Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened 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 changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VECO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veeco Instruments to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.78 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.22.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $160.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 15,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $1,078,597.36. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,910,674.08. This represents a 36.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 85,115 shares in the company, valued at $5,532,475. This represents a 10.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 339,055 shares of company stock valued at $20,705,270. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tema ETFs LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 75.6% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 125.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,461 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter valued at $84,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.