Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Key Points

• Veeco missed quarterly expectations: EPS was $0.36, $0.07 below consensus, while revenue of $209.38 million also trailed the $213.33 million estimate.
• Shares fell $1.39 to $36.00 during Wednesday trading. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Hold,” with an average price target of $52.00.
• CEO William Miller and CFO John Kiernan sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans, reducing their individual holdings by 54.12% and 33.72%, respectively.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.07), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $209.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.33 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 3.40%.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,538,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,163. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 100.00 and a beta of 1.41. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $26.00 and a 12-month high of $86.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VECO shares. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were 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 owned 169,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,187,302.60. This trade represents a 54.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,802 shares in the company, valued at $3,512,342.10. This trade represents a 33.72% decrease in their position. 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 corporate insiders.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc NASDAQ: VECO develops and manufactures specialized equipment used in the production of semiconductors and other advanced electronic devices. Its systems help customers deposit, etch, pattern, anneal and otherwise process thin films and materials at the wafer level.

The company's product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems, molecular beam epitaxy equipment, ion beam etch and deposition systems, laser annealing systems, and related process-control and automation technologies.

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