Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Down 7.4% – Here’s What Happened

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) traded down 7.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $69.30 and last traded at $69.8650. Approximately 402,846 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 1,242,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on VECO shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.96 and its 200-day moving average is $42.26. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.72 and a beta of 1.39.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $160.07 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 3.49%. Veeco Instruments’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior 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 forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 15,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $1,078,597.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,910,674.08. This represents a 36.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon Hunter sold 16,974 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.80, for a total transaction of $1,167,811.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $773,036.80. This trade represents a 60.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 339,055 shares of company stock worth $20,705,270 in the last quarter. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 29.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 30,646 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 51.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 10,122 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 148.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,526,000 after acquiring an additional 283,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $618,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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.