Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Down 5.1% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments shares fell 5.1% on Thursday, trading as low as $67.00 after closing at $70.52 the prior day.
• Despite the decline, analysts remain mixed but generally cautious: the stock’s consensus rating is Hold, with an average target price of $40.60, even as several firms recently lifted their price targets and one upgraded it to strong buy.
• The company recently missed quarterly earnings expectations, posting $0.14 EPS versus the $0.20 estimate, and insider selling has been notable, including share sales by the CEO and a director over the past month.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 5.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $67.00 and last traded at $66.9270. Approximately 115,146 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,281,204 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veeco Instruments to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.17. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.89 and a beta of 1.33.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $158.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.07 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.49% and a net margin of 3.53%.Veeco Instruments's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.62, for a total transaction of $2,931,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 369,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,664,193.40. This trade represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gordon Hunter sold 16,974 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.80, for a total transaction of $1,167,811.20. Following the sale, the director owned 11,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $773,036.80. This trade represents a 60.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 339,055 shares of company stock worth $20,705,270. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,342,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 920.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 676,502 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $20,586,000 after buying an additional 610,187 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.4% during the 4th 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. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1,164.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 477,386 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,644,000 after buying an additional 439,628 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Arbitrage LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at $11,648,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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