Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Upgraded at Northland Securities

Key Points

• Northland Securities upgraded Veeco Instruments to “outperform” from “market perform” and set a $66 price target, implying 54.49% upside from the stock’s quoted price. The broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with an average target of $61.33.
• Veeco reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.33 versus the $0.26 consensus estimate and revenue of $193.48 million versus $180.08 million expected. Revenue increased 16.5% year over year.
• Insiders sold significant shares under pre-arranged trading plans, including the CFO’s $1.79 million sale and the CEO’s $10.84 million sale; institutional investors own 98.46% of the company.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Northland Securities from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $66.00 price target on the semiconductor company's stock. Northland Securities' target price would suggest a potential upside of 54.49% from the company's current price.

VECO has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Zacks Research lowered Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $42.72 on Monday. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $26.00 and a twelve month high of $86.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.67 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50-day moving average is $48.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.07. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 3.52%. The company had revenue of $193.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments's revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,512,342.10. This trade represents a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total value of $10,836,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,187,302.60. This trade represents a 54.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth approximately $728,127,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,374,292 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $80,391,000 after purchasing an additional 68,780 shares during the period. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter valued at $156,557,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,820,357 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $52,026,000 after buying an additional 495,767 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth approximately $134,434,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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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