VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC (VECO)

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

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Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is intended to facilitate an understanding of our business and results of operations. This MD&A should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-Q. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements and should also be read in conjunction with the cautionary statement set forth at the beginning of this Form 10-Q.

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The following section generally discusses 2026 and 2025 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2026 and 2025. Discussions of 2025 items that are not included in this Form 10-Q can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Item 2 of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the interim period ended June 30, 2025, filed on August 6, 2025.

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Executive Summary

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We are an innovative manufacturer of semiconductor process equipment. Our proven ion beam, laser annealing, lithography, MOCVD, and single wafer wet processing technologies play an integral role in the fabrication and packaging of advanced semiconductor devices. With equipment designed to optimize performance, yield and cost of ownership, Veeco holds leading technology positions in the markets we serve. To learn more about Veeco’s systems and service offerings, visit www.veeco.com.

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Merger with Axcelis Technologies, Inc.

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On September 30, 2025, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Axcelis Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Axcelis”), and Victory Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axcelis (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions specified therein, Merger Sub shall be merged with and into Veeco (the “Merger”), with Veeco surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axcelis. The Merger Agreement was approved by our board of directors (except for one (1) independent director who serves on the Axcelis’ board of directors as well who recused himself) and, on February 6, 2026, by the stockholders of each company. The completion of the Merger remains subject to the satisfaction or (to the extent permissible) waiver of customary closing conditions, including the final pending regulatory approval from the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China, and is currently expected to close in the second half of 2026.

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For more information regarding the Merger, see Note 10 “Merger” to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

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Business Update

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Overview

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The Semiconductor industry experienced robust growth in 2025 and, looking ahead, industry analysts are forecasting long-term growth of the industry, driven by secular growth trends such as artificial intelligence (“AI”), high-performance computing, advanced connectivity, and the electrification of the automotive industry. Additionally, government investments in the Semiconductor industry are projected to accelerate global spending in next-generation technologies.

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Growth in the Semiconductor industry driven by AI investments, coupled with increasing technological complexity of Semiconductor chips, are expected to drive long-term growth in Wafer Fab Equipment (“WFE”) spending. In an effort to improve chip performance, optimize power consumption, and reduce costs, today’s most advanced Semiconductor manufacturers are shrinking device geometries, investing in more complex transistor designs such as Gate-All-Around and exploring 3D architectures. As a result, growth of the WFE market is forecasted to keep pace with long-term growth

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of the Semiconductor industry, which we believe should benefit semiconductor capital equipment providers, including Veeco.

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Veeco’s technologies are at the forefront of enabling new technical innovations in the manufacturing of high-performance AI chips, advanced connectivity and High-Bandwidth Memory (“HBM”). We continue to invest in new technologies to expand our Serviceable Available Market (“SAM”) to a broad range of new applications.

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Semiconductor Market

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Semiconductor revenue comprised 68% of second quarter total revenue primarily driven by system shipments of our Laser Spike Annealing (“LSA”) technology, and our Advanced Packaging technology, particularly for our wet processing products. Semiconductor revenue increased 5% from the comparable prior period due to increase in sales to our leading-edge foundry/logic and memory customers.

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In logic and foundry, we have long-standing and trusted customer relations and our annealing solutions continue to gain traction at advanced node customers. Our LSA platform is production tool of record at all three Tier 1 logic customers, driving repeat business. Additionally, our next-generation Nanosecond Annealing (“NSA”) system tool addresses critical low-thermal budget applications such as contact annealing, 3D device integration and materials modification. In the second quarter, for our NSA system we announced that a Tier 1 customer successfully completed their evaluation and placed a follow-on order for a second system to ship in the second half of 2026. We also announced in the second quarter, that the third Tier 1 logic customer received an NSA evaluation tool. We have now successfully engaged all three Tier 1 logic and foundry customers with our NSA technology, and we continue working closely with them to support high-volume manufacturing.

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In the memory market, we continue to expand our presence as there is significant long-term opportunity as AI-driven computing architecture accelerates demand for Dynamic Random Access Memory (“DRAM”) and NAND technologies. These technology transitions are creating new thermal processing and material requirements that align well with our differentiated annealing capabilities. The memory industry is at the early stages of adopting laser-based technologies for annealing applications. We continue to make solid progress with leading memory customers, including serving as the production tool of record at a Tier 1 HBM customer, that is accelerating their investments in 2026. We are also advancing an LSA evaluation system at a second Tier 1 DRAM customer, with potential for follow-on orders in 2027 and 2028. Customer engagement continues to expand with a third DRAM customer, with potential to enter an evaluation agreement over the coming quarters. Furthermore, we are encouraged by several NAND customers who are exploring applications for our LSA and NSA platforms, which are continuing to advance well.

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We also have two Ion Beam Deposition 300 (“IBD300”) systems under evaluation at leading DRAM memory customers. Our IBD300 system provides Veeco with another opportunity to expand our SAM to advanced node applications where low resistance films are critical. These initial systems are being evaluated for advanced memory applications, such as DRAM bitline metallization.

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The ongoing adoption of EUV Lithography for advanced node semiconductor manufacturing continues to drive demand for our Ion Beam Deposition (“IBD”) EUV system for mask blanks. Leading logic and memory manufacturers expect EUV and High Numerical Aperture (“High-NA”) lithography to be integral to their future roadmaps. Our IBD technology is a key enabler of the EUV mask blank Multiple Layer Mirror deposition. Our product roadmap is well positioned as the industry adopts next-generation High-NA EUV lithography, and we are expanding our EUV related business to EUV pellicles, which are increasingly being used to protect defect-free masks and improve productivity as EUV utilization scales. We continue to win production business at a Tier 1 foundry and engage new customers for EUV pellicles.

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In Advanced Packaging (“AP”), which includes our wet processing and lithography systems, we continue to experience increased demand as AI-related investments accelerate adoption of heterogenous integration of advanced 2.5D and 3D architectures. In the second quarter, we had an increase in orders for our wet processing and lithography systems from leading OSAT customers. We are also working with a Tier 1 foundry on a panel wet processing tool opportunity, and we are encouraged by our engagement. AP continues to provide meaningful momentum to Veeco, as we progress through

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the year, bringing increased visibility through 2027. The sustained interest from leading customers in our ability to enable their extreme ramp and AP roadmap supports our confidence in the outlook for the business.

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Looking ahead, we anticipate growth in the semiconductor market in leading-edge investment driven by AI investments.

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Compound Semiconductor Market

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Compound Semiconductor revenue increased by 45% in the second quarter from the comparable prior year period, comprising 11% of total revenue. In the Compound Semiconductor market, we have a broad portfolio of products which are gaining momentum due to a significant inflection point within the industry due to the AI data center infrastructure build-out.

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We continue to benefit from the growing demand tied to AI, particularly through our exposure to Silicon Photonics and the Indium Phosphide (“InP”) lasers used for optical connectivity applications. Industry investment remains focused on hyperscalers' need for higher bandwidth and optical connectivity across increasingly large AI data clusters. As bandwidth requirements continue to accelerate, the industry is increasingly focused on overcoming the "copper wall," where traditional electrical interconnects become less efficient at supporting higher-speed data transmission. At the same time, hyperscalers continue to advance optical networking architectures, including evolution of EML pluggables, Silicon Photonics pluggables, as well as the longer-term solutions of near-package and co-packaged optics. Collectively, these trends are driving broader adoption of optical connectivity throughout the AI infrastructure ecosystem. These architectures increasingly rely on InP laser technologies, which are critical to next-generation AI networking and optical interconnect solutions.

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Overall, our SAM expansion is driven by two key market inflections. First, the exponential growth of optical connectivity bandwidth requirement due to agentic AI, leading to a corresponding growth in high-power InP Continuous Wave laser demand and thus InP epitaxy. Second, the exponential growth in power demand is simultaneously driving the number of laser diodes, but more importantly power required per laser diode, leading to higher reliability requirements from laser facet coating solutions.

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Our portfolio spans multiple steps of the laser manufacturing process, including Lumina MOCVD Arsenide Phosphide batch platform for the epitaxy steps, Wafer Etch and Wafer Storm for etching and metal lift-off, and our Spector IBD for the laser diode facet coatings.

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First, the MOCVD epitaxy steps play a crucial role and we are continuing to penetrate the market with our Lumina MOCVD InP Platform as leading photonics customers expand capacity. In the second quarter, a global leader in optical and photonic technologies selected our Lumina+ MOCVD system to fabricate InP lasers for innovative communication solutions in the datacom industry. Second, we are a market leader with our WaferEtch and WaferStorm wet processing technologies for advanced etching and surface preparation. Third, we remain a market leader with our Spector IBD tool for the critical laser facet coating step. From ongoing customer

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

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Introduction

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is intended to facilitate an understanding of our business and results of operations. This MD&A should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements and should also be read in conjunction with the cautionary statement set forth at the beginning of this Form 10-K.

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The following section generally discusses 2025 and 2024 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2025 and 2024. Discussions of 2024 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed on February 14, 2025.

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Merger with Axcelis Technologies, Inc.

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On September 30, 2025, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Axcelis Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Axcelis”), and Victory Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axcelis (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions specified therein, Merger Sub shall be merged with and into Veeco (the “Merger”), with Veeco surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axcelis. The Merger Agreement was approved by our board of directors (except for one (1) independent director who serves on the Axcelis’ board of directors as well who recused himself) and, on February 6, 2026, by the stockholders of each company, but is still pending regulatory approvals and other customary mutual closing conditions.  For more information regarding the previously announced merger with Axcelis, see Note 17 “Merger” to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Executive Summary

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We are an innovative manufacturer of semiconductor process equipment. Our proven ion beam, laser annealing, lithography, MOCVD, and single wafer wet processing technologies play an integral role in the fabrication and packaging of advanced semiconductor devices. With equipment designed to optimize performance, yield and cost of ownership, Veeco holds leading technology positions in the markets we serve. To learn more about Veeco’s systems and service offerings, visit www.veeco.com.

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Veeco executed well during 2025, and accomplished a number of milestones, including:

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We believe these inflection points position us well to capture our largest SAM growth opportunities in 2026 and beyond.

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Business Update

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Sales in the Semiconductor industry are estimated to have increased year-over-year in 2025 to approximately $770 billion dollars, according to Gartner. Looking ahead, industry analysts are forecasting long-term growth of the industry, driven by secular growth trends such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, mobile connectivity, and the electrification of the automotive industry. Additionally, government investments in the Semiconductor industry are projected to accelerate global spending in next-generation technologies.

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Growth in the Semiconductor industry, coupled with increasing technological complexity of Semiconductor chips, are expected to drive long-term growth in WFE spending. In an effort to improve chip performance, optimize power consumption, and reduce costs, today’s most advanced Semiconductor manufacturers are shrinking device geometries, investing in more complex transistor designs such as Gate-All-Around and exploring 3D architectures. As a result, growth of the WFE market is forecasted to keep pace with long-term growth of the Semiconductor industry, which we believe should benefit semiconductor capital equipment providers, including Veeco.

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Our strategy of investing in advanced logic and memory has enabled our Semiconductor business to continue to grow. Veeco’s technologies are at the forefront of enabling new technical innovations in the manufacture of high-performance AI chips and High-Bandwidth Memory (“HBM”). We continue to invest in new technologies to expand our SAM to a broad range of new applications.

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Semiconductor revenue increased by 2% in 2025 from the prior year, comprising 72% of total revenue. This increase was driven by our Laser Annealing business with both leading and mature node customers. Our laser annealing solutions continue to gain acceptance at advanced logic nodes, highlighted by recent order activity involving both new and existing customers. In 2025, we received laser annealing orders from, and shipped systems to several leading-edge logic customers and had multiple repeat orders from a DRAM customer. In the memory market, we continue to ship systems to Tier 1 customers for high volume production of HBM and advanced DRAM devices. We also shipped a LSA evaluation system to a second leading memory customer in the fourth quarter of 2025. While we continue to ship LSA systems to mature node customers in China, as anticipated this business has moderated and we expect to continue to see a decline heading into 2026. Our growth strategy remains predominately focused on advanced node logic and memory customers.

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We have two next generation laser annealing systems under evaluation at Tier 1 foundry and logic customers. We also shipped and recognized revenue on our NSA500 tool to a logic customer in 2025. This next generation system, the NSA500, covers the nano-second annealing regime and complements our LSA product. This new system is part of our continued effort to enable our customers’ product roadmap by providing innovative annealing solutions. Nanosecond annealing provides Veeco with an opportunity to expand our laser annealing SAM for new advanced node logic and memory applications, including low thermal budget anneals for Gate-All-Around transistors and advanced 3D devices.

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The ongoing adoption of EUV Lithography for advanced node semiconductor manufacturing continues to drive demand for our Ion Beam Deposition EUV system for mask blanks. Leading logic and memory customers expect EUV and High Numerical Aperture (“High-NA”) lithography to be integral to their future roadmaps, with our Ion Beam Deposition technology serving as a key enabler. Our product roadmap is well positioned as the industry adopts next-generation High-NA EUV lithography, and we are expanding our EUV related business to EUV pellicles which are increasingly

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being used to improve the productivity of EUV steps. Our IBD-EUV system is used to form the high transparency membrane used in pellicles.

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We have two Ion Beam Deposition (“IBD300”) systems under evaluation at leading DRAM memory customers, which we have extended the evaluation into 2026. Our IBD300 system provides Veeco with another opportunity to expand our SAM to advanced node applications where low resistance films are critical. These initial systems are being evaluated for advanced memory applications, such as DRAM bitline.

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In Advanced Packaging, we have seen significant growth in our business year-over-year. Our Wet Processing systems are used for several applications, and we continue to see strong demand driven by Heterogenous Integration and 3D Packaging for AI and high-performance computing. Our Advanced Packaging lithography systems are used for packaging steps such Cu pillar and microbumps used in fan out wafer level packaging and other 2.5 and 3D advanced packaging solutions. We are seeing an uptick in the order activity from several OSAT customers driven by AI and consumer markets recovery.

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Looking ahead, we anticipate seeing growth in the semiconductor market in leading-edge investment driven by new nodes and AI-related demand, including investment in Gate-All-Around nodes, High-Bandwidth Memory, and 3D packaging for AI.

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Veeco also serves the Compound Semiconductor market with a broad portfolio of technologies, including Wet Processing, MOCVD, MBE and Ion Beam, for Power Electronics, Photonics, and 5G RF applications. Sales in the Compound Semiconductor market for 2025 declined from the prior year. However, we had significant order activity in the second half of 2025 for our new Propel 300 millimeter GaN on Silicon and Lumina+ arsenide phosphide platforms supporting GaN power, photonics and solar, which will drive revenue growth for 2026, principally in the second half.

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Lastly, Veeco also addresses the Data Storage and Scientific & Other markets. In the Data Storage market we experienced a decline in revenue from 2025 compared to the prior year. However, we have seen new order activity and increased customer utilization rates driven by growth in end-market demand in data centers (AI and cloud) and as customers gain traction in new technologies like Heat Assisted-Magnetic-Recording (“HAMR”). Orders received in the third and fourth quarter of 2025 for our ion beam and wet processing equipment from demand for cloud and AI Data Centers, will drive revenue growth in 2026, principally in the second half.

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Sales in the Scientific & Other market are largely driven by sales to governments, universities, and research institutions. We address the Scientific & Other market with several technologies, including MBE, ALD, MOCVD, Wet Processing, and IBD/IBE, which support scientific, optical coating and other applications, and sales in this market increased slightly in 2025 from the prior year.

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Results of Operations

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Years Ended December 31, 2025 and 2024

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The following table presents revenue and expense line items reported in our Consolidated Statements of Operations for 2025 and 2024 and the period-over-period dollar and percentage changes for those line items. Our results of operations are reported as one business

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