Cognex Corporation Declares Cash Dividend for Q4 - 03

NATICK, Mass.--Oct. 2, 20034, 2003--Cognex Corporation announced today that the company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share. This dividend is payable on November 25, 2003 to all shareholders of record at the close of business on November 10, 2003. This is Cognex's second consecutive quarterly cash dividend.

About Cognex Corporation

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufacturers, 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 175,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1.4 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. 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 that are manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, nonwovens 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/.

Forward-Looking Statement

Certain statements made in this press release and its attachments, which do not relate solely to historical matters, are forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by use of the words "expects," "believes," "projects," "anticipates," "will" and similar words. These forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding business trends and the company's financial outlook, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks and uncertainties include: (1) the effect of the general economic slowdown, including the worldwide slowdown in capital spending, and the uncertainty of the timing and rate of recovery; (2) the cyclicality of the semiconductor and electronics industry; (3) the company's continued ability to achieve significant international revenue; (4) the loss of, or significant curtailment of purchases by, any one or more principal customers; (5) the inability to achieve expected results from acquisitions; (6) the inability to design and manufacture new products or products which respond to competitive technology; and (7) the other risks detailed in the company's reports filed with the SEC, including the company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002. You should not place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements after the date of such statements.