Cognex Corporation Raises Estimates for First Quarter and for Full Year Of 2000; Machine Vision Company Sees Increasing Activity in all Markets.

Business/Technology Editors

NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2000

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, today announced that it expects revenue and net income for the first quarter ending April 2, 2000 to set new quarterly records, and that both revenue and net income will significantly exceed most current estimates. The company now expects revenue for the first quarter of 2000 to be greater than $53 million, and that earnings for the quarter will exceed, by approximately 15%, the current First Call consensus estimate of $0.29 per share.

"Customer demand is very strong in all industry segments and in both of our divisions. In particular, demand from each one of our major customers who manufactures capital equipment for the semiconductor industry continues to surpass even our most recent upbeat order forecasts," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Cognex's President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman. "And, although we have only limited visibility into the second half of 2000, those customers continue to advise us that they expect business to be strong for the remainder of this year and into 2001."

Dr. Shillman continued, "Given both the current level of activity and our customers' expectations for continued growth, we now project that revenues for fiscal year 2000 will be close to $240 million, and that earnings per share will exceed...by approximately 15%...the current First Call consensus of $1.27. And, excluding the effect of goodwill, there is additional potential upside to these new estimates because they do not include the likely positive impact of our recent acquisition of the machine vision business of Komatsu Ltd., which was announced by Cognex on March 15th."

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems, or computers that can "see." Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped to date more than 100,000 machine vision systems. Cognex's Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, and plastics. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices located throughout North America, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com.

Certain statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the company's current expectations and estimates as to prospective events and circumstances which may or may not be in the company's control and as to which there can be no firm assurances given. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. The company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. Further discussions of risk factors are also available in the company's registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.