China woes hurt Plainview company

Share prices for Veeco Instruments Inc., of Plainview, fell nearly 16 percent Tuesday after a Citi Investment Research analyst downgraded the company due to concerns about the China market.

Veeco makes machines – with pricetags in the range of $2.5 million per machine – that make light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.

Bloomberg News reports that Citi’s analyst, Timothy M. Arcuri, downgraded Veeco to "Hold" from "Buy" saying he sees "heightened risk" in the first half of next year of a policy change in China that could lead to a "big falloff in orders through 2011" for the company.

Demand for Veeco's products in China have steadily increased in part due to government subsidies for the low-energy light sources. Continued support for those China subsidies were called into question, prompting the Citi downgrade.

Veeco’s share price closed at $49.97 on Monday, then dropped to $42.19 by the close of trading Tuesday.

--------------------
Read more of Inside Long Island Business