APRIL 15--Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA; www.cognex.com) has disclosed revenues for the first quarter, ended March 30, 2003, of $32,888,000, an increase of 51% over the $21,780,000 in the first quarter of 2002 and a decrease of 3% from the $33,829,000 in the prior quarter. Cognex reported net income for the first quarter of 2003 of $1,793,000, or $0.04 per diluted share; this compares favorably to a net loss of $2,520,000, or $0.06 per diluted share, reported for Q1-02 and to net income of $424,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, reported for Q4-02.
"Although the current order trend is choppy on a week-to-week basis, and visibility remains limited, I am happy to report that bookings in the first quarter increased 37% year-on-year and 13% on a sequential basis," said Robert J. Shillman, Cognex's chief executive officer and chairman. "I am also pleased to say that our Surface Inspection Systems Division reported the highest order level for any quarter in that division's seven-year history."
Shillman continued, "Our goal for 2003 is to be profitable at the operating line in each quarter and, to achieve that goal, we are continuing to closely monitor expenses. However, not all of our actions have been of a defensive nature; we are taking proactive steps, as well. For example, we recently acquired the wafer-identification business of Siemens Dematic AG, which enhances Cognex's position as a top supplier of wafer-identification systems to semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. And we announced our entry into new business areas for machine vision that are outside of factory automation, where we have historically focused. Cognex engineers have developed innovative 2- and 3-D vision technology that can be used in a variety of high-volume commercial applications where vision can be used very effectively. Our first product, the CPS-1000, is designed specifically for detecting and counting people as they pass through access-controlled doorways. We expect that the CPS-1000 will be the first in a large series of application-specific sensors that Cognex will develop and market in the years ahead."
