Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Veeco Instruments and Ultra Clean

For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – December 29, 2025 – Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses Kulicke and Soffa Industries KLIC, Veeco Instruments VECO and Ultra Clean Holdings UCTT.Industry: Electronics ManufacturingLink: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/2809299/3-electronics-stocks-to-buy-from-a-prospering-industryThe Zacks Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry players like Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Veeco Instruments and Ultra Clean Holdings are benefiting from increased demand for highly complex semiconductors due to the rapid proliferation of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones, the Internet of Things, augmented reality and virtual reality. AI-enabled applications continue to drive demand for advanced logic and high-bandwidth memory products.The growing demand for advanced packaging, lithography and wet processing solutions has been the key catalyst for industry participants. However, challenging macroeconomic conditions globally, persistent inflation, labor shortages and uncertain trade policy continue to hurt supply chains, which is a headwind. This has been negatively impacting spending on capital equipment, particularly within the automotive and industrial markets, and is expected to continue in the near term.Industry DescriptionThe Zacks Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry comprises companies that provide a range of solutions to address the needs of wafer processing facilities, as well as device packaging and test facilities, and semiconductor manufacturing processes. The solutions offered by the industry participants include thin-film processing systems, photonics, process-control tools (that perform macro defect inspections and metrology), metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, advanced packaging lithography, wet etch and clean, laser annealing and 3D wafer inspection systems.A few industry participants also offer micro-contamination control products and advanced material-handling solutions. Contamination-free transportation, storage and delivery of materials have gained immense significance in recent times.3 Trends Shaping the Future of the Electronics IndustryMiniaturization Enhances Prospects: Industry participants are benefiting from the ongoing transition in semiconductor manufacturing technology. The demand for advanced packaging, which enables the miniaturization of electronic products, remains strong. The consistent shift to smaller dimensions, increasing complexity in transistor design and the rapid adoption of new device architectures, such as FinFET, 3D NAND and GAA, along with the increasing utilization of new manufacturing materials to increase transistor and bit density, are driving the demand for solutions provided by the industry players.Moreover, the emergence of techniques like wafer-level packaging is driving the need for a high-purity manufacturing environment free of contaminants. The rising demand for clean processing, as well as wafer carrier cleaning and conditioning tools, is a key catalyst for industry participants.Complex Process Driving Demand: The requirement for faster, more powerful, compact and energy-efficient semiconductors is expected to increase rapidly with emerging applications, including artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance and cloud computing, smartphones, wearable technology, self-driving vehicles, the Internet of Things (IoT), gaming and virtual reality, and smart healthcare.Semiconductor manufacturers like Intel, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductors are primarily looking to maximize manufacturing yields at lower costs. This is making semiconductor manufacturing processes more complex and driving the demand for solutions offered by industry participants. The rapid adoption of IoT-supported factory automation solutions is another contributing factor. The increasing deployment of 5G and the growing demand for edge computing are other key catalysts.NAND, DRAM & SSD Demand Strong: The improving demand for NAND and DRAM is a positive for the industry participants. Strong SSD demand, driven by data center and cloud spending, is another key catalyst. DRAM is expected to benefit from strong demand in the data center, enterprise and cloud segments. Strong demand for chips and higher spending on semiconductor capital equipment are aiding the industry participants.Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Bullish ProspectsThe Zacks Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry is housed within the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector. It carries a Zacks Industry Rank #38, which places it in the top 16% of more than 250 Zacks industries.The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates bullish near-term prospects. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.The industry’s position in the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries is a result of the positive earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. Looking at the aggregate earnings estimate revisions, analysts appear optimistic about this group’s earnings growth potential. Since June 30, 2025, the industry’s earnings estimate for 2026 has increased by 12.7%.Given the positive industry outlook, there are a number of stocks worth buying. However, before we present the stocks you may want to consider for your portfolio, let’s take a look at the industry’s recent stock-market performance and valuation picture.Industry Lags Sector and S&P 500The Zacks Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery industry has underperformed the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector and the S&P 500 over the past year.The industry has declined 3.5% over this period against the S&P 500’s return of 18.1% and the broader sector’s appreciation of 24.6%.Industry's Current ValuationOn the basis of the trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA ratio, which is a commonly used multiple for valuing Electronics - Manufacturing Machinery companies, we see that the industry is trading at 14.47X compared with the S&P 500’s 18.84X. It is below the sector’s trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA of 19.67X.Over the last five years, the industry has traded as high as 17.43X and as low as 8.53X, with the median being 12.59X.3 Electronics Stocks to Buy Right NowKulicke and Soffa Industries: This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company designs, develops, manufactures and sells capital equipment and consumables and provides services used to assemble semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuits, power discretes, light-emitting diodes and sensors. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Kulicke and Soffa’s focus on vertical wires, power semiconductor, advanced dispense and thermo-compression is expected to drive top-line growth in the near term. KLIC has been benefiting from improved demand for ball, wedge and TCB solutions. Utilization rate for high-volume general semiconductor and memory applications continues to improve, which bodes well for KLIC’s prospects.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Kulicke and Soffa Industries’ fiscal 2026 earnings has been steady at $1.53 per share over the past 30 days. Shares have dropped 2.8% in a year.Veeco Instruments: This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company offers advanced semiconductor process equipment that play a key role in fabrication of key devices including advanced node application processors for AI chips, high-performance computing, mobile devices, high-speed data communications, and radio frequency filters and power amplifiers 5G networks and mobile electronics, photonics devices for 3D sensing, advanced displays, and thin film magnetic heads for hard disk drives in data storage.Veeco’s prospects benefit from continued investment in AI and high-performance computing, which is driving demand for gate-all-around, high-bandwidth memory and advanced packaging. VECO is set to merge with Axcelis Technologies, with the deal expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Veeco’s 2026 earnings has remained unchanged at $1.50 per share over the past 30 days. Shares have appreciated 6.1% in the trailing 12-month period.Ultra Clean Holdings: This Zacks Rank #2 company offers critical subsystems, components, parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services, primarily for the semiconductor industry.Ultra Clean Holdings is benefiting from new product introductions, increasing efficiency in decision-making due to a flattened organizational structure, and streamlining of business systems. AI-enabled high-performance computing continues to drive demand for advanced manufacturing technologies, new architectures and next-generation processes, which bodes well for UCTT.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ultra Clean Holdings’ 2026 earnings has been steady at $1.26 per share over the past 30 days. Shares have dropped 28.4% in a year.Free: Instant Access to Zacks' Market-Crushing StrategiesSince 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.Today you can tap into those powerful strategies – and the high-potential stocks they uncover – free. No strings attached.Get all the details here >>Media ContactZacks Investment Research800-767-3771 ext. 9339support@zacks.comhttps://www.zacks.comPast performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. 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Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (UCTT): Free Stock Analysis Report Veeco Instruments Inc. (VECO): Free Stock Analysis Report Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (KLIC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks