Cohu, Inc. (COHU)

Semiconductor test handlers and testers, mostly Asia. Read November 9, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 27, 2025, filed February 17, 2026. Ranked 222 of the 238 Technology companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

The filing states approximately 2,857 people at December 27, 2025 across 25 countries, 75% in Asia-Pacific, and describes semiconductor test and automation equipment with no count by product, so the handlers lead at the machinery group and the test and inspection systems take the instruments group by description.

The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.

What follows from the reading

Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 32% now, 41% at the end of 2027, 43% at the end of 2028, 44% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 44% desk work, 16% people work and 39% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 56% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 38% becomes checking a model's work and 5% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.

Headcount

2,857 employees as of December 27, 2025 (stated). Not stated as a U.S. figure: roughly 15% of employees are in the Americas, 10% in Europe and 75% in Asia-Pacific.

The filing: “As of December 27, 2025, Cohu employed approximately 2,857 people, across 25 countries, including about 80 temporary employees.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: Approximately 2,857 people at December 27, 2025 across 25 countries, including about 80 temporary employees; roughly 15% in the Americas, 10% in Europe and 75% in Asia-Pacific; a works council in Germany, a trade union in Switzerland, a collective agreement for all employees in France and local unions in China; headcount down from 3,024 a year earlier.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only), largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.

• Caterpillar Inc. (CAT, 118,000 employees)29% now, 39% by 2028
• Deere & Company (DE, 73,100 employees)30% now, 39% by 2028
• Parker-Hannifin Corporation (PH, 59,850 employees)30% now, 40% by 2028
• Carrier Global Corporation (CARR, 47,000 employees)29% now, 37% by 2028
• Trane Technologies plc (TT, 44,000 employees)27% now, 34% by 2028
• Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (SWK, 43,500 employees)29% now, 36% by 2028
• Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW, 43,000 employees)30% now, 39% by 2028
• Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT, 36,500 employees)29% now, 37% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

38 sentences in the filing name AI. The filing describes its test and inspection products enabling high-performance computing for AI applications, growth in high-bandwidth memory inspection and AI processor test, and an AI-driven digital twin software analytics platform for process control.

• “Our products and services provide enabling capability and technology to customers that deliver connectivity around the globe, autonomous driving to our cities, high-performance computing to enable artificial intelligence ("AI") applications, advanced medical equipment to improve lives, robotic automation to accelerate productivity, and much more.”
• “Cohu is capitalizing on high-growth opportunities in high-bandwidth memory ("HBM") inspection, high performance processor test in AI applications (CPUs, embedded-NPUs, discrete and integrated GPUs, ASICs and xPUs), mixed signal devices, silicon carbide ("SiC") and gallium nitride ("GaN") wide bandgap test, and AI-driven software analytics.”
• “Software Analytics : Software analytics products include an AI-driven digital twin software platform offering a suite of data analytics specializing in process control that turns complexity into clarity - driving smarter decisions, faster automation, and measurable business impact across the factory floor.”
• “These solutions leverage machine learning and proprietary scripting languages (DTQL®) to optimize yield and defect detection.”
• “Our software analytics provide real-time online performance monitoring, prescriptive maintenance, and machine learning process control to improve equipment utilization.”

Its annual reports, year by year

Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector

• Fiscal 20210median 0
• Fiscal 20220median 0
• Fiscal 20238median 1
• Fiscal 202418median 4
• Fiscal 202538median 10

Headcount by filing year

As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.

Limits of this reading

• The stated count includes about 80 temporary employees the filing counts with its people, recorded as stated and flagged (rule 8).
• The U.S. share is not stated; the Americas hold about 15%.
• No count by product line, so the split between handlers and test instruments is by description (c); the data service's segment and geography tables are from fiscal 2014 and were not used.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001437749-26-004339, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.