Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Down 7.4% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments shares fell 7.4% in Friday trading, with the stock dropping from a prior close of $75.45 to around $69.87 on lighter-than-normal volume.
• Analysts remain mixed on the semiconductor equipment maker, but the overall view is Hold with a consensus price target of $40.60. Recent moves included price-target increases from Citigroup and Barclays, plus upgrades from Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen.
• The company recently missed earnings estimates, posting $0.14 EPS versus $0.20 expected, while revenue also came in slightly below forecasts. Veeco guided Q2 2026 EPS at 0.200-0.320 and FY 2026 EPS at 1.500-1.850, even as insiders have sold shares and analysts expect about 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) traded down 7.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $69.30 and last traded at $69.8650. 402,846 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 1,242,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.39 and a 200 day moving average of $42.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.28 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 2.86.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.06). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.49% and a net margin of 3.53%.The business had revenue of $158.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. Veeco Instruments's quarterly 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. On average, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, Director Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,754,496.12. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,129,481.16. This represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated 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 $6,835,581.74. The trade was a 27.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 339,055 shares of company stock valued at $20,705,270 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,808,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,572,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 11.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 746,429 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $22,714,000 after acquiring an additional 74,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,663,310 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $233,195,000 after acquiring an additional 62,016 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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