Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Jumps 5.3% – Still a Buy?

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s stock price rose 5.3% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $47.61 and last traded at $47.8650. Approximately 203,433 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 1,124,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 7.1%

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 stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 135.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.91.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $180.08 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total transaction of $10,836,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,302.60. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,512,342.10. This trade represents a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $904,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 210.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 73,163 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,477,000 after acquiring an additional 49,631 shares in the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at $3,228,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,374,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,391,000 after acquiring an additional 68,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 114,390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,873,000 after acquiring an additional 14,500 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc develops and manufactures specialized equipment used in the production of semiconductors and other advanced electronic components. Its systems support processes such as thin-film deposition, etching, lithography-related applications, and thermal processing, helping manufacturers create and refine microscopic structures on wafers and other materials.

The company’s product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems for compound semiconductors, ion beam etch and deposition equipment, laser annealing systems, and other wafer-processing technologies.