.7% | 3.3% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 4.2% | 10.7% |
| Gross margin | 66.9% | 44.4% |
| Operating margin | 16.4% | 9.6% |
| Net margin | 11.5% | 5.5% |
| Free cash flow | $237M | $48M |
| Free cash flow margin | 23.8% | 4.9% |
| Return on capital | 8.4% | 6.5% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | −1.7x | −0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $206M | $39M |
| Change in diluted share count | −1.9% | 1.6% |
| Last close | $55.63 | $144.02 |
| P/E at the last close | 53.5× | 91.7× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $34.8 million | sold $11.6 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 of 9 | 5 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
CognexNovanta
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
CognexNovanta
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
CognexNovanta