Veeco Instruments Beats Estimates but Has a Big Earnings Drop (VECO)

Veeco Instruments Beats Estimates but Has a Big Earnings Drop

Veeco Instruments (Nasdaq: VECO ) reported earnings on Feb. 6. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Veeco Instruments met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly and GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly.

Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
Veeco Instruments logged revenue of $191.7 million. The 22 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see net sales of $193.0 million. Sales were 36% lower than the prior-year quarter's $300.0 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.72. The 21 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.66 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.52 for Q4 were 89% lower than the prior-year quarter's $4.69 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 43.3%, 760 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.8%, 1,570 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 10.6%, 5,510 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $151.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.40.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $613.1 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.74.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 426 members out of 457 rating the stock outperform, and 31 members rating it underperform. Among 115 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 108 give Veeco Instruments a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Veeco Instruments is hold, with an average price target of $29.45.

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Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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