Why Veeco Instruments Shares Soared

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of LED production equipment specialist Veeco Instruments (NAS: VECO) surged 15% Tuesday after its quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.

So what: Veeco shares have been crushed over the past year on slumping orders, but a wide first-quarter beat -- adjusted EPS of $0.49 versus the consensus of just $0.19 -- is reigniting hopes of a turnaround. While revenue fell to $139.9 million, it also easily topped estimates, suggesting that the stock had far too much pessimism baked into it.

Now what: For the second quarter, management now sees adjusted EPS of $0.29-$0.48 on revenue of $120 million-$145 million, versus Wall Street's view of $0.23 and $128 million. "Veeco is focused on keeping our infrastructure lean and discretionary costs low, while at the same time developing next-generation technology solutions to drive future growth," said CEO John Peeler. And with the stock still down about 40% from its 52-week high, there might even be time to buy into that bullishness.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. 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 Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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