Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Down 6.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments shares fell 6.2% to about $47.77 in mid-day trading, with volume down 84% from its average.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $49.33 average price target, despite Citigroup raising its target to $63 and maintaining a Buy rating.
• Veeco recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.33 EPS versus $0.26 expected and $193.48 million in revenue, up 16.5% year over year; however, insiders have sold approximately $11.7 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) were down 6.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $47.00 and last traded at $47.7650. 193,267 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,219,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VECO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.33.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 5.9%

The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.51 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $59.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.35.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.07. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 3.52%. The business had revenue of $193.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other news, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 35,723 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.69, for a total value of $2,203,751.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,651,066.06. The trade was a 45.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total value of $1,786,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 193,076 shares of company stock valued at $11,674,281 in the last ninety days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 29.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,692,000 after buying an additional 30,646 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 51.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,785 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 10,122 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,043 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 148.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,415 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,526,000 after acquiring an additional 283,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter worth $618,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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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