Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $25.32, but opened at $29.69. Photronics shares last traded at $30.97, with a volume of 498,191 shares.

The semiconductor company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Photronics had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $222.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 155.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,294 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Photronics by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 228,950 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 23,449 shares during the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. acquired a new position in Photronics during the 2nd quarter worth $211,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Photronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $572,000. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 28,145 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Photronics Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 1.41.

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.