Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG) versus Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Financial Comparison

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) and Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Veeco Instruments has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Entegris has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Veeco Instruments and Entegris’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veeco Instruments	8.99%	8.29%	5.01%
Entegris	9.57%	12.48%	5.40%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.5% of Veeco Instruments shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Veeco Instruments shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Entegris shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Veeco Instruments and Entegris, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veeco Instruments	0	2	5	0	2.71
Entegris	0	2	7	0	2.78

Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus price target of $30.43, indicating a potential upside of 41.20%. Entegris has a consensus price target of $106.89, indicating a potential upside of 18.41%. Given Veeco Instruments’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Veeco Instruments is more favorable than Entegris.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Veeco Instruments and Entegris”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veeco Instruments	$717.30 million	1.80	$73.71 million	$1.07	20.14
Entegris	$3.24 billion	4.22	$292.79 million	$2.04	44.25

Entegris has higher revenue and earnings than Veeco Instruments. Veeco Instruments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Entegris, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Entegris beats Veeco Instruments on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports semiconductor and thin film process equipment primarily to make electronic devices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, China, Rest of the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers laser annealing, ion beam deposition and etch, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, single wafer wet processing and surface preparation, molecular beam epitaxy, advanced packaging lithography, atomic layer deposition, and other deposition systems. Its process equipment systems are used in the production of a range of microelectronic components, including logic, dynamic random-access memory, photonics devices, power electronics, radio frequency filters and amplifiers, magnetic heads for hard disk drives, and other semiconductor devices. In addition, the company markets and sells its products to integrated device manufacturers and foundries; outsourced semiconductor assembly and test companies; and hard disk drive and photonics manufacturers, as well as research centers and universities. Veeco Instruments Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Plainview, New York.

About Entegris

Entegris, Inc. develops, manufactures, and supplies microcontamination control products, specialty chemicals, and advanced materials handling solutions in North America, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. It operates in three segments: Materials Solutions (MS); Microcontamination Control (MC); and Advanced Materials Handling (AMH). The MC segment solutions to purify critical liquid chemistries and process gases used in semiconductor manufacturing processes and other high-technology industries; integrated circuit chemical mechanical polishing solutions, high-performance etch and clean chemistries, gases and materials, and safe and materials delivery systems. The MS segment provides materials-based solutions, such as chemical mechanical planarization slurries, pads, deposition materials, process chemistries and gases, formulated cleans, etchants, and other specialty materials. The Advanced Materials Handling segment develops solutions for customers' yields by protecting critical materials during manufacturing, transportation, and storage, which include monitor, protect, transport and deliver critical liquid chemistries, wafers, and other substrates for semiconductor, life sciences and other high-technology industries. The company's customers include logic and memory semiconductor device manufacturers, semiconductor equipment makers, gas and chemical manufacturing companies, and wafer grower companies; and flat panel display equipment makers, panel manufacturers, and manufacturers of hard disk drive components and devices, as well as their related ecosystems. It serves manufacturers and suppliers in the solar and life science industries, electrical discharge machining customers, glass and glass container manufacturers, aerospace manufacturers, and manufacturers of biomedical implantation devices. Entegris, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts.