Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments to “strong-buy” from “buy,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $49.33.
• Veeco exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $0.33 per share versus the $0.26 consensus and revenue of $193.48 million, up 16.5% year over year.
• Company insiders sold significant stakes through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, while institutional ownership remains high at 98.46%; BlackRock also initiated a substantial new position.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $44.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.93. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $25.28 and a fifty-two week high of $86.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.53 and a beta of 1.37.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.07. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 3.40%.The firm had revenue of $193.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Veeco Instruments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.360-1.610 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.490 EPS. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total transaction of $1,786,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,512,342.10. This trade represents a 33.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total transaction of $10,836,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,187,302.60. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth $728,127,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7,039.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,267,948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $399,310,000 after acquiring an additional 5,194,159 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,396,804 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,023,000 after purchasing an additional 157,978 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,215,031 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $65,329,000 after purchasing an additional 284,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,481,803 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $75,521,000 after purchasing an additional 26,248 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc develops and manufactures specialized equipment used in the production of semiconductors and other advanced electronic components. Its systems support processes such as thin-film deposition, etching, lithography-related applications, and thermal processing, helping manufacturers create and refine microscopic structures on wafers and other materials.

The company's product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems for compound semiconductors, ion beam etch and deposition equipment, laser annealing systems, and other wafer-processing technologies.

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