Cognex Corp (NASDAQ: CGNX) reported Q4 EPS of $0.26, $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of $0.22. Revenue for the quarter came in at $194.29 million versus the consensus estimate of $184.81 million.

“For the third year in a row, Cognex reported record revenue, record net income, and record earnings per share, all from continuing operations,” said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Chairman of Cognex. “Normally, I would say that I am very pleased with this achievement, but our success was partly due to a one-time charge to tax expense in Q4-17 related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Nevertheless, we were highly profitable in both 2017 and 2018, reporting an operating margin of 27% or more for each of those years.”

“We are reporting our ninth consecutive year of revenue growth following an exceptional growth year in 2017,” said Robert J. Willett, Chief Executive Officer of Cognex. “We performed well across most end markets. An exception was consumer electronics—our largest industry vertical—where a few large customers in OLED display and smartphone manufacturing scaled back their spending on machine vision after making substantial investments in 2017. Putting those customers aside, revenue from the rest of our business grew by 18% year-on-year.”

Mr. Willett continued, “As we enter 2019, lower spending by our customers in China continues to slow our growth rate as it did at the end of 2018. Similar effects are now evident in other markets that we serve, most noticeably in the automotive sector in the Americas.”

GUIDANCE:

Cognex Corp sees Q1 2019 revenue of $165-175 million, versus the consensus of $177.03 million.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Cognex Corp (CGNX) click here.