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

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments shares gapped down on Friday, opening at $50.77 after closing at $54.36 the prior day and last trading near $50.70.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: recent ratings and target changes leave Veeco with an overall Hold consensus and an average price target of $40.60, though some firms raised their targets as high as $60.
• The company recently missed earnings estimates, reporting $0.14 EPS versus $0.20 expected, while revenue also came in slightly below forecasts and fell 5.4% year over year.

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $54.36, but opened at $50.77. Veeco Instruments shares last traded at $50.6950, with a volume of 285,272 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VECO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.78 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 4.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.22.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.62, for a total value of $2,931,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 369,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,664,193.40. This represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 15,506 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $1,078,597.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,910,674.08. The trade was a 36.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 339,055 shares of company stock worth $20,705,270. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tema ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 75.6% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,461 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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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