Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments currently has an average analyst recommendation of "Hold", with seven firms covering the stock: one sell, four hold, and two buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is $40.60.
• The company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $0.14 versus estimates of $0.20, while revenue of $158.34 million also came in slightly below forecasts and declined 5.4% year over year.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including directors Richard A. Damore and Gordon Hunter, while institutional ownership remains very high at 98.46%.

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.60.

A number of analysts have recently commented on VECO shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $57.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.29. Veeco Instruments has a 52 week low of $18.85 and a 52 week high of $65.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 151.95 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.06). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.49% and a net margin of 3.53%.The company had revenue of $158.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Veeco Instruments has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.320 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total value of $2,653,087.71. Following the transaction, the director owned 112,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,835,581.74. This trade represents a 27.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,754,496.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,129,481.16. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 230,979 shares of company stock valued at $12,398,739. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 29.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 30,646 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 51.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,785 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 10,122 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,043 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 148.0% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,415 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,526,000 after buying an additional 283,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth approximately $618,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc NASDAQ: VECO is a leading supplier of process equipment for the semiconductor, data storage, wireless communications, power electronics and advanced packaging industries. The company designs, manufactures and services precision tools used to grow, deposit and etch thin films on substrates, enabling the fabrication of chips, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and high-density storage devices. Veeco's platforms are deployed across fabrication facilities worldwide, where they support key processes in materials science and device manufacturing.

Veeco's product portfolio spans molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), ion beam etch and deposition, and high-precision wet and dry etch systems.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.