Cognex vs Novanta
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The short version
- Cognex is the larger business, with $994M of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $981M for Novanta.
- Cognex grew revenue faster (8.7%, against 3.3%).
- Cognex kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.4% operating margin, against 9.6%).
- Cognex turned more of its sales into free cash flow (23.8% FCF margin, against 4.9%).
- Cognex earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (8.4%, against 6.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Novanta’s earnings: a P/E of 89.7x against 53.4x for Cognex.
| Latest fiscal year | CGNX · FY25 | NOVT · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $9.4B | $5.8B |
| Revenue | $994M | $981M |
| Free cash flow | $237M | $48.4M |
| Net income | $114M | $53.8M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.7% | 3.3% |
| 5-year growth | 4.2% | 10.7% |
| Share count change | −1.9% | 1.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 66.9% | 44.4% |
| Operating margin | 16.4% | 9.6% |
| Net margin | 11.5% | 5.5% |
| FCF margin | 23.8% | 4.9% |
| Return on capital | 8.4% | 6.5% |
| Return on equity | 7.6% | 5.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$337M | −$127M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.7x | −0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $206M | $39.3M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 53.4x | 89.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
CGNX $530M
NOVT $385M
FY17
CGNX $766M
NOVT $521M
FY18
CGNX $806M
NOVT $614M
FY19
CGNX $726M
NOVT $626M
FY20
CGNX $811M
NOVT $591M
FY21
CGNX $1.0B
NOVT $707M
FY22
CGNX $1.0B
NOVT $861M
FY23
CGNX $838M
NOVT $882M
FY24
CGNX $915M
NOVT $949M
FY25
CGNX $994M
NOVT $981M
CGNX
NOVT
Operating margin
FY16
CGNX 29.1%
NOVT 8.6%
FY17
CGNX 33.8%
NOVT 11.0%
FY18
CGNX 27.4%
NOVT 11.6%
FY19
CGNX 19.7%
NOVT 8.8%
FY20
CGNX 21.0%
NOVT 9.5%
FY21
CGNX 30.4%
NOVT 9.1%
FY22
CGNX 24.5%
NOVT 12.0%
FY23
CGNX 15.6%
NOVT 12.5%
FY24
CGNX 12.6%
NOVT 11.7%
FY25
CGNX 16.4%
NOVT 9.6%
CGNX
NOVT
Free cash flow
FY16
CGNX $169M
NOVT $39.3M
FY17
CGNX $196M
NOVT $54.3M
FY18
CGNX $186M
NOVT $75.0M
FY19
CGNX $232M
NOVT $52.5M
FY20
CGNX $229M
NOVT $130M
FY21
CGNX $299M
NOVT $74.7M
FY22
CGNX $224M
NOVT $71.1M
FY23
CGNX $89.8M
NOVT $100M
FY24
CGNX $134M
NOVT $141M
FY25
CGNX $237M
NOVT $48.4M
CGNX
NOVT
Return on capital
FY16
CGNX 26.7%
NOVT 8.1%
FY17
CGNX 27.8%
NOVT 13.2%
FY18
CGNX 32.0%
NOVT 12.6%
FY19
CGNX 18.5%
NOVT 9.2%
FY20
CGNX 17.5%
NOVT 9.0%
FY21
CGNX 27.7%
NOVT 8.1%
FY22
CGNX 19.7%
NOVT 9.9%
FY23
CGNX 9.9%
NOVT 10.4%
FY24
CGNX 7.6%
NOVT 9.1%
FY25
CGNX 8.4%
NOVT 6.5%
CGNX
NOVT
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.