Put players set their sights on Veeco Instruments Inc. (VECO) on Thursday, when traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 1,172 of these bearishly skewed options. By contrast, only 280 calls were purchased on VECO during the course of Thursday's trading, netting the stock a single-day ISE put/call volume ratio of 4.19.

Likewise, VECO's 10-day ISE put/call volume ratio is pointing to elevated levels of skepticism, arriving today at 2.55. Not only does this ratio reveal that puts bought to open have more than doubled calls during the past two weeks, it also ranks higher than roughly 70% of other such readings taken during the previous year. In other words, traders on this exchange have purchased puts over calls at a faster clip only 30% of the time.

Not surprisingly, the equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) has ticked higher as speculators increasingly gravitate toward bearish bets. VECO's SOIR currently stands at 1.16, with puts comfortably outnumbering calls among options set to expire within three months. However, this ratio ranks in the 31st annual percentile, indicating that pessimistic sentiment is still far from peak levels.

Taking a closer look at Thursday's put volume, a healthy chunk of the ISE activity appears to be linked with a bearish spread strategy. Shortly after the opening bell, two blocks totaling 1,500 contracts traded on VECO's April 35 put, closer to the bid price than the ask -- suggesting these out-of-the-money puts were most likely sold. Simultaneously, two blocks totaling 750 contracts changed hands near the ask price on VECO's at-the-money April 40 put, indicating these contracts were probably purchased.

In other words, the trader sold two out-of-the-money puts for every one at-the-money put that was purchased. This is known as a long ratio put spread, with the speculator looking for VECO to fall to $35 per share by April expiration. The maximum potential profit on the play is limited to the difference between the purchased strike and the sold strike, less the initial net debit.

While profits are inherently limited, the trader could swallow steep losses if VECO plummets below $35 prior to April expiration. If this happens, he's at risk of assignment, since only half of his short puts are hedged by corresponding long puts.

Outside the options arena, short sellers are also betting on VECO to backpedal. Short interest surged by 20.8% during the past month, and now represents 21.6% of the equity's available float. At VECO's average daily trading volume, it would take 4.50 trading days for all of these pessimistic positions to be covered.

In light of the heavy-handed bearish sentiment on Wall Street, you might be surprised to hear that VECO touched a fresh 52-week high of $40.88 just earlier today. In fact, the shares boast a robust year-to-date gain of 20.7%, and they've rocketed 668% higher during the past 52 weeks. On a relative-strength basis, VECO has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by an impressive 23 percentage points during the past 60 days.

Since March 2009, the stock's steep ascent has been underlined by its 10-week and 20-week moving averages. These intermediate-term trendlines have contained all of VECO's weekly closes in the intervening months, indicating that this double-barreled support is rock solid.

But, with the stock's Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 63 climbing near overbought territory, it seems that some speculators are betting on a reversal of VECO's recent rally. However, it's interesting to note that the stock gapped higher on Thursday, surging beyond short-term pressure in the $37-to-$38 neighborhood in the process. The site of this bullish gap could now step up to provide support in the event of a pullback, limiting put players' ability to profit from a mean reversion.

While the stock may be due for a bit of consolidation following its impressive run higher, the bullish prospects still look solid for VECO. The shares are resting easy atop multiple layers of technical support, and a general mood of skepticism and disbelief pervades the security's sentiment backdrop. As the stock capitalizes on chart support to continue its journey higher, a capitulation by the bears should supply fresh buying pressure.