Silicon Investor - Cohu, Inc. (COHU)

[robert b furman] In all ,an excellent report. For Cohu to even discuss visibilty 2 quarters out,...

robert b furman — 8/3/2026 9:48:00 AM

In all ,an excellent report.

For Cohu to even discuss visibilty 2 quarters out, ;et alone 2027 is very strong and out of character.

This has been a very bullish event!

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Cohu Inc (COHU) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: HPC Pipeline Surges to $850M...

Johnny Canuck — 8/1/2026 4:16:04 PM

Cohu Inc (COHU) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: HPC Pipeline Surges to $850M, Core Business ...

GuruFocus News
Thu, July 30, 2026 at 10:04 PM PDT 7 min read

COHU
+3.32%

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Release Date: July 30, 2026

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

Strong Q2 2026 results with sales of $149 million, up 38% year-over-year, and Q3 revenue guidance of approximately $170 million, up 35% year-over-year.
High-performance computing (HPC) pipeline expanded to approximately $850 million annually, with fiscal 2026 HPC revenue estimate raised to $100-$110 million.
Recurring revenue reached 53% of total revenue, driven by consumables, software, and interface solutions, providing a stable revenue base.
Test utilization improved to 80%, a typical turning point for capacity additions, with computing orders up 150% and industrial orders up 87% year-over-year.
Software analytics business delivered its first $1 million revenue quarter, with orders up 140% year-over-year, and is expanding with a major HPC customer.
Manufacturing capacity expansion in Malaysia is on track to double output by year-end, supporting future HPC growth.
Gross margin of 45.5% exceeded guidance, reflecting favorable product mix, and operating leverage is strong with 40% of sequential revenue growth converting to operating profit.

Negative Points

Automotive segment orders declined 24% year-over-year, and utilization remains below 80%, with recovery not expected until late Q1 or Q2 2027.
Supply chain constraints, particularly for memory and specialty components, are leading to longer lead times and higher input costs, which may pressure margins.
Operating expenses increased to $52.7 million in Q2 and are expected to remain elevated at ~$54 million in Q3, reflecting investments in HPC resources.
HPC capacity is currently maxed out, limiting near-term revenue growth potential until the Malaysia expansion is fully operational.
The company faces a single dominant competitor in the HPC handler market, which could intensify competitive pressures.
Q4 revenue is expected to be flattish sequentially, as core business seasonality and HPC capacity constraints limit growth.
Higher input costs for components may not be fully passed on to customers, potentially impacting gross margins in the near term.

Q & A Highlights

Q: Of your $850 million HPC pipeline, are the 4 qualified customers 3 HPC and 1 HBM, and when do you expect the 5 customers in qualification to convert into revenue? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): Yes, you are correct. We have 3 HPC and 1 HBM in the qualified bucket, representing about $190 million in annual opportunity. For the qualification bucket, one customer is right on the edge of giving us the green light. We are shipping a production configuration at the end of August and should get the official qualification within a month. The fifth customer on the list is looking at early next year, with a 6-month qualification process putting us around mid-Q1.

Q: Can you break down the $100 million increase in the HPC pipeline from $750 million to $850 million, and explain the recurring revenue components? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): The increase is due to better visibility in the forecast and a couple of new customers added in the early engagement phase. The qualified portion of the pipeline has also grown as customers are giving us bigger numbers for next year. On recurring revenue, there are 3 main components: device application kits (which change with each 18-month device life cycle), thermal heads (which must evolve as devices grow in size and power), and equipment maintenance (spares and consumables). A fourth, newer element is software subscriptions, like the $330,000 annual subscription we sold to an HPC customer, which has a lifetime value of a few million dollars.

Q: The full-year revenue guide increased from 25% to 35% growth. How much of that is HPC versus the core business, and what are you seeing in the core? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO) and Jeff Jones (SVP and CFO): The HPC forecast increased by about $10-15 million, so the majority of the $45 million increase is from the core business coming back, led by industrial. We are seeing utilization rates pick up overall, and recurring revenue has grown at a CAGR of about 5% over the last 6 quarters. The core business is returning to traditional order patterns, with industrial customers placing orders for 10-20 systems in a single PO.

Q: What is your capacity expansion plan for HPC handlers, and how much revenue can you support in 2027? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): We are expanding capacity between end of Q2 and end of the year to increase output by about 50% for HPC handlers. Between now and mid-2027, the intent is to more than double output, with a path to triple it by the end of next year if the market takes us there. We are expanding our factory in Malaysia and doing a small expansion in the Philippines for thermal heads. If we deliver $100-110 million this year, we should have capacity to do more than $200 million, probably close to $250 million, by the beginning of next year.

Q: Can you quantify the silicon photonics opportunity for optical engine test, and which insertion are you targeting? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): Today we are shipping interface solutions for insertion 3 (optical engine test), and we booked a $0.5 million order in Q2. We are planning to ship a qualification unit for insertion 3 with a handler by the end of the year, and we are demonstrating an insertion 4 configuration. We haven't quantified total CPO revenue for 2027-2028 because we view it as part of the evolution of HPC, so it's embedded in the $850 million pipeline.

Q: How should we think about the mix of the 5 customers in qualification, and what is the range of annual opportunity per customer? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): There is a range. We have customers that represent low $30 million annual opportunities, and a couple of customers that are likely to be individually $60 million annual opportunities. So it's roughly a $30-60 million range on a per-customer basis.

Q: Who is the key competition for these HPC handler slots, and are these new opportunities or incumbent switches? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): It's pretty much a single competitor, primarily Hon Precision from Taiwan, which has been the forever supplier at test subcontractors. As power levels increase and processors become more complex, power dissipation management is becoming more prevalent, driving stronger interest from fabless companies and hyperscalers to find a solution. Our thermal technology is considered the best in the market, which is driving adoption.

Q: On the automotive segment, which is lagging, what is your visibility on the timing of a turn? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): Automotive has been a bit more sporadic, bouncing around with a bump in the last 2 quarters and then coming back down. I would expect automotive would not be at 80% utilization until probably late Q1 or Q2 of next year. It's been the one lagging across the end markets on the core business side.

Q: Can you pursue the full $850 million HPC pipeline at the current OpEx level of about $54 million, or would additional investment be required? A: Jeff Jones (SVP and CFO): That is the plan and forecast at the moment. We think this level is elevated from the prior model, but we intend to continue investing and keep OpEx fairly constant at about $54 million. That provides the resources necessary to capitalize on these opportunities. To clarify, the $850 million represents annual spend, not multi-year, so if we captured the totality immediately, we would see an $850 million revenue stream next year.

Q: With agentic AI changing CPU-to-GPU ratios, how does this play into your HPC opportunity? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): We are seeing very strong demand on the CPU side, with CPU power levels approaching GPU levels. However, this doesn't change our strategy because our Eclipse system is designed to be flexible and straddle across applications without changing capital equipmentjust changing configurations like thermal heads. This reusability is a fundamental value proposition, so it doesn't matter to us where the market ratio goes.

Q: How have lead times changed for Eclipse tools in the last 3 months, and are you seeing component shortages? A: Luis Mueller (President and CEO): We haven't seen

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

[Johnny Canuck] Conversation with Gemini Did the stock COHU meet, beat or miss on expected reve...

Johnny Canuck — 8/1/2026 3:01:08 PM

Conversation with Gemini

Did the stock COHU meet, beat or miss on expected revenue, eps and margin? What were the major growth drivers and causes of concern raised by analysts during the conference call? Message 35594832

Access Note: The provided Silicon Investor page requires a user login to view community forum posts. However, based on Cohu’s Q2 2026 earnings release and conference call (reported July 30, 2026), here is the detailed breakdown of their performance relative to consensus estimates, growth drivers, and key analyst concerns:

1. Performance vs. Consensus Expectations (Q2 2026)

Revenue: BEAT
- Actual: $149.0 million (up 38% YoY)
- Consensus: $144.0 million
- Surprise: Beat by $5.0 million (~3.5%)
EPS (Non-GAAP): BEAT
- Actual: $0.26 per share
- Consensus: $0.14 per share
- Surprise: Beat by $0.12 per share (+85.7%)
Gross Margin: BEAT
- Actual: 45.5% (Non-GAAP)
- Guidance/Expectations: Exceeded company guidance, driven by high-margin consumables and favorable mix.

2. Major Growth Drivers

AI & High-Performance Computing (HPC) Surge:
- Computing orders surged 150% YoY, representing 46% of system orders.
- Cohu raised its FY2026 HPC revenue target to $100M–$110M and expanded its total annual HPC addressable opportunity pipeline to ~$850 million across 19 customers.
Recurring Revenue & High-Margin Consumables:
- Recurring revenue accounted for 53% of total sales, providing downside protection and boosting gross margins.
Rising Test Cell Utilization:
- Customer test cell utilization improved sequentially across fabs and OSATs to ~80% by the end of June.
Software Monetization (DI-Core Analytics):
- Software analytics achieved its first $1M+ revenue quarter with orders up 140% YoY.
Manufacturing Capacity Expansions:
- Production scale-ups in Malaysia and the Philippines are set to double HPC handler output capacity by mid-2027.

3. Key Analyst Concerns & Risks

Persistent Automotive Weakness:
- Automotive remains the softest end-market segment; utilization is not anticipated to reach target levels (~80%) until late Q1 or Q2 2027.
Supply Chain Lead Times & Input Inflation:
- Extended lead times and higher component costs for memory and specialized test interfaces could compress gross margins or extend customer delivery windows.
Broad Market Cyclicality Outside AI:
- While AI and HPC are outperforming, consumer and mobile markets remain stable-to-modest, keeping recovery lopsided across non-AI semiconductor sub-sectors.

[nicewatch] Unsure why but COHU is slower than most companies in posting a CC transcript. FW...

nicewatch — 8/1/2026 10:16:35 AM

Unsure why but COHU is slower than most companies in posting a CC transcript. FWIW.
______________________________________________________________________________________

Cohu, Inc., Q2 2026 Earnings Call, Jul 30, 2026

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Cohu's Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to hand the conference over to Matt Hutton, Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Unknown Executive

Thank you, operator, and welcome to Cohu's Second. Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. Our agenda begins with Luis Mueller, Cohu's President and CEO, who will provide a business update, followed by a financial review and outlook from Jeff Jones, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Following our prepared remarks, we will open up the call for your questions. If you need a copy of our earnings release, it can be found on our website at cohu.com or by contacting Cohu Investor Relations. A slide presentation accompanying today's call is also available in the Investor Relations section of the website. Replays of this call will be accessible via the same page after the conclusion of the call.

During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations concerning Cohu's future business. These statements are based on the information available to us at this time, but they are subject to rapid and sometimes abrupt changes. We encourage everyone to review the forward-looking statements section of our slide presentation and the earnings release as well as Cohu's filings with the SEC, including the most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Our comments are current as of today, July 30, 2026, and Cohu does not assume any obligation to update these statements for events occurring after the call. Additionally, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures during this call. Please refer to our earnings release and slide presentation for reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measures. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Luis Muller, Cohu's President and CEO. Luis?

Luis Müller

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining Cohu's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. We delivered a strong quarter with sales of $149 million, up 38% year-over-year and recurring revenue of approximately 53% of total. These results reflect solid execution across the company and continued customer adoption of our solutions. Our Q2 results show progress in areas where we have focused investments, advanced thermal test handlers for AI processors, HBM inspection, flexible ATE platforms for power and connectivity devices and software analytics.

Cohu is benefiting from durable demand drivers in AI infrastructure and edge computing, where customers are investing to address increasing power levels, production yield and increased factory productivity. Estimated semiconductor test sterilization improved sequentially to 80% at the end of the second quarter, typically a turning point for test Capex by our core IDM customer base. The strongest segments were computing and industrial with test sterilization in the low 80s, followed by automotive and mobile in the high 70s. Bookings generally follow utilization trends.

And in the second quarter, computing led with 46% of total system orders, representing an impressive 150% increase year-over-year, driven by eclipse growth in high-performance computing. With utilization above 80%, industrial was the next largest growth area with orders up 87% year-over-year. The balance included consumer up 29% year-over-year, mobile essentially flat year-over-year and automotive down 24% year-over-year in a segment that continues to struggle in this recovery cycle. Let me now review the quarter by product line, starting with the areas where we see the strongest customer traction.

Starting with our test handlers. Building on the momentum from Q1, we continue to expand our position in high-performance computing through the adoption of our Eclipse handler, enabled by advanced active thermal control for extreme power and next-generation Jet MAX devices used in data centers. The Eclipse delivers a configurable thermal handler that can be used across multiple device generations, helping customers reduce capital risk, extend the value of their installed base and support faster production ramps. Our high-power thermal control technology remains a key differentiator, improving task quality and first pass yield.

During Q2, high-performance computing customers also expanded adoption of Cohu's PACE prescriptive analytics software, reinforcing our strategy to improve equipment efficiency and customer value. Separately, we are increasing our presence in infrastructure at OSATs in Southeast Asia to support fabless and hyperscaler programs as they move from qualification to our production ramp. Overall, this momentum reinforces an expanding high-performance computing customer pipeline that we now estimate at approximately $850 million annually. This includes about $190 million in qualified annual opportunity across 4 customers, $250 million in active qualification across 5 customers and approximately $445 million in early-stage engagement across 10 additional customers.

Based on this progress, we are raising our fiscal 2026 high-performance computing revenue estimate to between $100 million and $110 million. To support this demand, we are working with supply partners to increase capacity, and we're expanding our internal manufacturing in Malaysia. We expect this expansion to double output by year-end and support another step-up in capacity by mid-2027.

Now turning to our inspection and metrology. During Q2, we shipped additional final inspection systems for HBM 3, HBM 4 and HBM 4E devices to a U.S.-based IDM with a strong forecast into the second half of 2026. HBM is the memory backbone of AI training and inference infrastructure, and we continue to invest to stay ahead of customer road maps into HBM 5 and beyond. We recently qualified Neon at a Taiwan-based OSAT, establishing a strategic foothold in a high-volume outsourced assembly environment where we can pursue additional advanced package, mobile and AI adjacent inspection opportunities. We also released a new vision inspection sensor with short-wave infrared capability that detects inner cracks in complex silicon devices. This gives customers a step change improvement in outgoing quality for advanced packages and further reinforces Neon as a reference platform for silicon inspection applications.

Moving to semiconductor test. Demand is increasingly tied to 2 AI-enabling requirements. efficient power delivery and high-speed connectivity across edge devices, vehicles, industrial equipment and connected infrastructure. These systems depend on precise power management to achieve peak performance while controlling energy consumption, heat and operating costs. Customers are increasingly adopting gallium nitride power devices for their efficiency and power density advantages.

At the same time, AI-enabled devices require seamless connectivity. The industry is investing in both ground-based and non terrestrial networks, including satellite constellations and high-altitude platforms that extend coverage globally. Together, GaN power and advanced connectivity represent an estimated $340 million annual addressable market opportunity over the midterm. During Q2, we continued to engage with leading power and RF customers on Diamondx configurations for GaN, mobile front-end and advanced connectivity applications.

Switching to software analytics. We built on last quarter's momentum and moved from early production wins toward a repeatable pattern, land a first deployment, prove measurable value and expand within that account. This business delivered the first $1 million revenue quarter and orders increased an impressive 140% year-over-year. First, land and expand is working. Last quarter, we noted that a leading high-performance computing chip maker had committed to deploying our predictive maintenance technology across its test handler fleet. We're now progressing toward what is expected to become our largest software deployment to a single customer with expansion planned during the second half of the year.

Second, we are deploying Agentic AI where the data lives. Semiconductor manufacturers operate under strict data sovereignty requirements and most cannot send process, yield or equipment data to a public cloud. In Q2, we advanced our on-site AI appliance, which runs modern AI models and autonomous agents entirely inside the customer's network with no data leaving the factory. These agents can conduct investigations across equipment, maintenance and past data more frequently and at a lower cost than manual analysis. These deployments are important because they convert Cohu's installed base into a recurring software revenue opportunity while helping customers improve uptime, yield learning and factory productivity.

Moving to our interface solutions. This is a key element of our recurring revenue stream and about 19% of Cohu consolidated revenue in Q2. Our high-speed interface technologies continue to gain traction in silicon photonics test. We booked $500,000 in interface solutions used in optical engine test and are pursuing additional customer engagements tied to emerging requirements for co-packaged optical devices. In parallel, we remain focused on increasing share of our core semiconductor customer base, where new applications and replacement of incumbent technologies create opportunities for additional Cohu content.

In summary, Q2 demonstrated progress across the strategic priorities we outlined earlier this year. scaling high-performance computing handler adoption, advancing inspection solutions, expanding Diamondx into power and connectivity, converting software pilots into production deployments and broadening interface solution adoption into optical and advanced semiconductor devices. I want to thank our customers for their partnership, our employees for their execution and our shareholders and supply chain partners for their continued support. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff to review our financial results and outlook in more detail. Jeff?

Jeffrey Jones

Thank you, Luis. Before reviewing the second quarter results and providing third quarter guidance, please note that my comments refer to non-GAAP figures. Details about non-GAAP financial measures, including GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations and other disclosures are included in the earnings release and investor presentation on our website.

For Q2 2026, revenue of $149 million exceeded the midpoint of guidance. Recurring revenue driven primarily by consumables represented 53% of total revenue. One industrial customer accounted for more than 10% of total sales during the quarter. Gross margin was 45.5%, above guidance, primarily reflecting a more favorable product mix. Operating expenses were in line with guidance at $52.7 million, reflecting our decision to scale resources to support the rapid increase in high-performance compute opportunities. Net interest income after interest expense and a $600,000 foreign currency loss was approximately $1.7 million. The Q2 tax provision was lower than guidance at $2.7 million due to improved profitability in the U.S. Non-GAAP EPS for the second quarter was $0.26 and adjusted EBITDA was 12%.

Moving to the balance sheet. Cash and investments increased by approximately $9 million during Q2 to $498 million and cash from operations was $10 million. No stock repurchases were completed during the quarter. Total debt is $304 million and includes $288 million from the Q4 2025 convertible debt offering. Capital expenditures were approximately $2 million, mainly for manufacturing machinery and equipment, facility improvements and IT equipment. We're targeting total capital expenditures to be about 2% of revenue in 2026, including the capital expansion of our Malaysia test handler manufacturing facility mentioned by Luis.

Looking ahead, we expect Q3 revenue to increase 14% sequentially and 35% year-over-year to approximately $170 million, plus or minus $7 million. The increase is driven by demand tied to the ramp in high-performance compute opportunities and continued recovery in our core business segments. We're increasing our full year 2026 revenue outlook for growth over last year to approximately 35%. Q3 gross margin is projected to be approximately 45%. And for full year 2026, we continue to expect gross margin in the mid-40% range.

The rapid expansion of high-performance computing opportunities has increased demand across our supply chain and production base, resulting in longer lead times and higher input costs for certain semiconductors and specialty components. We're taking proactive steps when available to secure critical components to minimize impacts on our lead times, profitability and customer pricing. Operating expenses are expected to be about $54 million. We intend to continue investing in resources to capitalize on the growing list of HPC opportunities, and we expect quarterly operating expenses through the balance of the year to remain in the low $50 million range, consistent with our Q3 guidance.

In light of expanded resources to support HPC-related growth, our operating model continues to demonstrate solid profitability leverage with approximately 40% of projected sequential revenue growth expected to convert to operating profit. Net interest income in Q3 after interest expense and foreign currency impacts is projected to be approximately $1.6 million at current interest rates.

The Q3 tax provision is expected to be about $5.2 million, and diluted shares are projected to be approximately 55 million, including 5.8 million shares attributable to the convertible debt. And of that amount, 2.4 million shares will be fully offset by the capped call but are required for U.S. GAAP diluted EPS calculations. In summary, our 2026 priorities remain focused on supporting the R&D investments and production ramp required to secure multiple design wins in the compute market, including AI data center infrastructure, HBM memory and physical AI applications while progressively increasing EBITDA margin and free cash flow. That concludes our prepared remarks, and now we'll open the call to questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Krish Sankar with TD Cowen.

Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan

On the solid results and guidance. Luis, I had 2 questions. The first one, I just want to check, of your pipeline of $850 million, you said you have 4 customers qualified. Are those 3 HPC and 1 HBM customer? And the other 5 customers in qualification, are they all HPC for AI handlers? And when do you expect that to potentially convert into revenues?

Luis Müller

Krish, yes, you're correct on all your statements here. We have 3 HPC, 1 HBM on the qualified, which we view about $190 million annual opportunity for revenue. And then we have close to $200 million in the near-term qualification here. So your question on the time line, it straddles over months, to be honest with you. We have one customer that is right on the edge of giving us the green light of being qualified. I think the data all supports it, but we don't have the official yet. We are already planning on shipping a production configuration for the actual production IERceP device, which is the next generation. We typically qualify on an existing generation device, so it can do correlation to what they have with other systems out there.

But we're shipping the production configuration here at the end of August to get it, I don't know if the right word is certified, so we can go on with the actual intercept. So we should get a qualification pretty soon within a month, I would say. And then I think the fifth one on the list, we're looking at early next year, systems that we're shipping late August and I think accounting for about a 6-month qualification process, I think would put us sort of mid-Q1 for the last one on this bucket of in qualification.

Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan

Got it. Very helpful, Luis. And then as a quick follow-up, you mentioned about you're getting traction in silicon photonics for the optical engine. Can you quantify how much that opportunity to be either this year, next year and the next few years? And is this mainly an insertion 1 or which insertion are you targeting?

Luis Müller

Yes. Today, we are shipping interface solutions, not handlers, not full handlers yet. We're shipping interface solutions for insertion 3, which is the optical engine test. And that's what we commented here in prepared remarks that we booked in the second quarter. I think it was a $0.5 million order for interface. And this is a continuation of a business we started in Q1. We are shipping or planning to ship a qualification unit for insertion 3 by the end of the year with a handler. We're also demonstrating an insertion 4 configuration with a handler to certain customers that I don't really have a specific time line for shipment yet. I don't know if it's going to be Q4 or Q1 next year. A little tricky now getting systems to go on qualification, given the production orders that we're satisfying. I haven't quantified -- we haven't quantified yet the total CPO revenue in '27, '28 because we view it as part of the evolution of HPC. So it's embedded in the $850 million pipeline at the moment.

Operator

Our next question comes from Brian Chin with Stifel.

Brian Chin

Nice results and outlook. Maybe the first question, looking at this -- the multistage pipeline graphic you have in the slides, I think last cut, it was aggregating to $750 million. Now it's $850 million. Can you maybe break down what that $100 million increase is? And I think part of this maybe is that recurring portion. Can you also maybe explain and break down what you mean by recurring?

Luis Müller

Okay. Brian. Yes, two separate things. On the totality of the pipeline increase to $100 million -- by $100 million, it's really getting better visibility in the forecast. And I think we added a couple of customers on the engagement phase as well. But we certainly have better visibility now on the customers that are in the unqualified or qualified, I should say, the qualified portion of the pipeline. And the numbers are bigger, what they're giving us for next year than what we had originally estimated.

To your question on recurring, there are really 3 components to recurring. One of them is device application kits. You -- these device life cycles are typically 18 months in production, something else launches and you got to do a new device kit for that handler. The other component is thermal heads. You don't necessarily change the entire thermo head. But as devices grow in size, so does the required thermo head coverage over the die. It could be multi-dies. It could be actually even multi-skyline heights on dies. So that thermal head touch down on the die has to evolve with the product evolution. So that's an upgrade element of the system. It could also include a thermo head itself if the upgrade includes higher following. And the third element is basically the maintenance of the equipment. There are spares and consumables in the equipment.

Part of that today, I guess, a fourth element that is novelty here is the software sale. As I mentioned last quarter, we sold -- I think it was about $330,000 a year subscription software into an HPC customer in conjunction with system orders. And that has a lifetime through the product life cycle, I think we estimated a few million dollars life cycle value -- lifetime value of that software subscription. So that will be sort of the fourth component that I forgot to mention, but it's part of recurring.

Brian Chin

Great. That's super helpful. Also, in terms of the full year revenue guide increase going from 25% to 35% growth, I think it's something like $45 million on the math there. You only increase your HPC forecast by maybe, call it, $10 million to $15 million. And so I guess the majority residual there is all the kind of like the core business, historical core business for Cohu. Can you maybe expand upon kind of what you're seeing there in terms of improvement? Industrial obviously is taking up...

Jeffrey Jones

Yes, that's right, Brian. Seeing industrial pick up, we're seeing the utilization rate overall pick up and part of the growth there in the second half or actually full year is the growth in recurring revenue. So that's grown nicely. I think it's been a CAGR of 5% here over the last 6 quarters or so. So it's really a nice increase. But you're right, it's the core business that's coming back led by industrial.

Brian Chin

Maybe if I could sneak one last thing. Just from a supply standpoint, Jeff and Luis, I know that the in-qualification bucket is not banded within 2027 or a year interval even. But what are you sort of targeting to be able to get capacity to in 12 months' time or whatever horizon in terms of the Malaysia expansion and kind of what that -- given what the business looks like in terms of the following in?

Luis Müller

Yes, Brian, frankly, that's a key question because as part of the 35% projected growth in fiscal '26 this year, I don't think we have much more room to grow on the HPC side this year. We are expanding capacity between end of Q2 and end of the year. The plan is to increase output by about 50% over the next 6 months, and that's for the HPC handlers specifically. Between now and the middle of next year, the intent is to increase output by a little more than 100%. So double essentially the output or a little more than double between now and July -- June, July next year. And we do see a path to triple that output between now and the end of next year if the market takes us there on the HPC side. So that's essentially -- we are evolving that HPC production pipeline in Malaysia and our factory in Malaysia in line with the expansion of the business in this customer pipeline that yields $850 million here. That's the idea.

It's a bit easier to do it in our own site. We are expanding the factory in Malaysia. We already started the fitting out the production floor. We're looking at a new construction of a building, essentially office building at this point. I think it will be suffice so that we can clear up production space on the current facility to be ready probably in Q1 of next year. It's quite a bit more challenging is exercising the supply chain. That's what's taking most of the attention right now so that we can get suppliers and more suppliers to support the expansion plan that we have in plan and been presenting here.

Operator

Our next question comes from Kevin Garrigan with Jefferies.

Unknown Analyst

On the great results. Your new customers and engagement, can you just talk a little bit more about how those opportunities develop? Are these customers that are using competing platforms and are looking to switch? And how much additional opportunity do you see beyond the current pipeline that you have? So you mentioned $850 million. I mean is it pretty much sky is the limit at this point?

Luis Müller

Well, there is always a limit. There's a finite number of customers out there. We're not really engaged with all of them yet. And I think we're quite honestly, fairly busy here, Kevin, with the sort of the 20 -- sorry, the 19, 20 customers that we have on the list. There's a lot to do here. There's a lot of projects, a lot of applications and qualifications in work. Will we add more? Sure. As these customers flow down this pipeline and it starts to get wider at the bottom, we'll start adding a few more at the top. But you can imagine who the names are, right? I'm not going to rattle them on the call.

I shouldn't, but they're essentially the fabless and hyperscalers that are developing or have developed their own semiconductor GPUs or custom ASIC devices, network processors, in the variety of names there, including cancer processors and whatnot that they have their own names for their custom ASIC devices, right? So those are the constituents on this customer pipeline.

Unknown Analyst

Got it. Okay. Yes, that makes a ton of sense. And then can you just talk about the -- you mentioned higher input costs. Any specific components that you can kind of call out? And are these components something that you expect to be a potential headwind for getting systems out the door at some point?

Jeffrey Jones

Kevin, it's Jeff. At the moment, it's mainly memory. Memory is sort of leading in the higher costs and longer lead times. And so we've taken advantage of advanced purchases and looked out over multiple quarters and made buys based on the quantities that we need for that time frame. So it's not an issue for Q3 and our guidance has taken into consideration all of the risks and potential constraints. So at the moment, we're working through it. Like Louis said, though, it is probably the biggest challenge at the moment is ramping supply chain.

Operator

Our next question comes from Craig Ellis with B. Riley Securities.

Craig Ellis

Nice job on the execution, guys. I'll start with some things that are just near term. You mentioned that we're looking for third quarter growth of 14% quarter-on-quarter with HPC and some of the traditional businesses contributing to growth. Can you provide a little bit more detail on the relative contribution of each as we look at this quarter's growth?

Jeffrey Jones

Yes. Craig, it's roughly about 50% HPC driven and 50% core business. So about $10 million out of each.

Craig Ellis

Got it. And then as we look ahead to the fourth quarter, remind us what you would think the seasonality would be of 4Q? And then as we look ahead, are there any particular items we should be aware of as we think about more one-off things that could be impacting the business beyond the third quarter?

Jeffrey Jones

To answer the first part of your question, we have stated that we now see revenue increasing about 35% year-over-year. So that puts us in a range of about $610 million to $615 million for the year. And to get there, that would basically be Q4 sort of flattish to Q3...

Luis Müller

Yes. As far as seasonality, Craig, with utilization now broadly hovering at 80%, right? In a couple of markets here at 82%, a couple of markets at 77%, 78%. We're right at that threshold that if we see a seasonality pull back, I think it would quickly accelerate again in Q1. But we're not really sure exactly how that's going to play in Q4. So at the moment, we're viewing this core business kind of staying flattish going into Q4.

As I mentioned before, I think we're kind of maxed out on output on HPC side in Q4 as well. We're still building that capacity through the end of this year. So that's the positive news. We did get a we did get here in early Q3 a single customer order for $26 million again for our Eclipse systems for the HPC market. And that's largely going to ship in Q4 as well. So that Eclipse output capacity is filling up quickly here in the fourth quarter already.

Craig Ellis

Yes. So you've got really good visibility on the fourth quarter. And going back to the comment on capacity and being pretty high with output relative to capacity, Louis, what are the levers that you have that can give you some wiggle room in the first half of next year before you get the big 100% increase around midyear to the extent that you do have any?

Luis Müller

Well, I don't know if it's wiggle room, Craig. It's really a lot of hard work. from the supply chain side and operations side with the expansion of the factory in Malaca. We're also doing a small expansion in the Philippines because that's where we build the thermal heads. So I wouldn't necessarily call it wiggle room, but I think we're on track right now to -- like I said, to really double our output between the quarter just finished and beginning of next year -- end of this year, beginning of next year. So really looking forward to being able to deliver a $200 million to $250 million incremental HPC or $200 million to $250 million HPC revenue next year or more. I mean it depends. I think we have some wiggle room is more into next year where we could potentially triple the output as the market takes us there.

Craig Ellis

Got it. Yes. Okay. So the step-up is exiting this year to next year, not a year from now.

Operator

Our next question comes from David Duley with Steelhead Securities.

David Duley

I'm sorry to kind of continue along the HPC questions. When I look at your funnel chart this quarter of qualified customers, you have 4 for $150 million and last quarter, it was 3 for $100 million. So there was one customer kind of adding to the qualified segment that added up to about $50 million. I'm kind of wondering when you look at the 5 other customers that are in Qual are how should we think about the mix of those customers? Are they all -- so I just take 5 and divide by the average there? Or how should we think about how each customer adds to the qualified SAM?

Luis Müller

Yes. Dave, so we do have -- no, there's a bit of a range here. We have customers that we view as $30 -- low $30 million annual opportunity. We have a couple of customers that are likely to be individually $60 million annual opportunity, and I'm looking at a table here. And that's about the range, actually. It's a sort of $30 million to $60 million on a per individual customer base.

David Duley

You just gave us -- gave me one of my other questions, which is the way your capacity expansion is unfolding, you will be able to double the revenue stream of your Eclipse high-performance computing segment in 2027?

Luis Müller

Yes, into early 2027. And then from there, I think tying a little bit with Craig Ellis' question, we do have some wiggle room to expand further from there, and we'll see how this funnel develops and then we'll drive that expansion in 2027. But for now, you just hang your hat on, we'll be able to double the output we just finished in Q2 of this year by the end of this year, meaning into early 2027.

Now remember, that's more than where we started in 2026. So the reality is if we're delivering $100 million to $110 million this year, we should have the capacity to do more than $200 million, probably close to $250 million by the beginning of next year, all things being linear throughout the year. And from there, we can expand more in '27 to exit at a higher rate in 2027 again.

David Duley

Okay. And as far as -- just remind us who the key competition is for some of these slots and -- or are a lot of these brand new that you know where it's a jump ball? Or is there someone that is kind of the incumbent with a lot of these customers?

Luis Müller

It's pretty much a single competitor, so to speak. I mean you can claim there's a second one -- a second competitor out there. But I would say there's primarily a single competitor, which has been the forever supplier at the Tesla contractors. It's Han Precision from Taiwan has been the primary competitor in this space. And as power levels are increasing in these more complex processors, right, all sorts of classification of processors. The management of power dissipation is becoming much more prevalent and driving a much stronger interest by, like I said, the fabless and the hyperscalers into finding a solution to the problem, which Cohu' Thermo Technology is one big company here in the Bay Area said Cohu Thermal Technology is sort of the best thermal in a market period in the story. Let's figure a way to make this happen.

David Duley

Okay. Well, that's great to hear. Now just switching gears, final question for me is when you look at your core business, kind of -- obviously, you're guiding flattish. That seasonality is being overcome by the return of -- the cyclical business, so to speak. And I think when I listened to the big OSAT in Taiwan's conference call last night, they were basically they upticked their growth rate for wire bonding core assembly business from 13% this year to 20% for calendar '26, and they expect that growth rate to continue. So I'm kind of wondering -- and their utilization rates are also in the 80%, 85% and the quote was we can't keep up with purchasing equipment.

So I'm wondering what your customer -- your core customer behavior is. There's a list of 8 or 10 of these guys, and they're not all -- some of them are automotively exposed. And so I think probably that those guys aren't inflecting yet. But could you talk about the customers that are inflecting and what their behavior is? Are they coming in and asking for big orders and big slots and whatnot?

Luis Müller

Yes. We're seeing the earlier inflection on the industrial space, as we commented here. And yes, indeed, the ones that have inflected so far are coming in for the sort of additional volume that we've seen in the past where they're ordering somewhere between 10 and 20 systems in 1 -- so that's -- it's sort of coming back to that original pattern that we're familiar with from the past, predominantly with the industrial-based customers. And I think you can see from the earnings release, which ones are kind of spearheading the return to business. Congratulations on nice results.

Operator

Our next question comes from Denis Pyatchanin with Needham & Company.

Denis Pyatchanin

So I have a question about the HPC raise. So I think previously, it was about $90 million expected for calendar '26. Now I think it's about $105 million, so $15 million incrementally higher. Maybe you can tell us is more of the upside coming from Eclipse handlers or the Non HPM inspection systems?

Luis Müller

Denis, yes, you're right. If you pick up the midpoint of the ranges we gave before and now, it is really a $15 million increase. Note that the new range is also tighter. We originally had an $80 million to $100 million range, and now we're calling $100 million to $110 million. This whole increase is on the Eclipse HPC side, entirely there.

Denis Pyatchanin

Got it. And then I have a question related to some of these challenges with the components specifically related to memory. So do you think you'll be able to pass on some of these costs to your customers within the next, say, 3 or 6 months? Or will you basically have to kind of eat that into your gross margin?

Jeffrey Jones

Denis, we have just started conversations with customers. So I would say stay tuned on that.

Operator

Our next question comes from Quinn Fredrickson with Baird.

Quinn Fredrickson

Just on the cyclical piece, specifically on automotive, I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks that orders were soft there. It sounds like one of the few areas that was the case. So what's your visibility of the timing of a turn in that business?

Luis Müller

Yes, Quinn, it's a good question. I think that is a market that has been a little bit more sporadic. We had -- if I'm not mistaken here, we had a bit of a bump in the last 2 quarters in the automotive. And then the last quarter, it kind of came back down a bit again. So I think it's been bouncing around. I would expect, frankly, that automotive will not be at 80% up until probably late Q1 or Q2 of next year. That would be my expectation. But like I said, it's been the one that's lagging a bit across the end markets on the core business side.

Quinn Fredrickson

That's helpful. And then on OpEx, can you discuss just your ability to pursue the full $850 million HPC pipeline? Would you be able to pursue that full pipeline at this third quarter level of about $54 million of OpEx? Or would there be additional investment you'd have to make?

Jeffrey Jones

That is the plan and the forecast at the moment is to stay at this, and we think it's a bit elevated from our prior model, but to continue to invest and have OpEx remain pretty constant at this level, about $54 million. So we think that's a good level that provides the resources necessary to capitalize on these opportunities.

Luis Müller

And just to help clarify as well, Quinn, for you and for others. When we talk about the $850 million, that's sort of an annual spend, right? That's what we see these customers spending annually on this class of equipment, which is largely eclipse for HPC. So if we were to capture the totality of this opportunity now immediately, we would see an $850 million revenue stream next year. That's not the case. We're qualifying over time, and we'll see how this evolves. The market is also changing and growing, but that's just to clarify that it's not $850 million over multiple years, it's $850 million spend per year for the customers that we're talking about here.

Operator

Our next question comes from Vedvati Shrotre with Evercore ISI.

Vedvati Shrotre

The first one I have is, so with Agent AI, we are seeing the CPU to GPU ratios changing, right? We're seeing a higher CPU ratio versus GPU. How does this sort of play for you in the HPC opportunity? Like where do you see -- how do you see yourself participating in this kind of shift?

Luis Müller

This is Luis. First of all, you're correct. We're seeing a much strong -- a very strong demand on the CPU side Traditionally, I would say the CPUs would have been at slightly lower power levels than the GPU, but that's actually changing. And CPU power in test, I should say, is really approaching the GPU levels. How does it change? I don't know that it really changed. The whole intention and purpose of our product configuration is to be flexible and be able to straddle across applications without having to change the capital equipment, but changing the configuration instead perhaps upgrading thermo heads for different applications.

So we do a pretty good job right now straddling both CPU and GPU and reusability of the equipment. So it doesn't quite matter to us where the market and that ratio goes because that's one of the fundamental value propositions of our Equipped system. You can do both the thermal management at the higher power levels, but you can also use the same equipment at straddling down to lower power levels and across different applications.

Vedvati Shrotre

Understand. So how about the penetration like there are 3 across the x86 and the ARM ecosystem, like how are you thinking about the pipeline and the penetration at the customers at the CPU suppliers?

Luis Müller

It's -- I mean, I would have to go count to tell you where we are today. I don't know at the top of my head. But I'm going to venture to say well, I'm not going to venture to say. I'm going to say I would have to go count. But it is, again, not that relevant to us. We have probably strongest shipments in Q2 that were maybe by 86 or maybe that's going to be Q3 shipments. I would have to go look, but it straddles across both.

Vedvati Shrotre

Understand. Okay. And then one last question. So on -- you talked about sort of the input costs and also alluded to your kind of the supply chain shortages. So maybe can you talk about how your lead times have changed in the last 3 months for the Eclipse tools?

Jeffrey Jones

Yes. I mean just for clarification, we haven't seen any shortages yet. And again, when we've got the opportunity to make some prebuys, we're doing it, and that's worked for us pretty well. However, these prebuys, particularly on -- mainly on integrated circuits are purchased at an increased cost. And so that there's the higher input cost. Although we have -- we're securing the supply, it's coming at a little bit higher cost.

Luis Müller

And as I mentioned before, we're just initiating discussions now with customers about how we pass that on. And Eclipse handler right now is -- I think the lead times are still in check. We're holding well to 13, 14 weeks from receipt of PO. With that said, we have signals that the orders are coming. We have the customer forecast. And so we're getting ahead of it, so to speak, in part of what Jeff just said. So when we get the PO itself, we can respond.

Now like I said, earlier, we got -- a couple of weeks ago, we got a $26 million single customer order, right? So as you can imagine, there are tens of systems. We're not going to ship all that quantity in 13 weeks lead time. We got a certain capacity per week, and that quantity is going to fill up multiple weeks of shipments. So 13 weeks to the first system shipment, but straddles across multiple weeks from there and then gearing up for the subsequent order from another customer now that would ship in the latter part of Q4.

Operator

Our next question comes from Christian Schwab with Craig-Hallum.

Christian Schwab

Great quarter and guide. I just have one question. It's been quite some time since we've been operating in our core business with 80% plus utilization and customers ordering to add capacity. Can you remind us historically when capacity is added when utilization rates go above 80% and the demand environment works to be continued. How many quarters or how long does capacity typically get added? You talked about initial orders kind of being 10 to 20, which was in line with historical norms for systems. But how long does that happen?

Jeffrey Jones

Yes. We would say about 6 quarters is probably the typical average or call it a cycle. And I've got this table in front of me, and it goes back to '21, and that was a pretty unique time frame in '21 and '22, and that happened -- we happen to be above 80% utilization for 8 quarters or at least 7. So I think 6 is probably the norm.

Christian Schwab

Great. Fantastic. And then lastly, I know we started a few quarters ago talking a little bit more aggressively or about M&A. But given the fact that the core business and the AI market growth is -- well, we're chasing extremely strong demand. Are you still looking at M&A or we don't want to get distracted with M&A when the core business is so strong?

Luis Müller

Yes. This is Matt. Yes, I think you're right, right? The #1 priority is obviously execution. There definitely are opportunities to accelerate in some areas, our growth areas in HPC and in software, and we'll continue to look at build versus buy opportunities there. But yes, I think you nailed it. It's execution then looking at other ways to possibly accelerate some of our growth areas.

Operator

That concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call back to Matt Hutton for closing remarks.

Unknown Executive

Thanks, operator. Before we sign off, I'd like to note that we will be attending the following investor conferences over the next 3 months: the Needham Virtual Semiconductor Conference on August 19, the Jefferies Semiconductor Conference on August 24 in Chicago and the CEO Summit on October 13 in San Francisco. If you plan on attending any of these conferences, please reach out to your conference contacts or let us know and we'll arrange for a one-on-one meeting. I'm also pleased to announce that Cohu will host an Investor Day on November 10 in New York City, where we will provide a deeper look at our strategy and long-term financial framework. Additional event details will be shared closer to the date. Thank you for joining today's call. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

[Johnny Canuck] Analyst concerns on the COHU Q2 2026 conference call centered on supply-chain pr...

Johnny Canuck — 7/30/2026 11:32:11 PM

Analyst concerns on the COHU Q2 2026 conference call centered on supply-chain pressures, capacity constraints, automotive weakness, margin risks from higher input costs, and the timing/pace of converting the large HPC pipeline. Drivers of the strong EPS, revenue, and margins were primarily AI/HPC-related (especially Eclipse handlers), broad-based end-market recovery (industrial/consumer), favorable mix (including recurring revenue), and operating leverage, partially offset by elevated OpEx and component costs. Days sales outstanding (DSO) was not discussed on the call; balance-sheet data shows accounts receivable rose with revenue growth.bcd01e
Tipranks
Analyst concerns / questions raised
Analysts (including from TD Cowen/Krish Sankar, Stifel/Brian Chin, Needham/Denis Pyatchanin, and others) focused on risks amid the strong results and raised guidance:
Supply-chain/cost pressures: Longer lead times and higher costs for memory and specialty semiconductors/components. Cohu has made advance purchases at elevated prices and is starting discussions with customers about passing costs through. Timing and success of any pass-through remain uncertain and could pressure near-term margins.bcf180
Marketbeat
Capacity and lead times for HPC handlers (Eclipse): Lead times ~13–14 weeks. Large orders (e.g., a $26M single-customer order) span many shipment weeks and fill capacity, limiting short-term flexibility for incremental demand. Expansion plans (Malaysia manufacturing to roughly double HPC handler output by mid-2027; Philippines thermal capacity) were discussed as mitigants, but near-term constraints exist.4f43e9
Tipranks
Automotive lag: Orders down ~24% YoY; utilization expected to stay below peers and not reach ~80% until late Q1 or Q2 2027. This remains a drag versus computing/industrial strength.8daf78
Marketbeat
HPC pipeline conversion timing and sustainability: Details on the ~$850M annual pipeline (qualified vs. in-qualification vs. early-stage across ~19 customers), how much of the raise (to $100–110M FY26 HPC revenue) is Eclipse vs. Neon/HBM, competition (primarily one main competitor, Hon Precision), and whether current OpEx (~$54M quarterly) is sufficient to pursue the full pipeline without further investment. Qualification cycles of several months create timing uncertainty.64f296
Marketbeat
OpEx levels and leverage: Elevated spending to support HPC/software opportunities; ability to maintain ~$54M quarterly OpEx while scaling.
Other notes: Segment variability (mobile flat; some uneven order patterns) and overall forecasting noise.
Management responses were generally constructive (capacity investments underway, cost pass-through discussions starting, pipeline conversion expected to be staggered), but these were the main watchpoints highlighted in call summaries.f04977
Tipranks
Drivers of EPS, revenue, and margins
Revenue ($149M, +38% YoY, above guidance midpoint/consensus): Broad-based improvement across end markets. Computing/system orders strong (computing ~46% of system orders, +150% YoY). Industrial +87%, consumer +29%; mobile roughly flat. Key enablers: AI/HPC demand for Eclipse test handlers with T-Core active thermal control (high-power data-center processors); recovery in industrial/consumer; recurring revenue (primarily consumables) at ~53% of sales; inspection/metrology (including HBM-related); software analytics (first $1M revenue quarter; orders +~140% YoY). Test-cell utilization rose sequentially to ~80%. One industrial customer >10% of sales.04d2ee
cohu.gcs-web
Gross margins (GAAP 45.4% / non-GAAP 45.5%, above ~44% guidance): Primarily favorable product mix. Higher volumes and operating leverage helped, despite rising input costs from the supply chain (especially memory) and ramp costs for Eclipse. Full-year expectation remains mid-40s%. Q3 guided ~45%.9e0c2f
Marketbeat
EPS (non-GAAP $0.26, big beat vs. ~$0.14 consensus): Combination of the revenue beat, margin outperformance, and solid conversion of growth to profit (adjusted EBITDA ~12%). Partially offset by elevated OpEx ($52.7M in Q2; guided ~$54M going forward as deliberate investment in HPC/software resources) and the higher component costs. Net interest income helped modestly. GAAP was essentially breakeven.8c3617
Marketbeat
Overall tone was confident on the AI/HPC-driven upcycle and raised outlook (Q3 revenue ~$170M ±$7M; full-year growth ~35% or roughly $610–615M), with the concerns above as the primary caveats.
Days sales outstanding (DSO)
DSO was not mentioned in available call highlights, transcripts snippets, or Q&A summaries.
From the balance sheet (as of June 27, 2026): Accounts receivable rose to $122.7 million (from $108.8 million at year-end 2025 / Dec. 27, 2025). This increase is consistent with the sharp sequential and YoY revenue growth (Q2 revenue $149M vs. Q1 $125.1M). Without the exact prior-quarter AR figure or an explicit company calculation, a precise sequential DSO change cannot be confirmed from public data, but the AR increase tracks the higher sales run-rate rather than signaling a deterioration in collections. Historical DSO for Cohu has typically been in the ~70–90+ day range depending on the period. No red flags on collections were raised.132a7a
Sec
In short, the call emphasized strong execution driven by AI/HPC and mix, with analysts probing the sustainability of that growth against supply-chain, capacity, automotive, and cost risks.

[Johnny Canuck] Grok: COHU (Cohu, Inc.) beat expectations on EPS and revenue for Q2 2026 (repo...

Johnny Canuck — 7/30/2026 11:25:58 PM

Grok:

COHU (Cohu, Inc.) beat expectations on EPS and revenue for Q2 2026 (reported July 30, 2026). Gross margins also came in above the company’s own guidance.8fb6e6
Chartmill
Chain of thought / key numbers
Timing and source: Results are for the fiscal second quarter ended ~June 27, 2026. Primary figures come from the company’s press release and consistent coverage from ChartMill, MarketBeat, Benzinga, Investing.com, and others.
EPS (non-GAAP / adjusted, the metric analysts focus on):
Actual: $0.26
Consensus estimate: $0.14 (some sources show ~$0.12–0.14)
Result: Clear beat (by ~$0.12, or ~84–86% / up to ~117% depending on the exact consensus used).
GAAP was essentially breakeven (~$0.00 loss).
Year-over-year this was a large improvement from prior periods.53a908
cohu.gcs-web
Revenue:
Actual: $149.0 million (up 38% year-over-year from $107.7 million).
Consensus: ~$144–$147 million (commonly cited as $144.0–$144.2 million or $146.96 million).
Company’s prior guidance midpoint was ~$144 million (±$7 million, i.e., $137–$151 million range).
Result: Beat consensus by ~1–3.5% and above the guidance midpoint.9a5c5c
Marketbeat
Margins (gross):
GAAP gross margin: 45.4%
Non-GAAP gross margin: 45.5%
Prior company guidance for Q2 was approximately 44%.
Result: Above guidance, mainly from favorable product mix. (Analyst consensus on exact margin was less uniformly tracked than EPS/revenue, but the company itself highlighted the beat vs. its outlook.)9bffb7
Marketbeat
Bottom line
EPS: Beat
Revenue: Beat
Margins: Beat (vs. company guidance)
The stock reacted strongly positively (up ~18% on the day / more in extended trading), helped by the beats plus raised guidance (Q3 revenue ~$170 million ±$7 million, well above prior consensus, and higher full-year growth / HPC outlook).

[robert b furman] Cohu's earnings for Q2 are out: Cohu beats EPS (14cents est.) by 16 cents on r...

robert b furman — 7/30/2026 4:31:21 PM

Cohu's earnings for Q2 are out:

Cohu beats EPS (14cents est.) by 16 cents on revenue of 149 million (est of 144.07). Boosts guidance to 163 million to 177million +/- 7 million. Business is good and getting better. after announcement.

Cohu is up big in AH up 18.00 at first now up only $7.00 @ 46.45

Cohu Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results

July 30, 2026

PDF Version

Second quarter net sales increased 38% year-over-year to $149.0 million
Gross margin of 45.4%; non-GAAP gross margin of 45.5%
Estimated test cell utilization increased sequentially to 80% at the end of June
Raising annual AI-driven compute opportunity pipeline to approx. $850 million

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 30, 2026-- Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU), a global supplier of equipment and services optimizing semiconductor manufacturing yield and productivity, today reported fiscal 2026 second quarter net sales of $149.0 million and GAAP loss of $0.2 million or $0.00 per share. Net sales for the first six months of 2026 were $274.1 million and GAAP loss was $12.2 million or $0.26 per share.

Cohu also reported non-GAAP results, with second quarter 2026 income of $14.1 million or $0.26 per share and income of $14.6 million or $0.29 per share for the first six months of 2026.


GAAP Results
(in millions, except per share amounts)	Q2 FY 2026			Q1 FY 2026			Q2 FY 2025			6 Months 2026			6 Months 2025

Net sales	$	149.0		$	125.1		$	107.7		$	274.1		$	204.5
Net loss	$	(0.2	)	$	(12.1	)	$	(16.9	)	$	(12.2	)	$	(47.7	)
Net loss per share	$	(0.00	)	$	(0.26	)	$	(0.36	)	$	(0.26	)	$	(1.02	)



Non-GAAP Results
(in millions, except per share amounts)	Q2 FY 2026			Q1 FY 2026			Q2 FY 2025			6 Months 2026			6 Months 2025

Net income (loss)	$	14.1		$	0.6		$	0.7		$	14.6		$	(0.1	)
Net income (loss) per share	$	0.26		$	0.01		$	0.02		$	0.29		$	(0.00	)

Total cash and investments at the end of second quarter 2026 were $498.2 million. Cohu did not repurchase any shares of its common stock during second quarter 2026.

“Second quarter results reflected broad-based improvement across our end markets, with revenue increasing 38% year-over-year and estimated test cell utilization improving to approximately 80% at the end of June,” said Cohu President and CEO Luis Müller. “Customer momentum in AI compute is accelerating, driven by the adoption of our Eclipse test handler with T-Core active thermal control for high-power processors used in data centers. Increased confidence in this market is leading us to raise our FY26 high-performance computing revenue estimate to $100 million to $110 million, further reinforcing Cohu’s differentiated position in test and inspection.”

Cohu expects third quarter 2026 sales to be in a range of $170 million +/- $7 million.

Conference Call Information:

The Company will host a live conference call and webcast with slides to discuss second quarter 2026 results at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on July 30, 2026. Interested parties may listen live via webcast on Cohu’s investor relations website at cts.businesswire.com.

To participate via telephone and join the call live, please register in advance at cts.businesswire.com to receive the dial-in number along with a unique PIN number that can be used to access the call.

About Cohu:

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, I took it much slower. Retire first and then see what happens. Took...

robert b furman — 7/26/2026 7:37:31 PM

Hi Johnny,

I took it much slower. Retire first and then see what happens.

Took a year and really decided I'd like to watch my funds and the market.

I benefitted by becoming much more diversified.

Always loved gardening, then bought my Mom's 40 acres and have been busy ever since.

Don't let it burden you, it'll come to you once retired and you can decide every day what's important for that day.

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Looking to be wrapped up by the start of next year/spring. It is a lot of work...

Johnny Canuck — 7/26/2026 4:07:57 PM

Looking to be wrapped up by the start of next year/spring.

It is a lot of work getting ready to retire. That amount of planning is insane. I am still trying to work out whether retiring in Europe will be a reality or it will only a part of a 90 day Schengan shuffle. Italy and France are on the short list. Italy for the 7 percent tax rate for retiring in small Southern town. I went last year to check out towns. Galatone and Giovinazzo were quant but also totally different in feel. France because the visa is easier to get, five years to get citizenship and they will let you swap your driver's license without having the take the written and road test again in the local language like in Italy.

Beyond the cultural shift of a move, finding a new purpose in life seems to the biggest issue. Travel first but then what??? We will see. I have one of my closest friend retire last year, so I am watch his transition from Tech into the "easy life".

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, Getting close eh? Bobj

robert b furman — 7/25/2026 1:43:35 PM

[Johnny Canuck] It seems like a sell the news environment no matter how good the outlook right n...

Johnny Canuck — 7/24/2026 6:23:18 PM

It seems like a sell the news environment no matter how good the outlook right now.

Normally it flips at the mid-point of earnings season, but so far people are not shell shocked enough to get sick of the selling to stsrt to look at the good side of revenues and eps.

I am out of a lot of tech stocks the laat few weeks as rhe aector has pulled back. Too close to retirment to play games till I settled in my new role off the clock.

[robert b furman] Cohu To Announce Second Quarter Financial Results on July 30 July 16, 2026 PDF...

robert b furman — 7/24/2026 7:08:03 AM

Cohu To Announce Second Quarter Financial Results on July 30

July 16, 2026

PDF Version

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 16, 2026-- Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU), a global supplier of equipment and services optimizing semiconductor manufacturing yield and productivity, will release financial results for second quarter 2026 on Thursday, July 30, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time/4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Company will host a live conference call and webcast with presentation materials to discuss the results at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Interested parties may listen live via webcast on Cohu’s investor relations website at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/rpe9b6q7

To participate via telephone and join the call live, please register in advance at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIdbf80ce0cc674b15b9c10aa7e230c332 to receive the dial-in number along with a unique PIN number that can be used to access the call.

The webcast replay will be available on the Company’s website through July 30, 2027, at www.cohu.com.

Hoping for a nice number and better guidance. H2 was suppose to be a ramp!

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Stopped of out of last position in COHU. Have been taking profits on the rally. ...

Johnny Canuck — 7/17/2026 10:22:49 AM

Stopped of out of last position in COHU. Have been taking profits on the rally.

Stop losses have been hitting on range of stocks over the last 2 weeks.

[Johnny Canuck] Just for fun a long term weekly chart of COHU. [graphic]

Johnny Canuck — 7/6/2026 5:13:33 PM

Just for fun a long term weekly chart of COHU.

[Johnny Canuck] COHU is at $69? My high target was in the $50 but we are in the insane valuation...

Johnny Canuck — 6/22/2026 11:40:49 AM

COHU is at $69? My high target was in the $50 but we are in the insane valuation zone on all semi now. No idea when the music stops.

[robert b furman] GO COHU GO! I've sold 22% of position in the last week - last sale at 65.16 ave...

robert b furman — 6/16/2026 12:10:06 PM

GO COHU GO!

I've sold 22% of position in the last week - last sale at 65.16 average.

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Surprised at the strength of COHU the last few days, but go baby go!!! We are i...

Johnny Canuck — 6/16/2026 11:30:33 AM

Surprised at the strength of COHU the last few days, but go baby go!!! We are in that manic phase of the economic cycle. A lot of stocked with P/E over 100 in the semi sector.

Riding with a trailing stop on most tech stocks as it is hard to call of top or have a price target gives how crazy the multiples are. They are not trading on fundamentals anymore.

[Johnny Canuck] I am surprised COHU is so late to the game on HBM and photonic test offerings in...

Johnny Canuck — 6/4/2026 10:16:47 AM

I am surprised COHU is so late to the game on HBM and photonic test offerings in their product line.

I have not had a chance to hear the call yet, so no idea how broader their offers will be.

[robert b furman] Q1 earnings out: PowerPoint Presentation Several investor earnings highlightin...

robert b furman — 6/2/2026 8:37:22 AM

Q1 earnings out:

PowerPoint Presentation

Several investor earnings highlighting Data center products and SAM growth on a diverse product line. Most of which have accelerated growth/ratesdearnings.

Capex increasing to address ramp in production for H2 2026.

Looks like the buildings being built will begin accepting equipment.

IF so the next 3-5 quarters should be printing money for the owners.

Power management twice what HBM is.

A LOT OF FUTURE BUSINESS IS IN BETA TEST/QUALAFICATION STAGE!

Bob

[robert b furman] Q1 for Cohu to be reported on May 30th: Today's dip is no doubt an opportunity ...

robert b furman — 4/27/2026 12:12:44 PM

Q1 for Cohu to be reported on May 30th:

Today's dip is no doubt an opportunity for the market makers to accumulate discounted shares going into earnings (which maybe for the first time a solid beat with improving guidance.

I always like stock price down into earnings.

Up into earnings getting reversed after earnings has sadly been the MO of Cohu for too long.

That being said the recent price advance has been a fresh breathe of ait.

Cohu To Announce First Quarter Financial Results on April 30

April 16, 2026

PDF Version

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 16, 2026-- Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU), a global supplier of equipment and services optimizing semiconductor manufacturing yield and productivity, will release financial results for first quarter 2026 on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time/4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Company will host a live conference call and webcast with presentation materials to discuss the results at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Interested parties may listen live via webcast on Cohu’s investor relations website at cts.businesswire.com

To participate via telephone and join the call live, please register in advance at cts.businesswire.com to receive the dial-in number along with a unique PIN number that can be used to access the call.

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, Let's hope that prompts KLAC to buy them. I'm all in for a 1 to 1 s...

robert b furman — 4/27/2026 11:11:25 AM

Hi Johnny,

Let's hope that prompts KLAC to buy them.

I'm all in for a 1 to 1 share merger! <smile>

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Here are Monday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Jefferies reiterates Cohu as buy...

Johnny Canuck — 4/27/2026 10:55:37 AM

Here are Monday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Jefferies reiterates Cohu as buy Jefferies said it sees an attractive risk/reward for the semis testing and equipment company. “We initiate COHU with a Buy/$55 PT, viewing the company as an emerging enabler of higher-complexity semi test.”

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, Breeze and Augustus have both independently come up with the same nu...

robert b furman — 4/19/2026 7:38:37 AM

Hi Johnny,

Breeze and Augustus have both independently come up with the same number high of this impulsive to be 82 ish.

I'll be out before then.

Hoping to turn the sale of Cohu into PR, NOG, SM, MTDR, PAGP, and VZ. I wouldnt mind more preferred shares of TDS-U and TDS-V, and TpA also.

All strong dividend payers.

Bob.

[Johnny Canuck] I have seen some analysis project oil prices may stay in the $80 for the next fe...

Johnny Canuck — 4/17/2026 4:27:12 PM

I have seen some analysis project oil prices may stay in the $80 for the next few years due to damage the Iranian infrastructure.

We went from a glut this year to a deficit of 2 million barrels a day.

I am also waiting for a pull back on oil stocks to add more. Looking more for yield though. My stock of choice is FRU.TO an oil and gas real estate trust. I am a little gun shy of a devaluation of the USD due to high government debt and a de-dllarization due to the US not being a stable trade partner.

I think the last time you exited COHU in the $50 range.
A quick fibs projection of the move from $28 to $40 gives $59 target.

[robert b furman] Cohu update: Currently up 13 consecutive days. Longest winning streak on recor...

robert b furman — 4/17/2026 2:13:15 PM

Cohu update:

Currently up 13 consecutive days.

Longest winning streak on record , going back to Jan 21, 1972. and yes I owned it back then too!

Best 13 day day stretch going back to Nov 16th 2020 when it rose 62.85% . Yeah I owned it then too,

Highest close since August 22nd 2023.

GIDDY UP!

I need it as my oil stocks got taken to th wood shed this morning.

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] On the surface, this looks like a bad report, but some far up with the market. ...

Johnny Canuck — 4/8/2026 10:49:47 AM

On the surface, this looks like a bad report, but some far up with the market.

Aehr Test Systems (AEHR)

+7.76%

The company posted net revenue of $10.3 million for Q3 2026, marking a year-over-year decline from $18.3 million, with net losses of $3.2 million widening on a year-over-year basis. Quarterly bookings were reported at $37.2 million. Aehr’s net revenue for the first nine months of FY 2026 came in at $31.2 million, lower than the $44.9 million in revenue reported for the same period in FY 2025. Roughly 15.6% of the stock’s float is sold short.

[Johnny Canuck] Comparison between TER, COHU and AEHR. Message 35481716 COHU may continue to b...

Johnny Canuck — 4/7/2026 3:59:40 PM

Comparison between TER, COHU and AEHR.

Message 35481716

COHU may continue to be capped due to reliance on automotive. JBL earning indicating automotve still weak overall.

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, Cohu receives additional multi-unit orders for is Eclipse test syste...

robert b furman — 3/18/2026 10:04:07 AM

Hi Johnny,

Cohu receives additional multi-unit orders for is Eclipse test system and expects the upper range of guidance.

These guys are saying it is in the bag as they don't ever go out on the limb of guidance.

Cohu Receives Second Multi-Unit Order for Testing Next-Generation AI Datacenter Processors, Increasing Confidence on 2026 HPC Revenue Growth

March 17, 2026

PDF Version

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 17, 2026-- Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU), a global supplier of equipment and services optimizing semiconductor manufacturing yield and productivity, today announced a leading U.S. based semiconductor manufacturer and foundry services company placed a multi-unit order for the Eclipse platform to support development and manufacturing of next-generation high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) datacenter processors.

This order expands Cohu’s presence in the fast-growing AI datacenter computing market and strengthens its collaboration with a leading advanced processor manufacturer. It also reflects rising demand for scalable, high performance test solutions as AI processor complexity and power density continue to increase.

The Eclipse platform is a field upgradable solution engineered to meet the stringent test requirements of AI datacenter devices—including GPUs, CPUs, custom AI accelerators, and ASICs—by delivering high socket force, precise thermal control, and broad test coverage. These capabilities support ultra-large form factor (ULFF) packages and address the rising power and thermal demands of current and next generation processors.

This new order represents the second customer adopting the Eclipse platform, reflecting increasing customer momentum and early market validation of Eclipse as a next-generation test solution for advanced compute and AI datacenter applications.

“Together these orders underscore the increasing importance of scalable, thermally precise test architectures as AI and HPC processors continue to push the limits of power density and performance,” said Luis Müller, Cohu President and CEO. “We are increasingly confident in the success of the Eclipse platform and estimate Cohu can deliver revenue toward the upper end of our internal projection of approximately $65 million to $80 million from the HPC segment this year.”

These customer engagements highlight Cohu’s continued investment in scalable, high-performance semiconductor test and inspection solutions, including Cohu’s Neon inspection platform, which delivers AI-enabled, high-precision inspection and metrology for advanced packages used in AI and HPC applications. Together, Eclipse and Neon position Cohu to support the industry’s transition to increasingly complex, thermally demanding and highly integrated AI and advanced device architectures.

Two test systems (Eclipse and Neon) in addition to handlers and a second customer.

We are finally seeing new system sales compound on top of reoccurring parts and service plus test handlers.

Cohu will now begin to show growth on a quarterly basis. Looks like 20 million a quarter is a nice boost in revenue.

Now we'll see that revenue fall to the bottom line as overhead gets absorbed on a bigger sales volume.

GIDDY UP!

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Evercore ISI initiates Cohu as outperform Evercore says the semis test automatio...

Johnny Canuck — 3/16/2026 10:17:00 AM

Evercore ISI initiates Cohu as outperform Evercore says the semis test automation company is well positioned. “We are initiating on COHU with an Outperform rating and $35 price target and believe the setup is supported by three drivers.”

[Johnny Canuck] AEHR seeing orders so someone is buying; Message 35444644

Johnny Canuck — 3/4/2026 10:27:37 AM

[Johnny Canuck] I know I read the SNDK and MU are sold out of their product runs to 2027. You wo...

Johnny Canuck — 3/3/2026 5:38:38 PM

I know I read the SNDK and MU are sold out of their product runs to 2027. You would think they need to add capacity but memory is so cyclical.

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, This bodes well for Cohu's HBM testers as production and capex grow ...

robert b furman — 3/3/2026 1:35:30 PM

Hi Johnny,

This bodes well for Cohu's HBM testers as production and capex grow by mid year:

RAM prices to surge up to 70% in 2Q26; Nvidia GTC 2026 ignites AI memory rally
Siu Han, Taipei
Mar 3, 2026, 10:10

AI-driven data centre expansion has pushed the memory market beyond traditional supply-demand cycles, creating a structural shortage that continues to deepen. Industry sources say the gap between spot and contract prices has widened to 40–50%, pressuring memory suppliers to raise contract prices in successive rounds to close the spread.

South Korean media reports that the two leading suppliers plan to raise DRAM contract prices by about 40% in the second quarter of 2026. Supply chain estimates suggest the increase could reach 40-70%. Nvidia GTC 2026 is expected to reinforce AI-related memory demand and strengthen pricing power.

Nvidia GTC 2026 sharpens the HBM4 and HBM5 competition
Nvidia GTC 2026 is expected to introduce a new chip architecture, with market focus on the next-generation Feynman platform. Industry expectations point to the adoption of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, including HBM4E or HBM5.

The transition to HBM4E or HBM5 would intensify competition among the three leading memory suppliers and accelerate capital expenditure on HBM capacity.

During GTC, memory vendors are poised to showcase their latest progress with Nvidia:

? Samsung is expected to introduce HBM4 products and update progress related to Nvidia's Rubin GPU, including potential disclosures on HBM4E validation.

? SK Hynix is expected to reaffirm HBM4 mass production in the first half of 2026 in line with customer demand.

? Micron is expected to address market concerns over HBM4 and provide updates on its technology roadmap.

Samsung has announced early HBM4 mass production shipments. SK Hynix and Micron maintain that volume production aligned with customer demand will begin in the first half of 2026. SK Hynix is expected to secure more than half of Nvidia's HBM4 supply, while Micron says its 2026 HBM capacity is fully sold out.

AI upgrades lock in multi-year demand for HBM, DDR5, and NAND
As Nvidia iterates on its AI architectures, the technical complexity of next-generation HBM continues to rise. Data centre demand for HBM, DDR5, and NAND has become structurally embedded.

The three leading memory suppliers are redirecting capacity to AI memory. Overall, the bit demand is rising sharply. Some question the durability of the rally, but executives call it a seller's market with little pricing flexibility.

South Korean media reports that SK Hynix and Samsung have issued notices stating that they target roughly 40% second-quarter increases. Some module makers were notified in March. With spot prices far above contract levels, second-quarter hikes could exceed 40% and approach 70%. The direction should be clarified after Nvidia GTC 2026.

SK Hynix says supply tightness exceeds expectations and no customer will fully meet demand in 2026. Taiwanese module makers report contract fulfillment rates of 20–30%, with 50% considered strong. Despite high spot prices, companies still buy on the spot market to cover gaps.

AI absorbs supply as consumer segments weaken
Module makers face upstream shortages and downstream allocation limits. PCs and smartphones struggle with repeated price hikes. Overall memory demand remains firm.

Capacity released by consumer clients is quickly absorbed by AI workloads, as AI demand shows no near-term cap.

The consumer market faces rising pressure. Price-sensitive segments risk being pushed out as memory costs climb.

Industry sources say structural shortages will shift more capacity to AI over the next two years. New fabs are unlikely to ease tight HBM supply or pricing strength.

Rising memory costs may force customers to lower specifications. Over time, that weakens product competitiveness and application value.

[Johnny Canuck] Summary of ADI earnings conference call Q&A: Message 35431220 Note that ADI is...

Johnny Canuck — 2/18/2026 10:15:34 PM

Summary of ADI earnings conference call Q&A:

Message 35431220

Note that ADI is saying there is heavy demand for sensors for automatic test equipment segment.

No idea if ADI supplies to COHU?

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, Nice recap. broadcast was very upbeat and Jeffrey Junes did his usu...

robert b furman — 2/13/2026 5:54:26 PM

Hi Johnny,

Nice recap.

broadcast was very upbeat and Jeffrey Junes did his usual adjustment and it's associated tax savings.

Net result was huge over reaction to the adjustment, when in fact the market has turned up out a very long trough.

From here out, holding Cohu will be very rewarding as we progress to the end of this wave at $82.10.

If you are short Cohu, get long.

If you are long Cohu, get more!

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] [graphic] Cohu Q4 Earnings Call Highlights MarketBeat Thu, February 12, 2026 at...

Johnny Canuck — 2/13/2026 12:36:23 PM

Cohu Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

MarketBeat
Thu, February 12, 2026 at 3:19 PM PST 8 min read

In this article:

COHU
-3.96%

CDNS
+3.57%

Cohu logoKey Points

Q4 revenue was $122.2 million (up 30% YoY) with recurring revenue making up roughly 60% of sales and recurring bookings rising 34% sequentially, while management said about 70% of Q1 revenue was already in backlog.
Test utilization and systems demand strengthened late in 2025—utilization rose to about 76% at year-end and systems orders jumped 47% QoQ—backed by design wins for Eclipse handlers and growing HBM inspection demand (Cohu forecasts $15–$20M HBM revenue in 2026).
Gross margin fell to 40.8% in Q4 after a one-time inventory charge that management estimates cost roughly 350 basis points, but they expect normalization to about 45% in Q1 and further margin upside as revenue scales.
Interested in Cohu, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better.

There’s A Buying Opportunity Opening Up With Cadence Design

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) executives told investors the company closed 2025 with improving demand signals across both its recurring and systems businesses, citing higher bookings, rising test utilization, and expanding design win activity tied to computing, automotive, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) markets.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose year over year as recurring business stayed resilientChief Executive Officer Luis Müller said fourth-quarter revenue totaled $122 million, up 30% year-over-year, and remained split between about 40% systems and 60% recurring revenue. He highlighted recurring business strength as a stabilizer during a period of softer equipment demand, with recurring revenue up 4% sequentially and 25% year-over-year. For full-year 2025, revenue was $453 million, up 13% from the prior year.

? Once Upon A Farm: Buy the $1B Growth Story?

MarketBeat Week in Review – 7/17 - 7/21

Müller also noted that recurring business represented roughly 60% of fourth-quarter revenue and said recurring bookings increased 34% sequentially, driven by stronger demand across service contracts, interface solutions, and handler-related spares.

Bookings improved; management pointed to a pipeline into the first half of 2026Müller said systems demand increased 47% quarter-over-quarter, driven by higher equipment orders from major global customers. He attributed the increase to activity from a leading analog and mixed-signal customer, renewed investment from an automotive and industrial semiconductor manufacturer, strength from RF and connectivity device customers, and stepped-up spending from “top-tier fabless computing and mobile companies.” The top ten customers represented about 63% of fourth-quarter bookings, and full-year 2025 orders rose 29% year-over-year.

? No Rally? Coca-Cola’s Results Still Look Like a Sweet Deal

Is Cohu Inc. One of the Cheapest Chip Stocks Around?

In response to analyst questions on timing, CFO Jeff Jones said the company entered the first quarter with substantial coverage, noting that about 70% of guided first-quarter revenue was in backlog, with the majority of the remaining system shipments expected in the second quarter. He added that some recurring orders—particularly annual service contract renewals—would be recognized across multiple quarters during 2026.

Utilization ticked higher and customer engagement broadenedManagement described higher test utilization trends from September through December, with improvements most pronounced in markets tied to computing and automotive applications. Müller said estimated test utilization rose to 76% at the end of December, with computing at 78% and automotive at 75%.

? AI Power Crunch: Why Bloom Energy Is the Hidden Winner

On the Q&A, Müller provided additional detail on utilization by segment as the company exited the quarter: compute at 78%, industrial at 77%, consumer at 76%, automotive at 75%, mobile at 72%, and OSAT and IDM utilization in the mid-70% range. Looking into the first quarter, he said the company was seeing the biggest momentum in mobile utilization, potentially crossing 75%, with compute expected to continue rising. He also said OSAT utilization could improve faster than IDMs early in the quarter, while emphasizing the company does not typically forecast utilization.

Jones added that recurring revenue had increased sequentially for four straight quarters, which he described as a sign of market recovery when viewed alongside utilization trends.

Design wins highlighted Eclipse handler progress and growing HBM inspection opportunityMüller outlined multiple design win and order milestones in the quarter, including expansions across automotive ADAS, analog and power devices, compute-related applications, and predictive maintenance. He also said customers continued to emphasize quality, yield, productivity, and cost-of-test efficiency.

A transition win for Cohu’s test interface products at a leading analog and mixed-signal customer.
An initial order for a high-performance thermal configuration of the Eclipse handler aligned to a customer’s AI device roadmap.
A multi-unit order for a new handler still in development, targeting automotive and “physical AI” devices; Müller said an initial qualification system would ship in the summer with follow-on units later in the year.
An order for HBM inspection at a customer’s engineering lab supporting next-generation memory development; management clarified it was the same customer already using the platform.
The first mixed-signal tester order at an analog and connectivity business unit of a large semiconductor manufacturer, expanding Diamondx tester penetration beyond earlier wins.
An order for a Krypton inspection metrology system for production of automotive ADAS processors, including a subscription component for PACE inspection software that uses machine learning to improve yield.
Bookings for tri-temperature handlers across multiple customer sites to support growing power module test demand.

On Eclipse, Müller said the company booked a high-power thermal-control configuration in the fourth quarter and shipped a production unit in late January following qualification work. While he did not disclose volume expectations for 2026, he said the company has capacity to meet current customer forecasts and expects shipment rates to increase in the second quarter into the third quarter.

On HBM, management said it exited 2025 with $11 million in revenue tied to the HBM market. Jones said Cohu booked one HBM system in the fourth quarter and booked three additional systems in January for the first quarter. The company forecast 2026 HBM revenue of $15 million to $20 million and said it currently expects that revenue to be “fairly linear” through the year. Addressing inspection intensity, Müller said the customer is performing 100% inspection with Cohu’s platform and that newer generations such as HBM4 will increase device size and interconnect counts, which in turn increases inspection time, though he did not provide a quantified impact.

Margins impacted by one-time inventory charges; Q1 outlook calls for normalizationJones said fourth-quarter revenue of $122.2 million was in line with guidance, but gross margin of 40.8% came in below expectations due to one-time inventory charges related to discontinuing certain product lines and consolidating offerings. He said the actions were intended to better align engineering and support resources with customer needs and to focus on high-performance computing, HBM memory, and AI-related opportunities. In response to a question on magnitude, Jones said roughly 350 basis points of gross margin impact came from the one-time charge, with mix accounting for the remainder.

Operating expenses were $49.8 million, in line with guidance. Net interest income was about $1.9 million for the quarter. Jones also said the tax provision was higher than guidance due to a $5 million increase in tax reserves against tax assets, which he said did not affect expected future use of the assets or cash taxes.

For the first quarter of 2026, Jones guided revenue to be seasonally flat with the fourth quarter at approximately $122 million plus or minus $7 million, with recurring revenue again expected to represent about 60% of total revenue. He projected gross margin would return to about 45%, as the unique inventory charges from the fourth quarter are not expected to continue. Operating expenses are expected to be roughly flat at about $50 million, net interest income around $1.9 million, and a tax provision of about $5.5 million. Diluted share count is expected to be approximately 48.5 million.

Jones also discussed margin leverage as revenue increases, saying gross margin could reach the high-46% range around $130 million in quarterly revenue, approach 48% as quarterly revenue reaches $150 million, and reach about 48% at what the company currently views as a normalized run rate of roughly $160 million per quarter.

On capital spending, Jones said the company is targeting capital expenditures of about 2% of revenue in 2026 and expects “normal maintenance CapEx” each quarter.

Management reiterated that it is modeling another growth year in 2026, pointing to improving utilization, strengthening recurring trends, and increased demand tied to compute and AI-related infrastructure.

About Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU)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.

The article " Cohu Q4 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat.

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[Johnny Canuck] Daily Digest Cohu posts strong Q4 2025 results (revenue $122.2M; GAAP EPS -$0.4...

Johnny Canuck — 2/13/2026 12:33:55 PM

Daily Digest

Cohu posts strong Q4 2025 results (revenue $122.2M; GAAP EPS -$0.48, non-GAAP -$0.15), guides Q1 2026 revenue to $122M ± $7M with gross margin rebounding toward ~45%, cites improving late-2025 systems demand, stronger recurring bookings and 76% test utilization, and outlines an AI/HBM-led upcycle with $15–$20M HBM revenue and margin recovery in 2026.

Q4 revenue grew 30% YoY to ~$123M, with full-year 2025 revenue up 13% YoY.
Recurring revenue was 60% of Q4 sales, up 4% QoQ and 25% YoY, signaling recovery.
Orders rose 29% in 2025; Q4 systems bookings +47% QoQ and recurring bookings +34% QoQ.
HBM Neon revenue exited 2025 at $11M; 2026 HBM outlook raised to $15–20M.
Q4 gross margin fell to 40.8% on one-time product rationalization charges; Q1 guided back to ~45%.
Management targets 46–47% gross margin at ~$130M quarterly revenue, ~48% at $160M.
Q1 2026 revenue guided seasonally flat at ~$122M ± $7M, 60% recurring, 40% systems.
AI, high-performance computing, HBM memory and “physical AI” handlers driving design wins and backlog.
Utilization improved to ~76% exiting Q4; recurring revenue has grown sequentially four quarters in a row.
Balance sheet strengthened with $287.5M 1.5% convertible notes; cash/investments now $484M versus $305M debt.
Strong quarter, driven by accelerating orders, resilient recurring revenue and growing AI/HBM exposure. Main concern: execution on new product ramps and sustaining margin expansion as volumes recover.

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, Jeffrey Jones is a CFO to the hghest order. He was the CEO for SBSE...

robert b furman — 2/12/2026 11:03:39 PM

Hi Johnny,

Jeffrey Jones is a CFO to the hghest order.

He was the CEO for SBSE, whose CEO is on the board of directors at Cohu. They were acquired byanothe electronics company years ago.

Jeffrey hates paying tax, which puts him in my high regard .

I've seen Cohu wrtie off obsolete parts and a quarter later have to take it back, as they sold them as parts in their recurring business. He's good, as it is all about retaining your revenue vs pay the governent on your quarterly estimates.

Cohu down 8 points after the CEO says the trough is in?

MM has total control.

These guty sing the blues, as the market breaks out in new system orders.

I guess they were afraid of being positive, would take the stock up to the conversion price of 41.05 ish?

Strange set of managers scared to death about being positive about business.

They are sitting on a half trillion of cash.

Scared to show they are growing.

Maybe a ploy to get an acquisition and not spend a lot of shares in the acquisition?

You don't do a convertible for cash without having an acquisition in mind?

I've never seen such a group of serial sandbaggers.

Once again up into the webcast is the kiss of death.

Then after sand bagging but having an investor presentation, the day before, they'll announce, interim, better guidance the day before the investor presentation.

Cohu needs a marketing manager!

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] AMAT seeing strong demand. Message 35425789 A rising tide definitely not raisi...

Johnny Canuck — 2/12/2026 9:49:53 PM

AMAT seeing strong demand.

Message 35425789

A rising tide definitely not raising all boats.

COHU is technically installed last in a fab but if the conference call does indicate a large backlog sonething is wrong - wrong product mix??

[Johnny Canuck] earningswhispers.com Revenues were in line. EPS was a big miss as concensus at ...

Johnny Canuck — 2/12/2026 5:17:56 PM

earningswhispers.com

Revenues were in line. EPS was a big miss as concensus at a loss of 4 cents.

It looks like they threw every write off in the book at the quarter or at least one would hope that was what they did.

[Johnny Canuck] It looks like they missed and are guiding flat revenue next quarter. On the sur...

Johnny Canuck — 2/12/2026 5:06:24 PM

It looks like they missed and are guiding flat revenue next quarter.

On the surface not good.

It is going to come down to the conference call.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Cohu: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Associated Press Finance
Thu, February 12, 2026 at 1:26 PM PST 1 min read

In this article:

COHU
-3.98%

POWAY, Calif. (AP) — POWAY, Calif. (AP) — Cohu Inc. (COHU) on Thursday reported a loss of $22.5 million in its fourth quarter.

The Poway, California-based company said it had a loss of 48 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for pretax expenses and stock option expense, were 15 cents per share.

The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 7 cents per share.

The maker of semiconductor test equipment posted revenue of $122.2 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $74.3 million, or $1.59 per share. Revenue was reported as $453 million.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on COHU at zacks.com

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[robert b furman] As I've noted for decades here: As goes Teradyne, SO GOES COHU. From: Johnny C...

robert b furman — 2/9/2026 8:21:35 AM

As I've noted for decades here: As goes Teradyne, SO GOES COHU.

From: Johnny Canuck	2/3/2026 3:29:47 PM
	of 70625

Teradyne stock popped on Tuesday after the company beat fourth-quarter estimates thanks to strong artificial intelligence demand. The robotics company reported adjusted earnings of $1.80 per share, exceeding the $1.37 per share expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Revenue totaled $1.08 billion, topping a forecast of $973 million. Teradyne’s fourth-quarter revenue was up 44% compared to a year ago. On the earnings call with analysts, CEO Greg Smith said that AI drove more than 60% of Teradyne’s revenue in the fourth quarter. He said the company expects that to be upward of 70% next quarter. The company attributed its Q4 growth to “strong AI-related demand in compute and memory” and issued strong guidance. “In 2026, we expect year-over-year growth across all of our businesses, with strong momentum in compute driven by AI,” the company said in a press release on Monday. Teradyne said it anticipates first-quarter adjusted earnings per share to be between $1.89 and $2.25, far above LSEG estimates of $1.26. First-quarter revenue is expected to fall between $1.15 billion and $1.25 billion, again exceeding LSEG expectations of $935 million. Net income for the fourth quarter was $257.2 million, or $1.63 per diluted share. Net income a year ago was $146.3 million, or 90 cents per share. The company said earnings adjustments were made for “acquired intangible asset amortization, restructuring and other charges and pension mark-to-market adjustment.” Jordan Klein of Mizuho called Teradyne’s earnings a “Total Blow-Out.” “This story JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER.,” Klein wrote in a note, highlighting the company’s increased exposure to enterprise, networking and compute. The AI blitz has hit every tech sector, and the latest earnings reports show the cascading effects of chip demand. Smith said on the earnings call that data centers were “the prime mover of the market.” In 2025, data center deals hit a record $61 billion, according to S&P Global. Shares of memory maker Sandisk soared after its second-quarter earnings last week, reporting 64% growth in its data center business specifically. Apple CEO Tim Cook said last week that the company would see a hit from rising memory prices, but the iPhone maker was currently dealing with a limited supply of advanced node chips. “At this time, we’re seeing less flexibility in supply chain than normal, partly because of our increased demand,” Cook said. Correction: This story has been revised to reflect that Teradyne anticipates first-quarter adjusted earnings per share to be between $1.89 and $2.25. A previous version misstated the high end of the range of anticipated EPS.

Earnings due this Thursday After close.

This should be good! GIDDY UP!

Bob

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, A rare day when Cohu is up 2 bucks. Keep it going! Bob

robert b furman — 2/6/2026 2:18:27 PM

[Johnny Canuck] COHU rallying into a strong resistance level. Hopefully earnings can get it thro...

Johnny Canuck — 2/6/2026 1:04:27 PM

COHU rallying into a strong resistance level. Hopefully earnings can get it through that level.

[robert b furman] Cohu To Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results on February 12 SAN ...

robert b furman — 2/5/2026 11:58:42 AM

Cohu To Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results on February 12
SAN DIEGO --(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 2026-- Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU), a global supplier of equipment and services optimizing semiconductor manufacturing yield and productivity, will release financial results for fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 1:00 p.m.

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Fingers crossed. They need some order traction and a decent outook to get them m...

Johnny Canuck — 2/2/2026 11:26:17 PM

Fingers crossed. They need some order traction and a decent outook to get them moving again.

I am not sure how much legs the AI story has left.

All the chip and memory demand is due to AI and cracks are starting to appear.

Customer signed multiyear contracts on memory by they are worthless if you end customers can't pay.

The video suggest ORCL is short on cashflow and it cost them big money to borrow to finance the build out.

Message 35416026

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, Thanks for the good news. As goes TER, so goes Cohu - I'd dare to b...

robert b furman — 2/2/2026 10:11:11 PM

Hi Johnny,

Thanks for the good news.

As goes TER, so goes Cohu - I'd dare to be even more optimistic since Cohu has a tester for HBM, instead of just a handler.

Testers have higher margins.

Can't wait for the webcast!

Bob

[Johnny Canuck] Teradyne posts Q4 2025 results above guidance with revenue of $1.08B and non-G...

Johnny Canuck — 2/2/2026 4:50:21 PM

Teradyne posts Q4 2025 results above guidance with revenue of $1.08B and non-GAAP EPS of $1.80, and issues stronger-than-expected Q1 2026 guidance of $1.15B-$1.25B revenue and $1.89-$2.25 non-GAAP EPS, citing AI-driven semiconductor test demand.

[robert b furman] Hi Johnny, The good news is 2026 HBM is sold out and I suspect Cohu's new test...

robert b furman — 2/2/2026 11:26:57 AM

Hi Johnny,

The good news is 2026 HBM is sold out and I suspect Cohu's new tester for High Bandwidth Memory will add 25 million a quarter starting this quarter and other handlers will follow in H2 this year and most of 2027 for some plus 700 million run rate (hopefully higher).

Innovation of a new product is always a boost, as reusables keep on covering the overhead.

Cohu's intermediate business model is now $1.50 to $3.25, with a CAGR of 14% from 2024, margins hitting 46%, with a goal of 50 and an EBITDA of 18 to 26%

Cohu tentatively announces earnings Feb 12th.

IF they just have good earnings with better guidance we should be in the 30's solidly. A CAGR of 14% and 50% margins with volume absorbing the overhead, we'll be on the way to printing money in 2026.

Time for this serial laggard to break out! - market maker has total control!

I love that last year's brutal dip, It had to shakeout all the weak hands - Typical Cohu price action!

PowerPoint Presentation - its a good read.

GIDDY UP!
Bob

[Johnny Canuck] It looks like memory companies has signed some longer term contracts with AI hyp...

Johnny Canuck — 2/2/2026 10:55:50 AM

It looks like memory companies has signed some longer term contracts with AI hyperscaler supplier and are feeling frisky to build new fabs. Keep in mind there is usually a 18 month delay till the get to installing the test equipment.

There is still the fear their customers can not pay the memory supplier though as companies like OpenAi has no model to cover the $1 Trillion in spending over the next decade.

It is going to be a bit of wild ride.

Message 35412794

[Johnny Canuck] Some data points on AMKR and AEHR. Message 35396987

Johnny Canuck — 1/18/2026 3:46:22 AM