Veeco Instruments Inc., a manufacturer of process equipment used in the manufacture of LED’s, hard drives and wireless chips had predicted a difficult year as they expected demand for consumer goods such as PC’s and TV’s to be down on the previous year, therefore delaying their customers purchase of capex equipment. Revenue for Q2 was in the guidance range at $137m, down from $265m for the same period last year, a fall of 48%. Net income was $11m compared with $56m for the same period last year. Chairman and CEO, John Peeler, commented that the company continues to deliver solid results in a tough market where demand for LED based lighting products continues to grow, but that for PC’s and consumer electronics has fallen. Veeco reported that R&D spending remains at previous levels despite the fall in revenues as they focus on new product developments. Guidance for Q3 is flat on Q2 with revenues expected to be in the $120m to $140m range but the company stated that they expect bookings to strengthen through the second half of the year. John Peeler also noted that the longer term prospects remain strong as currently, LED lighting only accounts for about 5% of all lighting products and this is set to increase dramatically in the coming years. Veeco’s share price ended the day at $33.89 up 5% on the day’s opening price.
