Reviewing Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) and Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO)

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Veeco Instruments and Tower Semiconductor”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veeco Instruments	$664.29 million	3.93	$35.39 million	$0.36	118.67
Tower Semiconductor	$1.57 billion	16.06	$220.47 million	$2.53	88.38

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

Risk and Volatility

Veeco Instruments has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tower Semiconductor has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Veeco Instruments and Tower Semiconductor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veeco Instruments	3.40%	3.52%	2.32%
Tower Semiconductor	16.94%	9.83%	8.25%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Veeco Instruments and Tower Semiconductor, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veeco Instruments	0	5	1	0	2.17
Tower Semiconductor	0	2	7	0	2.78

Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus price target of $49.33, indicating a potential upside of 15.48%. Tower Semiconductor has a consensus price target of $318.67, indicating a potential upside of 42.52%. Given Tower Semiconductor’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Tower Semiconductor is more favorable than Veeco Instruments.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.5% of Veeco Instruments shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.5% of Tower Semiconductor shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Veeco Instruments shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Tower Semiconductor shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Tower Semiconductor beats Veeco Instruments on 10 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 Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor Ltd., an independent semiconductor foundry, focus on specialty process technologies to manufacture analog intensive mixed-signal semiconductor devices in Israel, the United States, Japan, Europe, and internationally. It provides various customizable process technologies, including SiGe, BiCMOS, mixed signal/CMOS, RF CMOS, CMOS image sensor, integrated power management, and MEMS. The Company also provides design enablement platform for quick and accurate design cycle, as well as transfer optimization and development process services to integrated device manufacturers and fabless companies. It serves various markets, such as consumer electronics, personal computers, communications, automotive, industrial, aerospace, military, and medical device products. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Migdal Haemek, Israel.