Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $54.42, but opened at $50.92. Veeco Instruments shares last traded at $50.3420, with a volume of 110,524 shares.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veeco Instruments to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.60.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $2,653,087.71. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 112,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,835,581.74. This represents a 27.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 100,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.55, for a total transaction of $5,955,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 419,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,985,393.50. This trade represents a 19.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 339,055 shares of company stock worth $20,705,270 over the last ninety days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth approximately $633,000. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 17.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 286,409 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,698,000 after acquiring an additional 41,925 shares in the last quarter. Atreides Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $7,921,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 32,593 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 8,924 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.1%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $63.17 and a 200-day moving average of $44.06. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.35 and a beta of 1.34.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $158.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. 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. Analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.