Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments to a hold rating, leaving the stock with an overall consensus of Hold and a $40.60 average price target.
• The company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $0.14 versus the $0.20 estimate and revenue of $158.34 million, down 5.4% from a year earlier.
• Veeco shares were down 8.2% around the report, while insiders have also been selling stock, including CEO William John Miller and Director Richard A. Damore.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 8.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $58.45 on Friday. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $19.29 and a 12 month high of $65.43. The company's 50-day moving average price is $49.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.82 and a beta of 1.39.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. The firm'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, research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 100,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.55, for a total transaction of $5,955,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 419,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,985,393.50. This trade represents a 19.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $2,653,087.71. Following the sale, the director owned 112,594 shares in the company, valued at $6,835,581.74. This trade represents a 27.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 289,823 shares of company stock worth $17,378,219. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,111 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 32,882 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,503 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 10,986 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,421 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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