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Teradyne

NASDAQ: TER · USD

Teradyne (TER) Economic Moat Analysis—

Competitive advantages, dated evidence and erosion risks.

Analysis needs refresh

Uncertain economic moat

Teradyne demonstrates competitive success through memory-test share gains and strong operating growth. Proprietary technology supports differentiation, but the supplied passages do not establish durable exclusion, material switching costs, network effects or a structural cost advantage. Pricing power remains unproven: disclosed price-increase attempts lack realized outcomes, and gross margins alone cannot establish it. Customer concentration, cancellable orders and realized trade restrictions constrain protection. The evidence supports current competitiveness while leaving the existence and width of a durable moat uncertain.

Intangible assets

Proprietary technology supports a current differentiation advantage in semiconductor testing. Memory-test share gains in a shrinking market demonstrate competitive success, although the passages do not establish that intellectual property caused those gains or creates durable exclusion.

Durability
Unestablished. The business relies significantly on proprietary hardware and software, but disclosed protections require continued competitive renewal and do not establish a defensible duration.
Competitors
Advantest Corporation, SPEA S.p.A., Cohu, Inc.
Erosion risks
Competitors can independently develop similar technology; customers also have internal supply alternatives. Trade restrictions already limit competitiveness in certain markets, and concentrated buyers can constrain commercial bargaining power.
What would invalidate the thesis
The current differentiation thesis would weaken if HBM and DRAM final-test share gains reverse persistently, customers replace Teradyne systems with competing or internal solutions, or equivalent technology eliminates its demonstrated competitive wins.
Evidence (3) · Counterevidence (5)

Changes since the previous analysis

  • Retain the uncertain verdict: current competitive success still does not establish durable protection.
  • Remove the previous UR+ ecosystem argument because the current supplied catalog does not substantiate it.
  • Assess structural advantage and erosion resilience as mixed using current technology disclosures, realized share gains and trade restrictions; leave durability and customer dependency null where durable protection or dependence cannot be established.
  • Reduce contractual_freedom from 2 to 1: the current catalog establishes cancellable orders but does not contain the previously cited prohibition on returns and refunds.
  • Reassess capital discipline using first-half 2026 cash generation and spending. Do not carry forward the previous uncited June purchase-commitment amount or shareholder-return total.
  • Retain incentive alignment, execution and governance grades with current citations, but remove unsupported claims about eight independent directors, meeting attendance and related-party approvals.
  • Do not retain the previous attribution of gross-margin improvement to volume and mix: the supplied current passages do not establish that decomposition.

Evidence limitations

  • The selected Teradyne filings retain dateKind filed. Filing dates are not treated as publication or retrieval dates, and reported operating periods remain distinct.
  • Technology descriptions and competitive share gains are issuer disclosures. Reported operating results support current performance, but causal links between intellectual property and durable economic protection remain unproven.
  • The catalog does not establish customer switching costs, qualification or migration burdens, exclusive ecosystem participation, comparative production costs, or enduring market-share leadership.
  • Named semiconductor competitors are disclosed in the 2024 annual report. Current detailed product comparisons and competitor market shares are absent; the competitor list is not comprehensive.
  • Rockwell Automation's disclosed pricing and financial outcomes belong to Rockwell Automation. They cannot establish Teradyne's realized pricing, customer retention or advantages.
  • Same-customer retention rates, realized Teradyne price changes, unilateral repricing rights and complete executive beneficial-ownership amounts are not established by the supplied passages.
  • Governance evidence establishes disclosed structures and a completed shareholder vote; it does not establish exceptional oversight outcomes. Later performance-award periods remain unfinished.

Financial indicators to test against the thesis

Calculated from annual filings. Missing data remains unavailable. Detailed financial charts remain in the other topics.

Financial indicators to test against the thesis
PeriodGross marginOperating marginROICFCF margin
202159.6%32.4%—26.1%
202259.2%26.4%—13.1%
202357.4%18.7%—15.9%
202458.5%21.1%—16.8%
202558.2%20.4%—14.1%

Pricing power—

Insufficient verified evidence to assign a score.

Management—

Insufficient verified evidence to assign a score.

Sources and methodology

Analysis needs refresh · Updated 22/10/2026 · Version 16

AI interpretation based on checked source excerpts. Issuer assertions and evidence limitations remain explicit.

Policy quality-scores-3: six equally weighted categories. The overall score requires full coverage. Missing inputs are not zero. Qualitative grades are sourced interpretations, not probabilities. 1/6 · 05/11/2026

Moat—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Pricing power—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Predictability80

5 consecutive published annual periods. Equal weights: nondeclining revenue frequency; revenue-growth volatility (5–40pp); positive FCF frequency; FCF-margin volatility (3–20pp). Stability indicator, not a growth forecast.

Nondeclining revenue years (%)
50.00
Revenue growth volatility (pp)
12.42
Positive FCF years (%)
100.00
FCF margin volatility (pp)
4.62
observedAnnualPeriods
5.00

Financial strength—

Missing required inputs: debtFcfGrade, netDebtEbitGrade. Equal-weight grades: debt/FCF (1–8x), net debt/earnings before interest and tax (0–5x), interest service (1–12x), current ratio (0.75–2x). Earnings use reported operating income, an original issuer-reported unadjusted EBIT reconciled to net income, income tax and signed net interest, or reported pretax profit plus reported gross interest expense. Reported EBIT is distinct from GAAP operating income and gross interest. Interest service uses earnings/interest expense; if unavailable, it uses reported operating cash flow/cash interest paid, without relabeling cash paid as accrued expense. Nonpositive cash flow/earnings score 0 for their service component; reported zero interest with a positive numerator scores 100. Net cash scores 100 for net leverage. Missing disclosures remain unavailable. General nonfinancial-company rubric, not a credit rating; exceptional and nonoperating gains are not normalized out. IFRS finance-cost and cash-flow classifications retain their reported scope.

interestCoverageGrade
100.00
currentRatioGrade
79.83
Interest coverage (x)
94.95
Current ratio (x)
1.75

Capital allocation—

Missing required inputs: operatingReturn. Three-year equal-weight indicators: pretax return on average invested capital (0–25%; equity + debt − cash, each year and its prior year), share-count growth (0–5%, lower better), share-based cost/revenue (2–20%, lower better), consolidated FCF/net income (0–1x). Return uses reported operating income, an original issuer-reported unadjusted EBIT reconciled to net income, income tax and signed net interest, or EBIT calculated from reported pretax profit plus reported gross interest expense; the issuer-reported EBIT is distinct from GAAP operating income and gross interest; exceptional/nonoperating gains are not normalized out. Share-based cost uses the reported cash-flow add-back or, if absent, separately reported recognized compensation expense; the latter never becomes an FCF adjustment. Nonpositive net income scores 0 for cash conversion; absent income/FCF stays unavailable. ROIC remains undefined for nonpositive invested capital; the explicit asset-return alternative does not change the ROIC chart. Missing financial inputs alone never trigger an alternative. Does not establish acquisition quality or buyback timing.

3-year average dilution (%)
0.17
3-year average SBC / revenue (%)
2.10
cashConversionGrade
87.37

Management—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Evidence

Memory test revenue remained stable despite a smaller overall market, supported by share gains in high bandwidth memory (“HBM”) and DRAM final test applications.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: overview, memory-test competitive results · Filed 19/02/2026

Intellectual Property and Licenses The development of our products, both hardware and software, is based in significant part on proprietary information, our brands and technology.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: Intellectual Property and Licenses · Filed 19/02/2026

We protect our rights in proprietary information, brands and technology through various methods, such as: • patents; • copyrights; • trademarks; • trade secrets; • standards of business conduct and related business practices; and • technology license agreements, software license agreements, non-disclosure agreements, employment agreements, and other agreements.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: intellectual-property protection methods · Filed 19/02/2026

Competitors might independently develop similar technology or exploit our proprietary information and our brands in countries where we lack enforceable intellectual property rights or where enforcement of such rights through the legal system provides an insufficient deterrent.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: intellectual-property protection limitations · Filed 19/02/2026

While it is difficult to quantify the exact impact, current trade restrictions are limiting our ability to be competitive, particularly in certain markets, where some competitors are not subjected to the same restrictions.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: realized trade-restriction effects on competitiveness · Filed 19/02/2026

The market for our test products is concentrated with a limited number of significant customers accounting for a substantial portion of the purchases of test equipment.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: test-equipment customer concentration · Filed 19/02/2026

Competitors in the Semiconductor Test segment include, among others, Advantest Corporation, SPEA S.p.A., and Cohu, Inc.

2024 Form 10-K, filed 2025-02-20: named Semiconductor Test competitors · Filed 20/02/2025

We also face competition from emerging Asian companies and from internal supply at several of our customers.

2024 Form 10-K, filed 2025-02-20: emerging competitors and customer internal supply · Filed 20/02/2025

See also “Item 1A: Risk Factors.” Backlog Our backlog at any particular date is not necessarily indicative of the actual sales for any succeeding period because our customers may delay delivery of products or cancel orders without advanced notice, subject to possible cancellation penalties.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: backlog cancellation and delivery terms · Filed 19/02/2026

We also have been, and may continue to attempt to, offset the effect of these inflationary pressures by increasing the prices of our products.

2024 Form 10-K, filed 2025-02-20: attempts to offset inflation through product pricing · Filed 20/02/2025

We may also not be fully able to pass additional costs on to our customers, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: potential limitations on cost pass-through · Filed 19/02/2026

Strong Robotics revenue of $100 million, marked the fifth consecutive quarter of sequential growth, driven primarily by demand from electronics manufacturing and semiconductor customers, which has become the segment's largest end-market.

Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-07-31: Robotics revenue and consecutive sequential growth · Filed 31/07/2026

As of June 28, 2026, and December 31, 2025, Teradyne had a product warranty accrual of $25.7 million and $19.2 million, respectively, included in other accrued liabilities and revenue deferrals related to extended warranties of $78.1 million and $55.9 million, respectively, included in short and long-term deferred revenue and customer advances.

Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-07-31: extended-warranty revenue deferrals at June 28, 2026 and December 31, 2025 · Filed 31/07/2026

Page 10 Six Months Ended June 28, 2026 % of Net Revenues June 29, 2025 % of Net Revenues Net Revenues $ 2,611.5 $ 1,337.5 Gross profit GAAP 1,575.6 60.3 % 788.3 58.9 % Inventory step-up 0.1 0.0 % 0.6 0.0 %

Second-quarter 2026 earnings exhibit, filed 2026-07-29: six-month GAAP gross profit and percentage of net revenues · Filed 29/07/2026

Inflation has not had a significant long-term impact on earnings.

Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-07-31: management assessment of inflation's earnings impact · Filed 31/07/2026

Acquired intangible assets, net 101,910 51,271 Goodwill 663,817 521,019 Total assets $ 4,925,617 $ 4,183,599 LIABILITIES Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 383,422 $ 269,185 Accrued employees’ compensation and withholdings 220,690 254,973 Deferred revenue and customer advances 193,840 153,124 Other accrued liabilities 133,399 111,845 Operating lease liabilities 17,258 19,340 Short-term debt — 200,000 Income taxes payable 164,907 106,740 Total current liabilities 1,113,516 1,115,207 Retirement plans liabilities 151,436 144,874 Long-term deferred revenue and customer advances 62,985 50,888 Deferred tax liabilities 12,929 5,378 Long-term other accrued liabilities 28,569 7,601 Long-term operating lease liabilities 82,869 63,899 Total liabilities 1,452,304 1,387,847 EQUITY Total Teradyne shareholders' equity 3,437,162 2,795,752 Equity attributable to noncontrolling interests 36,151 — Total equity 3,473,313 2,795,752 Total liabilities and equity $ 4,925,617 $ 4,183,599 Page 7 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (In thousands) Quarter Ended Six Months Ended June 28, 2026 June 29, 2025 June 28, 2026 June 29, 2025 Cash flows from operating activities: Consolidated net income $ 374,885 $ 78,372 $ 773,794 $ 177,269 Adjustments to reconcile consolidated net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation 28,644 27,312 58,884 52,835 Stock-based compensation 20,063 16,827 41,964 32,031 Equity in net earnings of affiliate 1,946 5,927 6,557 11,511 Amortization 5,006 4,077 7,421 8,856 Provision for excess and obsolete inventory 3,599 7,402 8,281 12,347 Losses (gains) on investments (8,241 ) (4,450 ) (4,923 ) (1,078 ) Deferred taxes (10,466 ) (7,187 ) (18,230 ) (14,998 ) Retirement plan actuarial losses (gains) (157 ) 127 (157 ) 127 Other 474 (317 ) 2,760 3,168 Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of businesses acquired:

Second-quarter 2026 earnings exhibit, filed 2026-07-29: cash-flow table units, reporting periods and operating reconciliation · Filed 29/07/2026

Accounts receivable 19,841 36,443 (302,176 ) 49,496 Inventories (28,678 ) 7,342 (7,852 ) (23,707 ) Prepayments and other assets (63,670 ) 17,230 (59,621 ) 30,879 Accounts payable and other liabilities 136,829 27,085 121,803 17,135 Deferred revenue and customer advances (1,101 ) 2,857 50,863 13,056 Retirement plans contributions (1,564 ) (4,294 ) (3,098 ) (5,576 ) Income taxes (8,272 ) (32,665 ) 57,992 (19,625 ) Net cash provided by operating activities 469,138 182,088 734,262 343,726 Cash flows from investing activities: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (90,706 ) (50,408 ) (155,439 ) (114,429 ) Acquisitions of businesses, net of cash and cash equivalents acquired (165,611 ) (127,378 ) (165,611 ) (144,380 ) Purchase of investments in a business (10,030 ) (2,357 ) (10,030 ) (5,368 ) Purchases of marketable securities (7,438 ) (6,396 ) (48,235 ) (17,150 ) Proceeds from maturities of marketable securities 159 5,223 11,069 32,603 Proceeds from sales of marketable securities 2,287 2,854 29,615 8,487 Net cash used for investing activities (271,339 ) (178,462 ) (338,631 ) (240,237 ) Cash flows from financing activities: Proceeds from borrowings on revolving credit facility 300,000 — 350,000 — Repayments of borrowings on revolving credit facility (300,000 ) — (550,000 ) — Dividend payments (20,348 ) (19,177 ) (40,710 ) (38,584 ) Repurchase of common stock (68,720 ) (117,398 ) (74,238 ) (274,873 ) Payments related to net settlement of employee stock compensation awards (1,676 ) (229 ) (41,113 ) (14,954 ) Issuance of common stock under stock purchase and stock option plans — — 15,101 14,792 Net cash used for financing activities (90,744 ) (136,804 ) (340,960 ) (313,619 ) Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 539 (3,202 ) 1,116 (3,972 ) (Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents 107,594 (136,380 ) 55,787 (214,102 )

Second-quarter 2026 earnings exhibit, filed 2026-07-29: operating cash generation, investment spending and financing cash flows; context in e16 · Filed 29/07/2026

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Purchase Commitments As of December 31, 2025, Teradyne had entered into non-cancelable purchase commitments for certain components and materials.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: December 31, 2025 non-cancelable purchase-commitment scope · Filed 19/02/2026

The purchase commitments covered by the agreements aggregate to approximately $1,473.0 million, of which $1,415.1 million is for less than one year.

2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-19: purchase-commitment amount and maturity; context in e18 · Filed 19/02/2026

On April 8, 2026, Teradyne and HTP Holding SAL (“MultiLane”) formed a joint venture, MultiLane Test Products Holding LLP (“MLTP”), in which Teradyne holds a controlling 75% ownership interest, with the remaining 25% attributable to noncontrolling interests, for a total purchase price of $157.8 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments.

Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-07-31: completed MLTP transaction, ownership and purchase price · Filed 31/07/2026

Status of Performance-Based RSU Awards 2023 2024 2025 Goals Threshold Target Maximum Performance Result(1) Fiscal 2023 Relative TSR(2) Performance-Based RSUs (2023-2025 Performance Period) 100% Completed TSR N/A N/A N/A 64.09% 200% Fiscal 2023 PBIT(3) Performance-Based RSUs (2023-2025 Performance Period) 100% Completed PBIT 13% 24% 40% 21.08% 73.42% Fiscal 2024 Relative TSR(2) Performance-Based RSUs (2024-2026 Performance Period) 2/3 Completed TSR N/A N/A N/A In progress In progress Fiscal 2024 PBIT(3) Performance-Based RSUs (2024-2026 Performance Period) 2/3 Completed PBIT 11% 21% 39% In progress In progress Fiscal 2025 Relative TSR(2) Performance-Based RSUs (2025-2027 Performance Period) 1/3 Completed TSR N/A N/A N/A In progress In progress Fiscal 2025 PBIT(3) Performance-Based RSUs (2025-2027 Performance Period) 1/3 Completed PBIT 10% 21% 36% In progress In progress (1) The final number of shares earned for the performance-based restricted stock unit awards granted in 2024 and 2025 will be determined in January 2027 and January 2028, respectively.

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: completed 2023–2025 performance-award results and unfinished later award periods · Filed 27/03/2026

(2) The relative total shareholder return (“TSR”) metric is based on a comparison of Teradyne’s TSR to the performance of the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index.

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: relative TSR benchmark definition · Filed 27/03/2026

PBIT is a non-GAAP financial measure equal to GAAP income from operations excluding restructuring and other; amortization of acquired intangible assets; acquisition and divestiture related charges or credits; pension actuarial gains and losses; non-cash convertible debt interest expense; and certain other gains and charges.

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: non-GAAP PBIT definition and exclusions · Filed 27/03/2026

Under the Retirement Policy, an executive officer that is over the age of 65 and has 10 or more years of service as of the effective date of his or her retirement will be eligible for continued vesting of his or her unvested time-based restricted stock units and stock options granted prior to his or her retirement date.

Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-07-31: executive retirement policy and continued time-based award vesting · Filed 31/07/2026

Anti-Hedging and Anti-Pledging As noted above, Board has adopted, through the Insider Trading Policy, a policy prohibiting employees, executives and directors from engaging in hedging and pledging activities.

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: adopted prohibition on hedging and pledging · Filed 27/03/2026

Within Product Test Group, revenue increased 26% year over year and 33% sequentially, reflecting broad-based growth across multiple markets and applications.

Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-07-31: Product Test Group growth · Filed 31/07/2026

Teradyne Reports First Quarter 2026 Results • Record revenue and earnings both above the high end of our Q1 Guidance • Revenue of $1.282B up 87%, GAAP EPS of $2.53 and non-GAAP EPS of $2.56, both up significantly from Q1’25 • Record results driven by AI-related demand strength across compute segments and memory Q1'26 Q1'25 Q4'25 Revenue (mil) $ 1,282 $ 686 $ 1,083 GAAP EPS $ 2.53 $ 0.61 $ 1.63 Non-GAAP EPS $ 2.56 $ 0.75 $ 1.80 NORTH READING, Mass.

First-quarter 2026 earnings exhibit, filed 2026-04-29: realized revenue, earnings and comparison with guidance · Filed 29/04/2026

Restructuring and other consists of: Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2025 December 31, 2024 Employee severance (a) $ 29.4 $ 5.2 Asset impairment 4.9 1.3 Acquisition and divestiture related expenses 2.3 2.2 Other 2.1 6.8 $ 38.6 $ 15.6 (a) For the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, employee severance relates primarily to Robotics restructuring which impacted approximately 400 employees.

Full-year 2025 earnings exhibit, filed 2026-02-03: restructuring costs and approximately 400 employees affected in Robotics · Filed 03/02/2026

Policy promoting equal opportunity for all employees Independence and Board Composition Independent Board Chair Independent directors constitute a majority of the Board and all members of the Board committees

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: independent chair, board majority and committee composition · Filed 27/03/2026

Corporate Governance and Board of Directors Shareholder Rights Single class of stock with equal voting rights

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: single share class and equal voting rights · Filed 27/03/2026

Directors elected annually for a one-year term

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: annual director elections · Filed 27/03/2026

Independent registered public accounting firm and internal auditor meet regularly with Audit Committee without management

2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-27: auditor meetings with Audit Committee without management · Filed 27/03/2026

An advisory non-binding resolution to approve the 2025 executive compensation passed as follows: Votes For Votes Against Votes Abstained Broker Non-Votes 114,418,444 4,732,467 343,972 12,498,100 3.

Annual-meeting results, filed 2026-05-11: actual passage of non-binding compensation resolution · Filed 11/05/2026

Publication history

Publication history
VersionUpdatedCompetitive advantage
1605/11/2026uncertain
1531/10/2026uncertain
1429/10/2026uncertain
1329/10/2026uncertain
1228/10/2026uncertain
1127/10/2026uncertain
1024/10/2026uncertain
923/10/2026uncertain
822/10/2026uncertain
719/10/2026uncertain

Sources

Research methodology and limitations · What is an economic moat?