Photronics Q1 2025 Earnings Results & Report

Photronics EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.52
• Consensus EPS: $0.47
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.05
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.48
• EPS Beat Rate: 6 of last 8 quarters

Photronics Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $212.14 million
• Expected Revenue: $210.00 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$2.14 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) (NASDAQ: PLAB) is a manufacturer of photomasks, precision quartz and glass plates used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and display panels during the manufacturing process. Its products are essential to the production of integrated circuits and flat-panel displays.

The company provides photomasks for a range of semiconductor applications, including advanced logic, memory and other specialized devices. It also supplies photomasks used in flat-panel display manufacturing, supporting technologies such as liquid-crystal displays and other display formats. In addition to manufacturing, Photronics provides related technical and engineering services to help customers meet their patterning and production requirements.

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Brookfield, Connecticut, Photronics serves semiconductor and display manufacturers through operations in North America, Europe and Asia. The company maintains manufacturing and development capabilities in key technology and production markets, including the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and China. Photronics is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Peter S. Kirlin.

Photronics Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Photronics reported Q1 sales of $212 M and non-GAAP EPS of $0.52, surpassing the high end of guidance and generating strong operating cash flow of $78 M (37% of revenue).
• IC segment sales fell 2% YoY with mainstream weakness in Asia and Europe at older nodes, and sequential revenue declines across all regions despite growth in U.S. IC and high-end node demand (14–22 nm).
• The company secured its first orders for Gen 8.6 AMOLED displays, leveraging advanced ICMR technology to address higher-complexity masks at elevated ASPs and win display market share.
• Q2 revenue is guided to a flat $208 M–$216 M range with non-GAAP EPS of $0.44–$0.50, reflecting ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and tariff-related risks despite cost controls.
• Photronics ended Q1 with $642 M cash, plans $200 M CapEx in FY25 for U.S. expansion and capacity upgrades, and maintains only $3 M of debt, bolstering financial flexibility.

Presentation

[Operator]

Hello, and welcome to Photronics Fiscal First Quarter 2025 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ted Moreau. You may begin.

[Ted Moreau, VP of Investor Relations at Photronics]

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our review of Photronics Fiscal First Quarter 2025 financial results. Joining me this morning are Frank Lee, CEO, Eric Rivera, CFO, and Chris Progler, CTO. The press release reissued this earlier this morning, together with the presentation material that accompanies our remarks, is available on the investor relations section of our web page. Comments made by any participants on today's call may include forward-looking statements that include such words as anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, forecast, and in our view. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements.

[Ted Moreau, VP of Investor Relations at Photronics]

We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of the presentation to conform these statements to actual results. Photronics has provided additional information in its most recent Form 10-K and other subsequent reports filed with the SEC concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. During the course of our discussion, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. These numbers may be useful for analysts, investors, and management to evaluate ongoing performance. A reconciliation of these metrics to GAAP financial results is provided in our presentation materials. I will now turn the call over to Frank.

[Frank Lee, CEO at Photronics]

Thank you, Ted, and good morning, everyone. We achieved first-quarter sales of $212 million, in line with our expectation and normal seasonal trends. Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.52 was above the high-end of guidance, and we once again delivered strong cash flow. Turning to our end markets, IC declined 2% year-over-year due to mainstream weakness in Asia and Europe, particularly at the older nodes within mainstream. For high-end IC, we have seen continued evidence of logic photomask node migration to 22 nm and 28 nm in Asia. Within IC, memory photomask demand also shows strength. FPD declined slightly year-over-year due to industry softness, though we saw broad demand from customers in China. Our industry-leading technology in FPD continues to win business, and our strategy to apply IC mask technology to FPD helps us win market share.

[Frank Lee, CEO at Photronics]

We recognize the milestone during Q1, as we received our first orders for G8.6 AMOLED displays. G8.6 requires more advanced and complex masks that had higher ASPs. Now, I would like to discuss a few developments impacting the semiconductor industry. First, as the AI landscape evolves, we believe it will be a longer-term growth driver for the industry and Photronics. New AI tools have the potential to offer AI capability at a lower cost. These tools reduce the barrier of entry into AI, which drives new applications requiring new devices and designs. IC customers serving these applications will drive photomask demand, mainly at the more advanced nodes that we service. At more mature nodes, AI drives the need for fast interconnects, including silicon photonics and advanced packaging. Second, the semiconductor industry may potentially incur increased costs from tariffs.

[Frank Lee, CEO at Photronics]

For Photronics, our strategy to invest in regional capacity close to customer locations should buffer us from these potential costs. Therefore, we import very few masks into the United States and don't anticipate a meaningful impact on our business from tariffs. Fiscal 2025 started off as expected in Q1 and demonstrated our technology leadership. Industry growth drivers in IC include node migration, regionalization, and custom design expansion, while product development and scale-up of display size are key for FPD. Further, our markets are benefiting from AI adoption and regionalization trends, where we leverage our competitive advantages in capability, cost, scale, and time to market. By working with our customers, we are carefully expanding capacity and capability in projected growth regions such as the United States to meet demand. These investments further strengthen our market leadership position, giving us confidence in our long-term outlook.

[Frank Lee, CEO at Photronics]

I will now turn the call over to Eric to review our first-quarter results and provide second-quarter guidance.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Thank you, Frank. Good morning, everyone. As Frank stated, our first-quarter results were in line with expectations, with revenue of $212 million. Total revenue declined 5% sequentially, led by IC, which declined 6% quarter-over-quarter to $154 million. Within IC, mainstream declined 9%, reflecting the overall softness of the broader semiconductor industry. We did see pockets of strength within high-end. Sales generated out of our European facilities were weaker than anticipated, and this situation is expected to continue. Our IC business out of our facilities in Asia and the U.S. also declined sequentially due to typical seasonality, as expected, though U.S. IC did exhibit strong year-over-year growth. Within IC, we continue to drive towards a greater mix of higher-end business with a focus on increasing our blended ASPs.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Demonstrating our execution, in fiscal year 2023, our high-end business represented 30% of total IC revenue, increasing to 36% in fiscal year 2024. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, our high-end business increased further to 39%. Within high-end, we saw particular strength in Q1 in the 14 nm to 22 nm geometry ranges. For our leading-edge IC mix, we recognized improved demand from memory customers. FPD revenue was stable both sequentially and year-over-year at $58 million. We are the market leader in FPD photomasks due to our technological superiority and manufacturing footprint. As a result, despite market headwinds, we have been able to maintain our revenues due to increasing market share. Our operating margin of 25% was at the high-end of our guidance range. Gross margins declined slightly to 36% because of lower sales volumes.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Continued prudent controls, along with lower severance and legal-related expenses and lower R&D, reduced OpEx by $2.9 million sequentially. Diluted GAAP EPS attributable to Photronics shareholders was $0.68 per share. After removing the impact of FX gains, fully diluted non-GAAP EPS attributable to Photronics shareholders was $0.52 per share, which was above the high-end of our guidance. Our FX gain was an unrealized benefit, primarily related to the impact of the strengthened U.S. dollars on intercompany balances, cash, and accounts receivables held by our foreign subsidiaries. During the first quarter, we generated $78 million in operating cash flow, which represented 37% of total revenue. We continued to build on our strong cash balance, providing us with continued financial flexibility. CapEx was $35 million in the quarter. We remain committed to spending $200 million in CapEx in 2025 on a combination of capacity, capability, and end-of-life tool initiatives.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

This run rate is higher than typical to accommodate U.S. expansion initiatives that are underway. I want to emphasize that our capacity expansion plans are driven by specific customer opportunities and go through a rigorous investment vetting process. These investments will strengthen our ability to support and win the most attractive photomask opportunities. Total cash at the end of the quarter was $642 million and remained relatively unchanged from the end of fiscal Q4, driven by CapEx, debt repayment, stock repurchases, and the effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on our cash balances. We have a modest $3 million of debt remaining. Before providing guidance, I'll remind you that demand for our products is inherently uneven and difficult to predict, with limited visibility and typical backlog of one to three weeks.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

In addition, ASPs for high-end mask sets are high, meaning a relatively low number of high-end orders can have a significant impact on our quarterly revenue and earnings. As we have highlighted previously, our business is influenced by IC and display design activity, and to a lesser degree by wafer and panel capacity dynamics. With those qualifications, we expect second-quarter revenue to be in the range of $208 million-$216 million. Based on those revenue expectations and our current operating model, we estimate non-GAAP earnings per share for the second quarter to be in the range of $0.44-$0.50 per diluted share. This equates to an operating margin between 23% and 25%. Given current market conditions and our Q2 outlook, we're increasingly cautious about 2025. In order to continue to drive cash flow, we will continue to prudently manage costs.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

I will now turn the call over to the operator for your questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder to ask the question, please press star one one on your telephone, then wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Tom Diffely with DA Davidson. Your line is open.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Yes, good morning, and thank you for letting me ask a few questions here. Maybe first one for you, Frank. The outlook is for basically flat quarter-over-quarter. And typically, we see a roughly 5% increase in the first or the second fiscal quarter, first quarter of the year. So I'm curious, is it really just the mainstream in China that is the weakness? Is it just your ongoing lack of real visibility and conservatism, or what's behind just the flat guidance?

[Frank Lee, CEO at Photronics]

Thank you, Tom. Business of the very low end of mainstream, mainly from the 6 in and 8 in wafer fabs, has been weak, and we see no signs of recovery in the near future. And this happens not only in Asia, but also in Europe, particularly. So I think this revenue is relatively small in our overall business, but it still has some negative impact on our revenue and revenue outlook. So I think at this moment, we are cautious. However, the long-term outlook, we still believe it's positive, and we will continue to focus and leverage our competitive strengths on the high-end to improve our blended ASP. So I believe Q2 at this moment, our focus is FPD, but I think the overall economic picture remains kind of uncertain. So I believe by the end of Q2, we may have a much clearer picture of fiscal 2025.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Okay. No, that makes sense. If I could just dig in a little deeper on the mainstream business, then obviously, over the last few years, the demand levels and the supply-demand equation in mainstream was very beneficial to you. You had nice margin expansion in that space. So just curious, how do you look at the supply-demand equation today in mainstream, and what are you seeing from a pricing basis? Has the pricing strength gone away? Are you seeing some weakness quarter over quarter? How would you characterize the mainstream business right now?

[Frank Lee, CEO at Photronics]

Okay. We keep our pricing firm. We do not lower down our price in the mainstream. However, the overall pie of the mainstream business at this moment seems to be smaller. I believe it's due to the weakness in the automotive and maybe industrial applications. As I highlight, most 8 in and 6 in wafer fab utilization are relatively low. So it does have some impact on our lower mainstream business.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Okay. Maybe just one last question on the mainstream. Are you seeing increased competition from local Chinese suppliers for photomasks?

[Frank Lee, CEO at Photronics]

Yes. We do see increasing competition. However, our focus in China is on the middle and high-end of our high-end business, such as 55 nm, 40 nm, 28 nm, and 22 nm. We shift most of our business to these segments such that our branded ASP in China still keep a good and stable high range. The answer is yes. There are more competition from local Chinese mask makers in the low end of the mainstream, but that is not our focus. We are getting to the more profitable and more high-priced segment of the business in China.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Great. Appreciate the extra color there, Frank. Maybe just a quick question for Chris then. Congratulations on the new Gen 6 AMOLED screen. What were the challenges to get to that larger screen size or panel size?

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

Yeah. Thanks, Tom. Appreciate it. The specs for the AMOLED masks, which prior to this had been all Gen 6, Gen 6.5, are the tightest among our FPD products. So we had to scale those specs up to the much larger substrate size, Gen 8.6. So it's kind of spec scaling, uniformity. All the mask parameters had to scale up to those larger substrates, which is quite difficult. The second thing is the integration of the mask onto the blank. We use some advanced, as we mentioned in the comments to the call, some IC-like technology in our FPD masks, things that people call phase shift and other things that are common in IC. We use that in our FPD technology. Scaling that up to Gen 8.6 also was a challenge. So we met those. We've been working on Gen 8.6 scale-up by now for almost a year.

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

So we were kind of ready for this, and it's really in good coordination with the customer. We had lots of test masks and pilots ahead. So I would not say we're struggling with yield or execution or delivery from here. So as the business grows, we should be able to scale that product line up nicely.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

How big do you expect that to be inside of your flat panel business over the next few quarters?

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

Yeah. I don't think we would prefer not to comment on that. I think it suffices to say, so far, it's been more than a single order, and it's connected with fab projects or projects that are production level. So these aren't. We're not just prototype masks or pilot masks. They were masks used for potential production of AMOLED for larger format displays, particularly things like laptops. So they are production applications, and the fabs they're going into have the possibility to scale to serious panel production for volume products. But beyond that, I think it'd be a little too early to put a scale on it.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Okay. Appreciate it, Chris. And then, Eric, looking at the balance sheet, obviously, a really strong cash position. There is going to be $200 million of spending in CapEx this year, but it seems like there's still plenty of cash for a more aggressive buyback. What is your mindset on buybacks versus I know at one point a year or two ago, you guys had talked about potentially keeping a war chest for acquisitions, but what is your thought process on the balance sheet right now?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Well, thanks, Tom. So with respect to the balance sheet, our capital allocation strategy really hasn't changed, which is the first it's like three bullet points. The first one being just normal CapEx, and the second and third option are our toggles, the second one being M&A activities, or if they're in lack of them, then we would do share repurchases. So during the quarter, we certainly repurchased some shares. And in terms of what do we see going forward, given the current macroeconomic conditions and the geopolitical environment, at the moment, we are being a little cautious, but we certainly do have the war chest, as you describe it, to be able to act quickly if the right opportunity comes along with respect to an M&A transaction.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

We're not going to just go to do an M&A transaction to use up our cash or to purchase kind of buy revenues, if you will. We will only do that if it's accretive to the company. Likewise, we'll be aggressive with share repurchases if we see that the environment is favorable to do so at the right time. So this is something that we do look at on a consistent basis. The board and management team, we are aware, obviously, of the cash balance that we have, and we're consistently monitoring and looking for the best way to deploy that.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Great, and what is your current authorization for buybacks?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

We have $100 million authorization.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Okay. Great. And then the final question overall. Oh, go ahead.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

I was just going to say the final question overall is it looks like node migration, getting more business of the 22 nm, 28 nm node is going to be a big driver over the next year. I'm just kind of curious where anything you can say about your current capacity there and how much capacity you'll be adding with this $200 million of capital spending this year.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Yeah. So the capital spending that we have this year would be, as I think we mentioned previously, it's normal CapEx that we have, plus the increase from the normal. The $200 million is essentially for the U.S. So in the U.S., we have due to regionalization, we have some more opportunities for revenue and certainly provide some node migration within the mainstream area in the U.S. And likewise, in Asia, we have our part of our normal CapEx. We're putting point tools wherever we need to in order to enable us to be able to be more effective and efficient in kicking out more production where we have some bottlenecks. And that certainly is aiding our node migration strategy.

[Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson]

Great. I appreciate the time for all three of you.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Of course, Tom. Thank you for asking the questions.

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

Thank you, Tom.

[Operator]

Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from Gowshihan Sriharan with Singular Research. Your line is open.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Hi. Good morning. Can you guys hear me?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Yeah, we can.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Okay. Thanks, Ted, for including us. Just on the first question, is how much of the U.S. IC capacity coming online in mid-2026 kind of on the long-term purchase agreements? What is driving that strong demand? Is that strong demand on U.S.-based AI edge chip customers? And maybe you can quantify the percentage of customer commitments that's tied to the CHIPS Act versus organic demand.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

So I'll take a stab at answering that question. Your question wasn't very clear from just to make it clear, but I think you're asking about what is it that we're seeing in the U.S. that's going to for which we're doing some CapEx. So I'll mention that our customers have certainly in the U.S. have indicated that they would like us to provide to service them here in the U.S. market, essentially. And that is what's driving our increased CapEx in the U.S. in terms of whether we have some agreements with them that'll secure that. I wouldn't say we have a take or pay because we generally do not have take or pay here in our business at all, but we do have customer commitments and indications that they would support us in the event that we do this.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

So that's typically the level of support that we can get from our customers in our industry. And that's what we have. And as such, we feel comfortable investing the amount that we're planning to invest here in the United States. Does that address your question? And I apologize because it didn't come through.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

No. I was kind of looking forward to see if there's any what was that part of that expansion that's kind of tied to the CHIPS Act versus kind of the organic demand?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

So that would be organic demand for the most part. With respect to the CHIPS Act, this is not necessarily contemplated in this CapEx at this time.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Okay.

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

Yeah. The question is how much of the capacity we're putting, in particular in the U.S., are linked to customers that are getting funding through the CHIPS Act. It's not a significant part. Most of the projects we're tracking in the states are projects that we believe would proceed with or without CHIPS funding. So we don't see a lot of, let's say, risk in the ones that we are tracking that are connected to those customers getting CHIPS funding. We also, as we've reported, applied for CHIPS funding under the second NOFO, the small supplier NOFO. Our applications are still under consideration. But the current investments we're contemplating and talking about here are being done separate and apart from what we'd invest additionally with a CHIPS opportunity.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Gotcha. And in terms of the node migration to 22 nm, 28 nm, how much of that demand do you think is going to how is the 14 nm and the EUV compatible mask trending? Are you seeing any increased traction or increase from the AI designs for powerful chips to customers?

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

Yeah. We see mostly AI-driven business for us. We see mostly adjacent or second-order effects from AI. And I would say we see some of that in different regions around the world. These are support chips for the AI ecosystem, designs of new chips for edge devices and things like that that can take advantage of the AI ecosystem. I think we are definitely seeing some pull from those applications. Not really appropriate to quantify it, but it is a positive trend. On the memory side, we mentioned memory is a relatively small part of our IC business, but it was one of the stronger growing segments. That is connected also to AI demand and cloud demand and that sort of thing. So we're definitely seeing a lift from that application driver, and we expect that to continue to grow as we look ahead in future quarters and years.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

So post-2026, as the full capacity of your CapEx comes into line, do you have an idea of what percentage of the high-end IC revenue might be tied to supporting that AI infrastructure?

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

Yeah. I don't think we would say what percent of our high-end revenue at that time would be AI-driven. So it's difficult to say. Yeah. I mean, I think it would be a significant part, but we probably would not be wise to put a specific percent on it at this point.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Okay. In terms of auto and industrial sectors, it's kind of persisted for multiple sequential quarters now. Any sign of inventory restocking or new design wins in these sectors for your mainstream?

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

I mean, I can make another comment on that. Maybe Frank or Eric can follow up, but I would say it still looks fairly weak in that market, the automotive market. Units are down, and there is some ASP pressures because the end users are struggling. So that always drives some ASP pressures. And I would say at the moment, we don't see significant uptick. Maybe we'd say some stabilization. It's not dropping significantly from where it is. But as far as a big turnaround in the automotive sector, I don't believe we're really seeing it at this point. In China, and Frank could probably comment further, there is more activity going on in automotive design. Some portion of that is government-backed and government-funded, but still, the supply-demand situation is not really healthy also in China on the automotive side.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Yes. Correct. We see that design activity seems to decrease in these two segments at this moment. So I believe the end product business softness impacts the new chip design.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Okay. In terms of geographic mix for driving H2, how are you guys thinking about the tariffs, the subsidies impacting regional pricing?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

I'm sorry. If you don't mind repeating the question, I'm not sure it came through.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

In terms of how, as we think about H2 of 2025 and the geographic mix, how do you look at the geopolitical landscape, and how does that impact the regional pricing?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Oh, I see. So thanks again for the question, for repeating the question, actually. So given the current macro and geopolitical conditions, actually, we're increasingly cautious. So we don't have a great visibility at the moment of how the second half is going to be. We expect to have a better picture in Q2. But the question is a great one. It's just that the current environment doesn't allow us to see what that is at the moment.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Okay, and as we model for fiscal 2025, are we looking at R&D costs declining as the project qualifications kind of taper off?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

I think I would best describe it as probably I mean, we don't have a great picture, as I mentioned right now, as how the second half is going to be, but at the moment, if I just were to comment what we see in the moment, we definitely don't see it increasing, so I think if you take that position of at least stable, that would be the best thing I can give you a comment on, and in the past, with respect to OpEx, we do expect OpEx to be about 10% of revenue going forward. That's our target.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Right, and just on that question.

[Christopher Progler, CTO at Photronics]

Yeah. Of course. Just generally, on the qualification side, just to make a comment, the goal, of course, is as we complete one set of qualifications, start new ones after those. So, I agree, just supporting and seconding Eric's comment. I think steady-state sort of picture is probably a pretty good way to look at the R&D.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Okay. And in terms of outlook, what would you say were your top two risks for 2025? Is it the macro demand, the geopolitical tensions, or customer delays if you were to quantify it?

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Yeah. I think you hit them all. But to answer your question, the top two, I would say the macroeconomic and the geopolitical.

[Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research]

Okay. That's all I had. Thank you, guys, for taking my questions, and good luck.

[Eric Rivera, CFO at Photronics]

Of course. Thank you, Gowshi.

[Operator]

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call back over to Ted for closing remarks.

[Ted Moreau, VP of Investor Relations at Photronics]

Thank you, John. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We appreciate your interest in Photronics. We look forward to catching up with everyone over the coming days and weeks. Have a great day.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Eric Rivera, CFO
• Ted Moreau, VP of Investor Relations
• Frank Lee, CEO
• Christopher Progler, CTO

Analysts

• Gowshihan Sriharan, Analyst at Singular Research
• Tom Diffely, Managing Director and Director of Institutional Research at DA Davidson