Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Climb 8.2% – Here’s Why

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s share price was up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $59.99 and last traded at $57.57. Approximately 180,695 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,119,017 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on VECO. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Veeco Instruments from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Northland Securities raised Veeco Instruments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 11.6%

The firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 164.87 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.61.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.07. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 3.52%. The company had revenue of $193.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total value of $10,836,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 169,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,187,302.60. This represents a 54.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total transaction of $1,786,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,512,342.10. This represents a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tema ETFs LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth $39,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 97,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter valued at $69,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc (NASDAQ:VECO) develops and manufactures process equipment used to produce semiconductors, compound semiconductors, data-storage devices and other advanced electronic materials. Its systems are designed to support critical steps in manufacturing, including deposition, etching, annealing and lithography-related processes.

The company’s product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems, molecular beam epitaxy systems, ion beam etch and deposition equipment, laser annealing systems, and other specialized process tools.