Cohu, Inc. (COHU): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) is a critical, yet often overlooked, player in the semiconductor supply chain, but how does a company that reported an estimated full-year 2025 revenue of $448.08 million navigate the industry's notorious cyclicalty? You see the firm accelerating hard into the AI data center market, with its Neon High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) inspection and Eclipse test handler platforms driving a 32.4% year-over-year jump in Q3 2025 net sales to $126.2 million. Are you aware that institutional heavyweights like Blackrock Inc. own over 15% of the company, signaling a deep conviction in its pivot to high-growth segments, or how that concentration impacts your defintely investment thesis? Let's break down Cohu's history, its mission to optimize manufacturing yield, and exactly how it makes money in this complex, high-stakes world.

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) History

You need to understand Cohu, Inc.'s past to grasp its current trajectory in the semiconductor space. The company's story isn't a straight line; it's a series of shrewd pivots, moving from post-war electronics to becoming a global leader in semiconductor test and handling equipment. The biggest takeaway? Strategic acquisitions, particularly the 2018 Xcerra deal, completely redefined their market position.

My two decades in finance, including time at BlackRock, taught me that a company's evolution is the best predictor of its strategic flexibility. Cohu, Inc. has defintely shown that flexibility, translating a legacy in cameras into a future in high-performance computing test solutions.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

Cohu, Inc. was initially founded in 1947 as Kalbfell Laboratories, Inc.

Original location

The company started in San Diego, California, leveraging the post-war electronics cluster in Southern California.

Founding team members

The original entity was co-founded by David Kalbfell and his partners, but the company's namesake and later re-incorporator was Lamott T. Cohu in 1957.

Initial capital/funding

Initial funding came from founder capital and early profits, a common model for technology companies of that era, with specific initial capital figures not being widely publicized.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The company's most profound shifts involved moving away from its original core products to focus entirely on the high-growth, high-margin semiconductor industry. This wasn't a slow drift; it was a series of deliberate, capital-intensive moves.

The 2018 Xcerra acquisition was the game-changer. It instantly expanded Cohu, Inc.'s product portfolio beyond handlers to include testers and interface solutions, effectively making them a one-stop shop for semiconductor back-end test. Here's the quick math: this deal pushed the company into a much larger total addressable market (TAM), which is key for long-term revenue stability.

• Strategic Pivot to Semiconductor Focus: In the 1990s, the leadership divested non-core assets like television cameras and video products, concentrating capital and R&D on semiconductor test equipment.
• Full-Stack Capability via Xcerra: The Xcerra deal in 2018 was the single largest transformation, adding LTX-Credence Testers and Multitest contactors, enabling Cohu, Inc. to provide end-to-end test solutions.
• Shift to Recurring Revenue: Post-acquisition strategy focused on growing services and consumables, which now represent a significant buffer against cyclical system sales. In Q1 2025, recurring revenue accounted for 63% of total revenue.
• AI-Driven Growth in 2025: The acquisition of Tignis, Inc. in 2025, an AI process control and analytics provider, strategically positions Cohu, Inc. to capitalize on the industry's need for optimized yield and productivity, which is a major value driver for investors.

This focus is paying off in their recent results. Cohu, Inc. reported Q3 2025 revenue of $126.2 million, a 17.2% sequential increase, showing that the investments in new platforms like Eclipse and Neon are gaining traction in the high-performance computing and AI segments. The company also returned to non-GAAP profitability in Q2 2025, posting an EPS of $0.02. That's a strong signal of a successful restructuring and market recovery.

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) Ownership Structure

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) operates as a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ stock exchange, meaning its ownership is distributed among a vast number of institutional and individual shareholders, not held privately. This structure puts the company under intense scrutiny from the market and regulatory bodies, but it also provides significant capital access.

The company is defintely dominated by institutional money, which controls the vast majority of the shares and thus the voting power. This means the strategic direction is heavily influenced by the world's largest asset managers.

Cohu, Inc.'s Current Status

Cohu, Inc. is a global technology leader in the semiconductor equipment space, publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol COHU. As of November 2025, its market capitalization sits around $1.03 billion, reflecting its position as a specialized player in the cyclical semiconductor industry. The company's public status means its financial and strategic decisions are transparently governed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, and its stock price, trading around $22.09 per share, is a real-time report card on its performance and future prospects.

Cohu, Inc.'s Ownership Breakdown

The ownership profile of Cohu is typical for a mid-cap technology firm, heavily skewed toward institutional investors (mutual funds, pension funds, and ETFs) who seek exposure to the semiconductor test and inspection market. Honestly, institutional investors hold the reins here, owning over 94% of the stock, which is a massive concentration of power. The table below breaks down the primary shareholder types, which explains who holds the decision-making influence.

BlackRock, Inc. is the single largest institutional shareholder, holding approximately 7.04 million shares, valued at over $168 million as of mid-2025. This level of institutional control means management must constantly communicate its strategy to a few powerful entities. You can check the company's long-term strategy and values here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Cohu, Inc. (COHU).

Cohu, Inc.'s Leadership

The leadership team at Cohu is a mix of long-tenured executives and recent strategic hires, particularly in the data analytics and strategy domains following the January 2025 acquisition of Tignis, Inc.. The board and executive officers are responsible for translating the company's mission into actionable business results, especially as the company navigates the current semiconductor cycle. It's a group with deep industry experience.

• Luis A. Müller: President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Director. He has led the company as CEO since December 2014.
• Jeffrey D. Jones: Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He has been with the company and its subsidiaries since 2005.
• James A. Donahue: Chairman of the Board. He provides strategic oversight, having previously served as the company's CEO.
• Christopher G. Bohrson: Chief Customer Officer and Senior Vice President. He focuses on global customer engagement and service.
• Thomas D. Kampfer: Vice President Corporate Development, General Counsel and Secretary. He manages legal and M&A strategy.
• Anna Aguirre: Chief Human Resources Officer. Promoted in 2025, she oversees the global talent strategy.
• Matthew Hutton: Vice President of Strategy. He joined in October 2025 to focus on corporate development and strategic initiatives.

The introduction of new roles like VP of Strategy and the promotion of a Chief Human Resources Officer in 2025 signals a clear focus on long-term planning and talent retention, which are critical for a technology company with a projected 2025 full-year EPS of -$0.36.

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) Mission and Values

Cohu, Inc.'s purpose extends beyond its $425 million in trailing 12-month revenue as of September 2025. The company's mission and values are a clear blueprint for enabling the next generation of electronics, focusing on customer success and relentless innovation.

Honestly, a company with a market cap of around $1.05 billion as of late October 2025 needs more than just good financials; it needs a guiding philosophy, and Cohu's is centered on solving the semiconductor industry's toughest manufacturing problems.

Cohu, Inc.'s Core Purpose

You need to understand what drives the product development and capital allocation, like the strategic investment in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) inspection technology, which Cohu expects to generate $10-$11 million in revenue in 2025. This focus is a direct reflection of their core purpose: making their customers more competitive.

Official mission statement

Cohu's mission is a straightforward operational blueprint: to be the leader in back-end semiconductor equipment and services. This is achieved by delivering innovative solutions that let customers improve yields, increase productivity, and reduce their time-to-market.

• Be the leader in back-end semiconductor equipment and services.
• Provide innovative solutions for improved yields.
• Accelerate customer time-to-market and reduce costs.

Vision statement

The vision statement is future-oriented, mapping Cohu's long-term aspiration to the broader technological landscape. It's about being indispensable to the entire electronics ecosystem, not just the semiconductor niche. Exploring Cohu, Inc. (COHU) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

• Enable the electronics of tomorrow.
• Solve the industry's toughest test and handling challenges.
• Be the global leader in semiconductor test and handling solutions.

Cohu, Inc. Core Values

The core values are the cultural DNA, guiding everything from employee development-where the company launched an Emerging Leader Program for approximately 10% of employees in fiscal 2024-to R&D spending, which is targeted to be at least 35% of total Operating Expenses in 2025. Here's the quick math: if operating expenses were, say, $100 million, they're committing $35 million to R&D. That's a defintely serious commitment to innovation.

• Integrity: Conduct business with honesty and ethical behavior.
• Innovation: Drive continuous improvement and new technology.
• Customer Focus: Prioritize customer needs for exceptional service.
• Teamwork: Foster collaboration and mutual trust.
• Excellence: Strive for the highest standards in all operations.

Cohu, Inc. slogan/tagline

The company's tagline captures the ultimate benefit of their technology, translating complex equipment like their Neon platform for HBM inspection into a simple, human-centric outcome.

• Enabling a smarter, safer, and more connected future.

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) How It Works

Cohu, Inc. is a global technology leader that supplies essential equipment and services to optimize semiconductor manufacturing yield and productivity, making sure the chips powering your devices are reliable. The company makes money by selling high-precision test and handling systems, plus a growing stream of recurring revenue from interface products and powerful AI-driven software solutions.

Cohu, Inc.'s Product/Service Portfolio

The product portfolio is segmented into systems (handlers, testers, inspection) and recurring revenue from interface products and services, with recurring revenue representing about 63% of total revenue as of Q1 2025. The company's trailing twelve-month revenue ending September 27, 2025, was approximately $424.85 million. A key focus is the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) inspection market, with forecasted 2025 HBM revenue expected to reach $10 million to $11 million.

Cohu, Inc.'s Operational Framework

The operational framework is centered on a high-mix, low-volume manufacturing model, supported by a global footprint that includes key manufacturing and service centers across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The goal is to maximize customer yield and throughput.

• AI-Driven Process Monitoring: The acquisition of Tignis, now a Cohu Analytics Solution, integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning into the semiconductor fabrication (fab) process, enabling predictive and prescriptive analytics to optimize equipment efficiency and yield.
• Global Service and Support: Cohu provides extensive post-sale services, spares, and kits, which is a significant component of its recurring revenue base, ensuring continuous operation of complex test and inspection platforms.
• Efficiency and Cost Control: The company is actively managing its cost structure, including restructuring underutilized Asian factories and controlling operating expenses, which were held below the guided ~$48 million in Q2 2025.
• Test Cell Utilization: Operations are right-sized to current demand, with test cell utilization around 75% across all segments (Automotive, Industrial, Mobile, Computing, and Consumer) as of Q2 2025, showing flexibility for market ramps.

Cohu, Inc.'s Strategic Advantages

Cohu's market success is grounded in its ability to deliver precision and speed in the most demanding semiconductor applications, especially as chip complexity rises. This is not just about hardware; it's about the data and software that makes the hardware smart.

• AI/HBM Leadership: The strategic focus on the AI and Data Center market, particularly High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) inspection with the Neon platform, positions Cohu to capitalize on the secular growth in generative AI, which is a defintely high-growth area.
• Technological Breadth: The company offers a comprehensive portfolio-from automated test equipment (ATE) and handlers to thermal subsystems and advanced inspection-that addresses the entire semiconductor test workflow, giving customers a single, integrated solution provider.
• Recurring Revenue Stability: With recurring revenue from interface products and services making up a majority of sales, the business has a layer of resilience against the cyclical nature of the capital equipment market.
• Customer Embeddedness: Strong, long-standing relationships with major semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors globally, including securing a $28 million design-win order for the Eclipse handler in Q2 2025, locks in future revenue streams.

For a deeper dive into the balance sheet and cash flow, you should check out Breaking Down Cohu, Inc. (COHU) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors, because the operational story is only half the picture.

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) How It Makes Money

Cohu, Inc. generates its revenue by supplying the global semiconductor industry with the mission-critical equipment and services needed to test, inspect, and handle their chips, essentially ensuring quality and optimizing manufacturing yield. The business model is a blend of high-capital expenditure (cap-ex) system sales and a growing, high-margin recurring revenue stream from consumables and services.

Cohu, Inc.'s Revenue Breakdown

For the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, Cohu's net sales reached $126.2 million, showing a strong 32.4% year-over-year growth as the semiconductor industry begins to recover, especially in high-performance computing. This revenue is split into two primary streams: Systems and Recurring, which gives you a clear picture of the business's stability versus its cyclical growth drivers.

Business Economics

The core of Cohu's economic engine is its shift toward a higher percentage of predictable, recurring revenue, which acts as a buffer against the semiconductor industry's notorious cyclical swings. Honestly, that 55% recurring revenue in Q3 2025 is a critical metric because it comes from consumables like contactors and spare parts, which are needed regardless of whether a customer is buying a brand-new test handler.

• Pricing Power: Pricing for the core systems-the test handlers and testers-is based on the high-value intellectual property (IP) they contain, especially in advanced markets like High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) inspection for AI data centers.
• Sticky Revenue: The interface solutions and services revenue is inherently sticky; once a customer installs a Cohu system, they are locked into buying Cohu's proprietary interface products (like the ULTRA-S contactor) and services for the life of that equipment.
• AI as a Tail Wind: Demand is accelerating in the AI data center markets, with products like the Neon HBM inspection and Eclipse test handler driving new system sales. This is where the big, immediate revenue spikes come from.
• Cost Discipline: Management is actively restructuring, including moving manufacturing from the U.S. and Europe to Asia, to improve operational efficiency and lower the cost of goods sold (COGS). The goal is to sustain a non-GAAP gross margin near the 44% mark.

This mix of cap-ex sales and high-margin consumables gives Cohu a defintely more resilient business model than a pure-play equipment vendor.

Cohu, Inc.'s Financial Performance

As of November 2025, the financial performance shows a company emerging from a cyclical downturn, with revenue growth but still managing legacy costs. Total net sales for the first nine months of 2025 reached $330.7 million. The TTM (Trailing Twelve Months) revenue ending September 27, 2025, stood at $424.85 million.

• Gross Margin Health: The Q3 2025 GAAP gross margin was 43.8%, with the non-GAAP margin slightly higher at 44.1%. This is a solid margin for a capital equipment manufacturer, reflecting the value of their technology and cost controls.
• Path to Profitability: The company reported a GAAP net loss of $4.1 million (or $0.09 per share) in Q3 2025, which is a significant improvement from the loss in the prior year's quarter. The non-GAAP net loss was a narrower $2.8 million.
• Liquidity: Cohu maintains a strong balance sheet, ending Q3 2025 with $198.2 million in total cash and investments, giving them the capital to invest in new product development like the PD3x instrument and pursue strategic acquisitions.
• Market Signals: Estimated test cell utilization-a key industry health indicator-rose to 75% in Q2 2025, which historically signals an industry recovery is underway. Plus, they secured a $28 million design-win order for Mobile and Automotive test, shipping through Q4 2025.

The outlook is cautiously optimistic: Q4 2025 sales guidance is projected to be in the range of $115 million to $129 million, indicating continued sequential growth even with a typical seasonal slowdown factored in. For a deeper dive into who is betting on this recovery, you should read Exploring Cohu, Inc. (COHU) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Cohu, Inc. (COHU) Market Position & Future Outlook

Cohu, Inc. is navigating the cyclical semiconductor industry by strategically pivoting toward high-growth, high-value segments like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) testing, positioning itself for a stronger recovery despite a projected full-year 2025 revenue of approximately $448.08 million. The company's future hinges on its ability to convert its dominance in the semiconductor test handler market into sustained growth in next-generation test and inspection solutions.

Competitive Landscape

In the Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) space, Cohu competes with industry giants, focusing on its core strength in test handling and thermal subsystems. The global semiconductor test equipment market is projected to reach $7.65 billion in 2025, and Cohu maintains a specialized but strong position within this landscape.

Opportunities & Challenges

You're seeing Cohu proactively manage industry volatility, restructuring its operations to cut costs while aggressively investing in AI-driven testing, which is defintely the right move for long-term value. Here's the quick map of what they face.

Industry Position

Cohu is a specialized powerhouse in the test handler niche, not a generalist in the entire ATE market. They consistently secure an estimated 20-25% of the global test handler market, which is a solid, defensible position. This focus allows them to serve blue-chip customers who demand stringent quality for advanced microprocessors and automotive chips.

• Q3 2025 net sales grew 32.4% year-over-year to $126.2 million, showing a strong sequential recovery in demand.
• Approximately 55% of Q3 2025 net sales were recurring revenue, providing a critical buffer against capital equipment order swings.
• The company's acquisition of Tignis in January 2025 enhances its software capabilities, moving beyond pure hardware to offer AI-driven data analytics for yield optimization.
• A strong balance sheet, with total cash and investments at $198.2 million as of Q3 2025, provides strategic flexibility for further investments.

The core challenge is translating their handler dominance into a stronger position in the high-speed memory test solutions, where competitors like Advantest are more entrenched. You need to keep an eye on how quickly their new products like the Eclipse test handler capture market share outside of their traditional base. For a deeper dive into the institutional money behind this strategic shift, read Exploring Cohu, Inc. (COHU) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?