Stocks · Technology · Semiconductors
Photronics, Inc. PLAB
$31.49 +2.14% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $1.86B
High qualityInexpensive vs sectorLow risk
Next earnings report: Dec 9, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $2.84, up 62.3% year over year.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
- The stock is 43% below its highest close of the past year.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Technology sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 20%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 27%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 19%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 33%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 47%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 29%
- Gross marginBottom 26%
- Operating marginTop 13%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 45%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 46%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 23%
- Interest coverTop 1%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 4%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 29%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 2%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 22%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 37%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 37%
- 6-month returnBottom 10%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 35%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 30%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 40%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 41%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 31%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 49%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 18%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 27%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 28%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 35%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 23%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 0.5% | 1.2% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 42.2% | 62.3% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 35.8% | 33.7% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 24.7% | 22.5% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 7.5% | 12.7% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 1.2% | 0.5% | ↑ | Bottom 20% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 62.3% | 42.2% | ↑ | Top 27% |
| Gross margin | 33.7% | 35.8% | ↓ | Bottom 26% |
| Operating margin | 22.5% | 24.7% | ↓ | Top 13% |
| Net margin | 19.0% | 12.7% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 12.7% | 7.5% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 9.4% | — | Top 29% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 1.0% | — | Bottom 33% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.87×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -7.2%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.6%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -2.9 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- -1.61×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 38966.8×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- -0.08%
- Shareholder yield
- -0.08%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -3.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -1.8%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Aug 2, 2026 (filed Sep 10, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 1
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +12.1%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +4.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $55.00
- Target vs current price
- +74.7%
- Analysts with a rating
- 11
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 64%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2026 | +24.0% | +3.2% | -6.8% | +3.5% | — |
| May 28, 2026 | -20.8% | -36.4% | -40.0% | -38.6% | -43.0% |
| Feb 25, 2026 | +13.0% | +14.7% | -7.2% | +11.9% | +31.2% |
| Dec 10, 2025 | +32.4% | +45.4% | +33.7% | +23.7% | +33.2% |
| Aug 27, 2025 | +30.8% | +7.6% | -2.0% | +10.3% | -7.6% |
| May 28, 2025 | -16.7% | -15.6% | -11.2% | -5.4% | +4.1% |
| Feb 26, 2025 | +10.6% | +2.0% | -2.6% | +4.2% | -3.3% |
| Dec 11, 2024 | +13.5% | +10.8% | +3.6% | -7.1% | -17.9% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2026 | $0.50 | $0.40 | +24.0% | $216.0M |
| May 28, 2026 | $0.42 | $0.53 | -20.8% | $209.9M |
| Feb 25, 2026 | $0.61 | $0.54 | +13.0% | $225.1M |
| Dec 10, 2025 | $0.60 | $0.45 | +32.4% | $215.8M |
| Aug 27, 2025 | $0.51 | $0.39 | +30.8% | $210.4M |
| May 28, 2025 | $0.40 | $0.48 | -16.7% | $211.0M |
| Feb 26, 2025 | $0.52 | $0.47 | +10.6% | $212.1M |
| Dec 11, 2024 | $0.59 | $0.52 | +13.5% | $222.6M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 11.1× | 11.7× | 38th | Top 4% |
| P/E (forward) | 15.7× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 3.9× | — | — | Top 2% |
| EV / Sales | 1.51× | — | — | Top 22% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 5.94% | — | — | Top 29% |
| Earnings yield | 9.02% | — | — | Top 4% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 8.3× – 20.6× since Aug 1, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +35.2%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +62.3%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -21.6%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 6
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -0.6%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.1%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +4.4%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -12.3%
- RSI (14)
- 60.9
- Relative volume
- 0.83×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 45.8%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 43th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 1.20
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.30
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -42.7%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -50.6%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 15, 2024 | May 30, 2025 | -50.6% | 322 days | 134 days (Dec 10, 2025) |
| May 11, 2026 | Sep 14, 2026 | -50.6% | 86 days | Not yet recovered |
| Aug 12, 2022 | Apr 26, 2023 | -45.0% | 176 days | 45 days (Jun 30, 2023) |
| Jul 18, 2023 | Oct 30, 2023 | -32.5% | 73 days | 32 days (Dec 14, 2023) |
| Jan 14, 2022 | Apr 8, 2022 | -26.7% | 58 days | 33 days (May 26, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $1.86B
- P/E (TTM)
- 11.1
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $2.84
- Revenue (TTM)
- $866.8M
- 52-week range
- $20.05 – $56.00
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $663.8M | $824.5M | $892.1M | $866.9M | $849.3M |
| Gross profit | $167.0M | $294.2M | $336.2M | $315.9M | $299.8M |
| Operating income | $94.6M | $211.9M | $253.1M | $221.5M | $208.4M |
| Net income | $55.4M | $118.8M | $125.5M | $130.7M | $136.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.89 | $1.94 | $2.03 | $2.09 | $2.28 |
| Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $222.6M | $212.1M | $211.0M | $210.4M | $215.8M | $225.1M | $209.9M | $216.0M |
| Net income | $33.9M | $42.9M | $8.9M | $22.9M | $61.8M | $42.9M | $31.4M | $28.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.54 | $0.68 | $0.15 | $0.38 | $1.07 | $0.74 | $0.54 | $0.49 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $150.8M | $275.2M | $302.2M | $261.4M | $247.8M |
| Capital expenditure | -$109.3M | -$112.3M | -$131.3M | -$130.9M | -$188.1M |
| Free cash flow | $41.5M | $162.8M | $170.9M | $130.5M | $59.7M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | -$44.4M | -$2.5M | $1.2M | $1.9M | -$95.2M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $672.8M
- Total assets
- $1.99B
- Total liabilities
- $247.0M
- Total debt
- $3.9M
- Net debt
- -$545.6M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $1.28B
As of Aug 2, 2026 (filed Sep 10, 2026).
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 4,334,857
- Days to cover
- 3.89
- Change vs previous report
- -6.5%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Dec 2, 1997
- 2-for-1
- Mar 21, 1995
- 3-for-2