Cognex Sees Q3 Profit After Rough First Half

After two consecutive quarters of losses, Natick-based Cognex Corp. has reported a $4.5 million profit and a small increase in revenue for the third quarter.

The profit comes after a loss of more than $6 million in the second quarter. In the third quarter of 2008, the company reported a $11.3 million profit.

Revenue was $41.2 million compared to $41 million in the second quarter, but well below the $63.3 million the company reported in the third quarter of 2008.

The machine vision sensor manufacturer said the revenue increase was the result of increased demand from the semiconductor, electronics equipment and factory automation markets.

The company expects greater revenue numbers in coming quarters to be offset by expenses that are expected to increase by between 7 percent and 10 percent as manufacturing is ramped up in the fourth quarter after being stopped for parts of the third quarter.