Should I Buy COHU? COHU 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Cohu Inc (COHU) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Sell

Latest Price

30.850

1 Day change

6.64%

52 Week Range

31.000

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/04

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Not a good buy right now for an impatient buyer: price is pushing into near-term resistance (R1 ~30.43) while near-term pattern stats skew bearish (70% odds of -0.87% next day, -3.06% next week, -5.05% next month).
Strongest red flag is positioning/sentiment from within the company: insiders are selling aggressively (selling up ~4176% over the last month).
Options positioning is bullish (low put/call ratios), but elevated implied volatility suggests the market is pricing bigger swings and potential downside around upcoming catalysts.

Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals

AI Stock Picker: No signal on given stock today.
SwingMax: No signal on given stock today.

Technical Analysis

Trend/MAs: Bullish structure (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200) supports the broader uptrend.
Momentum: MACD histogram is below 0 (-0.0448) but contracting (downtrend momentum fading, not yet a confirmed bullish re-acceleration).
RSI(6)=65.5: slightly warm/near overbought zone; upside may be more limited short term unless it cleanly breaks resistance.
Levels: Pivot 29.14 as the key line to hold; immediate resistance R1 30.43 then R2 31.23. A failure near 30.43 raises odds of a pullback toward ~29.14.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Positioning/Sentiment: Put/Call Open Interest 0.48 and Put/Call Volume 0.05 are strongly call-leaning (bullish tilt).
Volatility: 30D IV 78.0 vs HV 56.4; IV percentile 86.4 indicates options are expensive and the market expects large moves.
Activity: Today’s option volume is small (64 total) but is far above the 30-day average baseline (today vs avg ~35x), suggesting a burst of interest rather than steady accumulation.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- AI/HBM exposure narrative: analysts cite structurally strong AI-driven demand (HBM/CoWoS/GPUs/custom ASICs) as a multi-year tailwind.
- Analyst actions have turned more constructive recently (upgrade + higher target), which can support flows.
- Upcoming earnings (QDEC 2025, 2026-02-16 after hours) could be a catalyst if guidance surprises to the upside.

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Insider selling is heavy and accelerating, which often caps near-term upside.
- Near-term statistical/candlestick analog outlook is negative over 1D/1W/1M horizons.
- Elevated implied volatility (IV percentile 86+) implies the market is bracing for a bigger move; if earnings/guidance disappoints, downside can be sharp.
- No supportive news flow in the last week to justify chasing strength into resistance.

Financial Performance

Latest quarter: 2025/Q3.
Revenue: $126.25M, up +32.42% YoY (top-line rebound).
Profitability: Net income -$4.10M (down -77.29% YoY) and EPS -0.09 (down -76.92% YoY) show losses widened despite revenue growth.
Margins: Gross margin 35.66%, down ~2.49% YoY, indicating mix/cost pressure and weaker operating leverage.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

2026-01-06: Needham upgraded COHU to Buy from Hold; set $30 PT (frames COHU as a “hidden HBM play”).
2026-01-26: B. Riley reiterated Buy and raised PT to $35 from $30, citing AI-linked demand strength despite near-term cyclicality.
Wall Street pros: multi-year AI/HBM test-handling tailwinds and potential cyclical recovery.
Wall Street cons: acknowledges near-term cyclical pressure; fundamentals still show losses and margin compression, making the stock more sentiment-driven into earnings.
Influential/politician activity: No recent congress trading data available (no confirmed politician buying/selling signal in the provided dataset).

4 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast COHU stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for COHU is 30 USD with a low forecast of 30 USD and a high forecast of 30 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

4 Buy

0 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 28.930

Low

Averages

High

Current: 28.930

Low

Averages

High

B. Riley

Craig Ellis

Buy

maintain

$30 -> $35

AI Analysis

2026-01-26

Reason

B. Riley

Craig Ellis

Price Target

$30 -> $35

AI Analysis

2026-01-26

maintain

Buy

Reason

B. Riley analyst Craig Ellis raised the firm's price target on Cohu to $35 from $30 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Despite near-term cyclical pressure, structurally strong AI-driven demand for HBM, CoWoS, GPUs, and custom ASICs continues to outstrip supply, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Improving Taiwan demand signals and early signs of an Auto & Industrial recovery point to modest 4Q25 upside and at least in-line 1Q26 guidance, with multiple long-term AI-linked growth drivers underpinning future sales and EPS expansion.

Needham

Hold

Buy

upgrade

$30

2026-01-06

Reason

Needham

Price Target

$30

2026-01-06

upgrade

Hold

Buy

Reason

Needham upgraded Cohu to Buy from Hold with a $30 price target. The firm says high bandwidth memory is transitioning from brute-force stacking to a "plethora of new innovation-based scaling." This ensures HBM "remains the king" of artificial intelligence memory for another 5-10 years, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Needham views Cohu as a "hidden HBM play."

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COHU Should I Buy

COHU Should I Buy

Should You Buy Cohu Inc (COHU) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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