Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Down 8.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) dropped 8.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $35.98 and last traded at $36.3160. Approximately 2,205,606 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 191% from the average daily volume of 758,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PLAB. Wall Street Zen upgraded Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Photronics from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their target price on Photronics from $30.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Singular Research raised Photronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Photronics Stock Down 8.7%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.67. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.54.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The semiconductor company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $215.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.54 million. Photronics had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Photronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.510-0.590 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.33, for a total transaction of $253,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 513,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,003,155.50. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.04, for a total value of $125,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,252.08. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,629,700. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Photronics by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,907,219 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,634,000 after buying an additional 38,330 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 0.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,012,744 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,025,000 after acquiring an additional 5,162 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Photronics by 12.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,258,714 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,131,000 after acquiring an additional 135,859 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics during the first quarter worth about $3,462,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 200,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,169,000 after acquiring an additional 43,029 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Photronics

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.