Cognex shares jump even after profits drop

Shares of Natick machine vision systems and bar code reader manufacturer Cognex Corp. jumped about 15 percent Tuesday after the company said its second-quarter revenue was a 19-percent increase over last year. 

The company’s net income for the quarter of $56.2 million was just below last year’s second quarter mark, but a 51-percent increase over the company’s profit reported in Q1.

The $211.3 million in revenue was a significant bump over the first quarter revenue of $169.6 million. 

That mark was the second-highest quarterly revenue in the company’s 37-year history, said Founder and Chairman Robert Shillman in a statement.

For the first six months of the year, the company’s revenue of $380.8 million is a 20-percent increase over this time last year. Profits, however, are down 8 percent for the year. 

The company expects third quarter revenue to be between $220 million and $230 million, which would be a decline from last year due to last year’s third quarter revenues of $266 million, the company’s highest recorded revenue ever. 

The company opened Tuesday trading at $51.18, a jump from the $44.24 at Monday’s close.