Cognex Corporation (CGNX) vs Trimble Inc. (TRMB)

Cognex Corporation and Trimble Inc. are both Scientific & Technical Instruments companies. Trimble Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $12.5B against $8.0B — 1.6× the size. Trimble Inc. has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; Cognex Corporation trades at 32.8×. Cognex Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 15.8% against 6.88%. Cognex Corporation has the higher net margin (21.5% vs −4.08%) and the higher return on invested capital (17.2% vs 6.30%). Across the 21 metrics below, Cognex Corporation leads on 14 and Trimble Inc. on 7.

Valuation

Metric CGNX TRMB Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 32.78 n/m 28.21
P/S 7.08 3.27 4.46
P/B 4.63 2.53 3.10
Price to free cash flow 28.22 15.91 24.15
EV/EBITDA 27.26 16.61 18.28
EV/Sales 6.46 3.61 4.64
Earnings yield 3.05% (1.27%) 0.68%
Free cash flow yield 3.54% 6.28% 1.98%

Profitability

Metric CGNX TRMB Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Gross margin 69.69% 69.60% 47.24%
Operating margin 25.01% 16.48% 8.96%
Net margin 21.50% (4.08%) 1.92%
Free cash flow margin 26.01% 20.74% 10.59%
Return on equity 15.07% (2.92%) 2.66%
Return on assets 11.31% (1.79%) 1.12%
Return on invested capital 17.15% 6.30% 4.79%

Growth

Metric CGNX TRMB Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Revenue growth (TTM) 15.82% 6.88% 9.26%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 9.68% (71.10%) 13.24%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 4.16% 2.65% 7.89%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR (8.27%) 1.69% 0.00%

Health

Metric CGNX TRMB Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.31 0.00
Current ratio 5.04 0.93 2.30
Net debt to EBITDA (1.75) 1.44 0.45

Dividend

Metric CGNX TRMB Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Dividend yield 0.72% — 0.62%
Payout ratio 0.24 — 0.22

Size

Metric CGNX TRMB Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 7.99b 12.51b 549.07m

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