Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Rating Raised to Outperform at Northland Securities

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Northland Securities from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued on Monday, September 21st, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $66.00 price objective on the semiconductor company's stock. Northland Securities' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 38.28% from the company's previous close. Northland Securities also issued estimates for Veeco Instruments' Q1 2027 earnings at $0.42 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.58 EPS and Q4 2027 earnings at $0.70 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on VECO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ VECO traded down $1.94 on Monday, hitting $47.73. 241,303 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,124,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.93. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.05. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $26.00 and a 12 month high of $86.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.55 and a beta of 1.37.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,104,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter valued at $2,006,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter valued at $752,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth about $146,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 52.5% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 112,540 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,531,000 after buying an additional 38,753 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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.