Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on VECO. Weiss Ratings cut Veeco Instruments from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. 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 report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $60.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 158.53 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.07 and a 200-day moving average of $36.17. Veeco Instruments has a one year low of $19.04 and a one year high of $65.43.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $158.34 million during 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 business’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, Director Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,754,496.12. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,129,481.16. This trade represents a 35.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 35,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.69, for a total transaction of $2,203,751.87. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 42,974 shares in the company, valued at $2,651,066.06. This trade represents a 45.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 272,109 shares of company stock worth $14,936,860. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 32,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 10,986 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,421 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.