UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight Rating, Lowers PT on Veeco Instruments

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray & Co. reiterated its Overweight rating on Veeco Instruments

, but lowered its price target from $50.00 to $45.00. Piper Jaffray noted, “We trim our 2013 estimates slightly but reiterate our OW rating on VECO following meetings with mgmt last week. We continue to highlight VECO as one of the best LED stocks in the long term (12 months). While MOCVD bookings have bottomed, management still lacks concrete signs of a meaningful order uptick as customers have lingering concerns about a weak macro. Mgmt's cautious stance leads us to trim our revenue and EPS to $677m and $2.25 ($800m and $3.00 previously). We believe management likely continues to execute flawlessly through this murky environment with further cost reduction likely through 4Q12. We believe 2013 is likely the beginning of a multi-year upcycle in LED lighting that will drive MOCVD demand. We believe high barriers to entry will maintain the duopoly between VECO and AIXG, with VECO likely maintaining its share lead. We are reducing our price target from $50 to $45.” Veeco Instruments closed on Friday at $37.76.