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what it is
Photronics makes the precision glass templates chip and display makers use to print circuits onto silicon and screens.
how it gets paid
Last year Photronics made $849M in revenue.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 2.0% last year. The 6% revenue growth mattered most because annual revenue had just declined 2.0%.
what just happened
Photronics opened fiscal 2026 with $225.1M in revenue and a clean earnings beat.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
60/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
16.9x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
10.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 72/100 — average
What they do
Photronics makes the precision glass templates chip and display makers use to print circuits onto silicon and screens.
This is a tiny company sitting in a painful manufacturing step. If your chip factory needs a photomask, you cannot swap in a bad one and hope for the best. Photronics runs 11 facilities across the U.S., Europe, Taiwan, China, and South Korea, and that footprint helps it serve customers near the fabs that actually matter.
How they make money
$849M
annual revenue · revenue declined -2.0% last year
total revenue
$849M
2.0%
The products that matter
chip-patterning templates
Integrated Circuit Photomasks
73% of quarterly sales
this is the engine right now. management said the segment represented 73% of sales in the latest quarter and benefited from record high-end revenues tied to advanced demand.
main driver
display manufacturing masks
Flat Panel Display Photomasks
secondary segment
the company said this segment posted a modest top-line gain. the data here is thinner, which tells you where your attention belongs: the IC business carrying the growth story.
supporting role
Key numbers
24.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → so what: PLAB keeps about 25 cents from each sales dollar before taxes and interest.
$849M
annual revenue
This is a sub-$1 billion business supplying a critical manufacturing input, which explains both the niche appeal and the limited scale.
16.9x
trailing p/e
P/E → price compared with past earnings → so what: you are not paying a bubble multiple for a company with double-digit historic earnings growth.
10.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit generated from money tied up in the business → so what: decent, but not elite, for a specialized manufacturer.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 15 / 100
- net profit margin 15.5% — keeps 16 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 10% — $0.10 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in PLAB 3 years ago → it's now worth $20,030.
The index would have given you $14,540.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Photronics opened fiscal 2026 with $225.1M in revenue and a clean earnings beat.
Latest-quarter revenue rose 6% vs. prior year to $225M, and EPS reached $0.74, up 9% vs. prior year. Management also said record high-end IC revenue and seasonal Asia demand helped the quarter.
$225.1M
revenue
$0.74
eps
35.0%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The 6% revenue growth mattered most because annual revenue had just declined 2.0%, so this quarter showed demand did not fall off a cliff.
-
photronics began fiscal 2026 (year ends october 31st) with better-than-expected results.
-
january-quarter sales of $225.1 million were more than $5 million above our estimate and increased 6% compared to the previous-year tally.the advance was driven by gains at both the integrated circuit (ic) and flat panel display (fpd) segments.
-
the former division, which represented 73% of total sales for the period, benefited from record high-end revenues.
-
this was supported by seasonal robust demand in asia ahead of the chinese new year.the group benefited from expanding demand for photomasks that support ai-driven chip packaging applications.
-
the fpd segment posted a modest top-line gain.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top risk is high-end IC photomask demand cooling after a strong quarter.
med
IC concentration
In the latest quarter, 73% of sales came from the integrated circuit segment. When one line of business dominates that much, a slowdown there is not a headwind. It's the story.
If record high-end mask demand normalizes, most of the income statement feels it immediately.
med
demand pull-forward in asia
Management cited seasonally strong demand in Asia ahead of the Chinese New Year. That's real demand, but seasonal strength has a habit of borrowing from the next quarter.
A softer follow-through quarter would make the recent beat look more like timing than trend.
med
growth compression
Revenue grew 34.1% last year to $849M. The current fiscal 2026 estimate is $880M. That's only $31M higher, which tells you expectations already assume a major cooldown.
If revenue stalls near last year's level instead of moving toward $880M, the stock stops looking cheap and starts looking correctly discounted.
with 73% of quarterly sales tied to IC masks and only $31M separating last year's revenue from this year's estimate, there is not much cushion for a demand stumble.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
IC mix staying above the noise
The latest quarter got 73% of sales from integrated circuit masks. If that share weakens while revenue slows, the growth narrative gets thinner fast.
calendar
next earnings report
You want to see whether the $225.1M quarter was a clean handoff into fiscal 2026 or just a well-timed peak.
trend
institutional selling streak
Institutions have been net sellers for three straight quarters. A reversal would matter because the current drift says bigger holders still want proof.
risk
AI packaging demand durability
The company pointed to photomask demand supporting AI-driven chip packaging. If that demand broadens, the bull case gets cleaner. If it fades, the latest quarter looks more temporary.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 5%
momentum score 1 — the highest rating. in human-speak, analysts think the next 12 months still look better than almost everything else.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — this is not especially safe, and not especially fragile. you are owning the cycle, not escaping it.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — the stock is not flashing a dramatic signal either way.
earnings predictability
60 / 100
You usually get a readable business here, but not a smooth one. expect some quarter-to-quarter noise.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 3 consecutive quarters — 102 buyers vs. 111 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 54.0M shares. net selling for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$12
$48
$34
current price
$30
target midpoint · 12% from current · 3-5yr high: $50 (+45% · 10% ann'l return)
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