Cohu

Cohu is a publicly traded operating company listed on NASDAQ under the ticker COHU. It designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor test and inspection equipment. It is not structured as a family office or investment vehicle. The firm's capital is deployed toward R&D, capital expenditures, and acquisitions within its industry vertical.

Cohu generates revenue by selling semiconductor test handlers, contactors, and optical inspection systems to integrated device manufacturers and outsourced assembly and test providers. It also derives recurring revenue from the sale of consumables and from its DI-Core data analytics platform. For full-year 2023, the company reported revenue of approximately $636 million (per the firm, 2023).

Cohu acquired Xcerra in 2018 for roughly $796 million to consolidate the fragmented back-end semiconductor test equipment market. The deal combined Cohu's handler business with Xcerra's test contactor and inspection product lines, creating a single supplier with an integrated test cell offering. The acquisition aimed to capture cost synergies and strengthen Cohu's position with major semiconductor manufacturers (per public filings, 2018).

Cohu targets semiconductor devices destined for the automotive, industrial, and mobile handset markets. These end-markets require high-reliability testing, making back-end inspection and test handling critical for quality assurance. The company's equipment is embedded in factories that package chips for advanced driver-assistance systems, factory automation, and 5G smartphones.

Cohu does not operate an investment portfolio. Capital allocation decisions — including acquisitions, R&D investment, and share repurchases — are made by the executive leadership team under CEO Luis Müller and are subject to the oversight of the board of directors. The company's most significant use of capital historically has been acquisitions to expand its test and inspection product lines.