Wall Street Zen Upgrades Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) to “Strong-Buy”

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

VECO has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Friday, August 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $44.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.53 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.95 and its 200-day moving average is $50.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $25.28 and a 12 month high of $86.63.

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

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total transaction of $1,786,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,512,342.10. The trade was a 33.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 169,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,187,302.60. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth $728,127,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 7,039.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,267,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $399,310,000 after purchasing an additional 5,194,159 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,396,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,023,000 after purchasing an additional 157,978 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,215,031 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $65,329,000 after purchasing an additional 284,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,481,803 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $75,521,000 after purchasing an additional 26,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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.