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PLPLAB

Photronics, Inc.

$PLAB·$1.8B·Semiconductors·Technology
$29.02-2.5%YTD-12.3%1Y+51.4%
Mentions · last 7 days
2026-07-10: 91 posts2026-07-11: 29 posts2026-07-12: 60 posts2026-07-13: 89 posts2026-07-14: 29 posts2026-07-15: 29 posts2026-07-16: 11 posts352+9%
Price updated 3h ago·X counts updated 3h ago
PLPLAB
$PLABPhotronics, Inc.
$29.02-2.52%352 posts+9%
AI analysisFundamentalsVoices on X
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AI verdict & sentimentAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Today's AI verdict on what's driving $PLAB, plus how loud the X conversation is and which way it's leaning.

AI analysis

TickerTalks’ read on the fundamentals and what’s driving the move.

Hinges on a big eventStalledAI verdict · as of 2026-07-15

The move has stalled — likely just drifts unless something new shows up.

Photronics is the AI-photomask value play that's stalled — five separate class-action alerts have been filed following prior selloffs, but the fundamentals stay clean into 8/26.

Photronics is a $1.8B photomask leader (semi and FPD) trading like the market can't decide whether to reward the AI-tailwind narrative or punish the recent securities-lawsuit overhang. Shares at $29.47, 0.29 through the 52-week range, -11% YTD but +52.7% over twelve months — the round-trip is the story.

  • Q2 FY26 (5/3) delivered $210M revenue (-0.5% yoy), 31% gross margin, 20% op margin, EPS $0.42 — but this was a 20.8% MISS versus the $0.53 consensus, which explains the current position. Four-quarter EPS surprises: -20.8%, +13.0%, +32.4%, +30.8% — the miss broke the streak.
  • That Q2 miss is what triggered the class-action wave (five separate law-firm alerts on 7/11-7/12), which is now the reputational overhang trading. These are typically fishing expeditions but they suppress institutional enthusiasm until lead-plaintiff deadlines pass.
  • Fundamentals remain clean: $638M cash, essentially zero debt (D/E 0.003), 34% gross margin, 10x TTM PE. The FY26 estimate consensus of $859M revenue and $1.86 EPS puts this on a low-double-digit forward multiple with real cash on the balance sheet.
  • X sentiment (from 6/22) is bullish on the secular AI-accelerator, autonomous-vehicle, and humanoid-robot photomask-demand thesis, with high-confidence call buying on the 7/17 $45 strikes. The dated call buying is worth watching.
  • Structural: mid float (57M), beta 1.37, volume 0.47x 30-day norm, position 0.29 in 52w range. Undersupplied and washed out — the setup wants a catalyst.

Next dated read is Q3 on 8/26 with consensus EPS $0.40. A beat plus updated commentary on the AI/HPC end-market resolves the miss narrative; another miss confirms the class-action bear thesis.

Agrees with X sentimentThe bullish X read (cheap PE, cash-rich balance sheet, AI/robotics tailwinds) aligns with the fundamentals but not yet with the tape — the Q2 miss and lawsuit alerts are what's keeping the stock stalled.

What to watch: Q3 print 8/26: EPS ($0.40 est) needs to at least meet consensus, AI/HPC end-market color, and any commentary about the securities suits. The 7/17 $45 call open interest is a near-term expiry to watch.

On the calendar: 2026-08-26 — Q3 FY26 earnings (consensus EPS $0.40)

X sentiment

What the X crowd is saying right now — descriptive, summarised from the day’s posts.

Bullish sentiment6 posts analyzed · as of 2026-06-22

Photronics chatter highlights a forward P/E of roughly eighteen against six-hundred-thirty-eight million in cash with zero debt and a trailing P/E of twelve, with one poster arguing the stock has been flat over six months despite secular AI accelerator, autonomous vehicle and humanoid-robot tailwinds requiring billions of new photomasks. A MACD crossover is in transition. High-confidence call buying flagged on July seventeenth forty-five strike calls. The name appears on earnings recaps alongside AMSC and Best Buy.

Read the AI verdict + X sentiment for $PLAB

  • One-line verdict on what's driving the move — fundamentals, momentum, both, or an event
  • Next dated catalyst when there is one (earnings, deal closing, activist clock)
  • X crowd read with bullish/bearish call + post volume
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What it does

Plain-English summary of the business — what they sell and how they make money.

Manufactures photomasks—templates used in semiconductor IC and flat panel display fabrication—serving chipmakers and foundries globally.

Industry overviewAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Where Semiconductors sits in its cycle right now — and what that implies for $PLAB.

Semiconductors · Technology

No material change from last week — structural AI capex engine unchanged: hyperscaler Blackwell allocation stays tight through 2H26 and HBM3e pricing holds as LLM context-window expansion drives 5-8x per-server memory demand uplift.

What this means for $PLAB

Partial — Manufactures photomasks—templates used in semiconductor IC and flat panel display fabrication—serving chipmakers and foundries globally; the AI capex and HBM/compute demand cycle is a secondary rather than primary near-term earnings catalyst.

Top industry ETF

$SMHVanEck Semiconductor ETF
+54.2%YTD
+96.7%1Y

Fundamentals & catalyst

Profitability, valuation, and the next earnings event — at a glance, with rule-of-thumb signals.

Key ratios

P/E
10.6How much investors are paying per dollar of profit the company actually earned in the last 12 months. Lower means the stock looks cheaper relative to earnings.~15–25 is typical for the S&P 500; high-growth names trade 30+; hyper-growth or speculative can be 100+ or negative.
ROIC
9.8%What percentage return the business earns on every dollar of capital (equity + debt) deployed in operations. The cleanest measure of business quality.Above ~15% is high-quality; consistently above 25% suggests a real moat. Below the company's cost of capital is value-destroying.
Op margin
22.9%Operating profit (after sales, marketing, R&D, and overhead but before interest and taxes) as a percentage of revenue. The clearest view of how well the underlying business is run.Mature business above 20% is healthy; software businesses can run 30%+; commodity / retail businesses operate in single digits.
FCF yield
5.6%Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capex) divided by the company's market cap. The cash-on-cash return you'd get owning the whole business at today's price.Above ~5% is attractive; below ~2% means you're paying up for growth. Capital-light businesses (software) run higher than capital-heavy ones (utilities).
P/S
2.0Same idea as P/E but per dollar of revenue. Useful for companies that aren't profitable yet, where P/E is meaningless.Under ~2 is cheap; software / SaaS often runs 8–15; well above 20 implies the market is pricing in very high future growth.
ROE
13.4%Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Similar to ROIC but counts only the equity side.Above 20% is strong, but can be inflated by leverage — a heavily indebted company can show high ROE with weak underlying ROIC.
Gross margin
33.8%Revenue minus the direct cost of producing what was sold, as a percentage of revenue. The first read on whether the product is structurally profitable.Software / SaaS is typically 70%+; consumer goods 30–50%; commodity / hardware businesses can be under 20%.
D/E
0.0Total debt divided by shareholders' equity. Measures how much the business runs on borrowed money versus owner capital.Under 1 is conservative; 1–2 is typical for mature businesses; over 2 is leveraged and more sensitive to interest rates.

Past earnings

QuarterReportedActualEstimateSurprise
Q1 2026May 28, 2026$0.42$0.53-20.8%
Q4 2025Feb 25, 2026$0.61$0.54+13.0%
Q3 2025Dec 10, 2025$0.60$0.45+32.4%
Q2 2025Aug 27, 2025$0.51$0.39+30.8%
Next earningsWed, Aug 26·consensus EPS $0.40

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueYoYGrossOpEPSFCF
Q2 FY26$209.9M-0.5%31.3%20.1%$0.54$1.2M
Q1 FY26$225.1M+6.1%35.0%24.3%$0.74$49.6M
Q4 FY25$215.8M-3.1%35.0%24.3%$1.07$20.2M
Q3 FY25$210.4M-0.3%33.7%22.9%$0.38$25.2M

Forward consensus

5-year forecast · up to 2 analysts
FYRevenueRangeEPSRangeAnalysts
FY26$859.4M$857.7M – $860.6M$1.86$1.85 – $1.862
FY27$898.3M$896.4M – $899.5M$2.02$2.01 – $2.022
FY28$961.7M$959.7M – $963.0M$2.19$2.18 – $2.191
FY29$1.0B$1.0B – $1.0B$2.35$2.34 – $2.351
FY30$1.1B$1.1B – $1.1B$2.50$2.49 – $2.501

Setup & momentum

Volume, range, and moving-average position — the technical setup driving short-term moves.

Right now

Vol vs 30dToday's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.0.5×Today's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.
52w rangeWhere the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.30%Where the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.
vs 50d MALatest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.-21.2%Latest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.
vs 200d MALatest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.-13.0%Latest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.

Float & profile

FloatMid float · 56.6M shFree-float shares — the slice of issued stock actually available to trade. Lower buckets squeeze harder on a catalyst.Traded today1.6% of floatToday's volume as a percent of the free float. Above 5% on a single day is unusually high turnover for the available share count.β1.375-year weekly beta vs the S&P 500. Above 1.5 means the stock typically moves more than the index; below 0.8 moves less.

Insider activity

Recent open-market buys and sells by officers and directors — flagged when multiple insiders cluster.

Recent transactions

SellApr 17Rui ZhangVP, CAO & Corporate Controller4.6K sh$213KSellApr 16Lee Kang JyhDirector20.0K sh$919KSellApr 15Lee Kang JyhDirector10.0K sh$451KSellApr 14Hsueh-chun WangCOO19.3K sh$872KSellApr 14Constantine S MacricostasDirector50.0K sh$2.3MSellApr 13Lee Kang JyhDirector5.0K sh$225KSellApr 13Eric RiveraCFO1.0K sh$45KSellApr 9Lee Kang JyhDirector5.0K sh$220KSellApr 9Eric RiveraCFO41.5K sh$1.8MSellApr 9Hsueh-chun WangCOO11.9K sh$525K
1–10 of 21
+ 17 other (7 awards · 7 exempts · 2 gifts · 1 return) in window

See when $PLAB insiders are putting their own money in

  • Real-time open-market buys and sells from Form 4 filings
  • Cluster-buy detection when multiple insiders pile in at once
  • 30 / 60 / 180-day windows so you can spot building conviction
Free, forever. No credit card.

SEC filings

Material 8-K, 13D, S-3, and 424B5 events from the last 180 days — the filings that actually move the price.

Recent material filings

8-KShareholder voteApr 98-K — Item 5.07: Shareholder vote
AI summary

PLAB held its annual meeting of stockholders around 2026-04-09 (8-K Item 5.07). Stockholders elected 9 directors to the board. A non-binding say-on-pay vote on executive compensation was conducted. Independent auditor ratification was approved. Routine governance event — monitor for unusually high withhold votes as an activist signal.

3/ANew insider — initial holdingsFeb 113/A
3/ANew insider — initial holdingsFeb 113/A
3New insider — initial holdingsJan 273
3New insider — initial holdingsJan 273
+ 11 other (3 13Gs · 2 10-Qs · 2 earnings 8-Ks · 2 proxys) in window

Recent news

Latest headlines from major outlets, sourced and timestamped — context for whatever just moved.

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAB) Shares Plunge 36%, Erasing $1.1 Billion in Market Value, Securities Class Action Filed – HBSSglobenewswire.com·1d agoPhotronics, Inc. (PLAB) Shareholders Who Lost Money Have Opportunity to Lead Securities Fraud Lawsuitprnewswire.com·1d agoROSEN, TRUSTED INVESTOR COUNSEL, Encourages Photronics, Inc. Investors to Secure Counsel Before Important Deadline in Securities Class Action - PLABnewsfilecorp.com·1d agoHeartland Value Fund Q2 2026 Portfolio Activityseekingalpha.com·2d agoPLAB UPCOMING DEADLINE: Levi & Korsinsky Alerts Photronics, Inc. Stockholders of Securities Class Action - Contact the Firmprnewswire.com·2d ago

In themes

Explore the broader themes this ticker is being talked about under.

AI InfrastructureSemiconductor Onshoring

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Voices on X · last 7 days

No standout posts about $PLAB on X in the last 7 days.

TickerTalks is a research tool, not financial advice. We surface social-attention data; we do not make stock recommendations. Past attention is not predictive of future price movements.

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