Oak Harvest Investment Services Buys Shares of 30,000 Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Key Points

• Oak Harvest Investment Services initiated a new position in Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB), buying 30,000 shares in Q4 worth about $960,000—roughly a 0.05% stake.
• Q4 beat and guidance: Photronics reported $0.61 EPS on $225.1M revenue (above estimates) and set Q2 FY26 guidance of $0.49–$0.55, prompting analyst upgrades and a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $46.33.
• Insider selling: Multiple insiders including the CEO and COO sold large blocks in April; insiders have sold 321,588 shares (~$13.93M) over the past 90 days, which may create near‑term selling pressure despite ~88% institutional ownership.

Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $960,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services owned approximately 0.05% of Photronics as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PLAB. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,663 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 46,385 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $749,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,176 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 66.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,296 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 5,714 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Stock Up 5.5%

PLAB stock opened at $48.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 1.43. Photronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.59 and a fifty-two week high of $48.55.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The semiconductor company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $225.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.09 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 15.83%.The firm's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Photronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.490-0.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Hsueh-Chun Wang sold 19,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.30, for a total transaction of $872,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 113,560 shares in the company, valued at $5,144,268. The trade was a 14.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Macricostas sold 121,194 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.94, for a total value of $5,204,070.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 334,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,344,879.92. The trade was a 26.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 321,588 shares of company stock valued at $13,930,594 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Photronics

Here are the key news stories impacting Photronics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results and guidance — Photronics reported $0.61 EPS vs. $0.54 expected and revenue above consensus, and management set Q2 FY26 guidance of $0.49–$0.55, which improves near‑term earnings visibility and supports the rally. MarketBeat Q4 and guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and valuation narrative — Zacks upgraded PLAB to a stronger rank (strong‑buy) and other brokers have issued buy/strong‑buy notes; the stock is being viewed as attractively valued (below ~20x earnings vs. some peers), drawing buy interest. Zacks coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum / screen recognition — Inclusion on Zacks’ value/strong‑buy screens and recent upward revision to consensus targets can attract momentum and institutional flows. Zacks list
• Neutral Sentiment: High institutional ownership — Roughly ~88% of the float is held by institutions; this can amplify moves when funds rebalance but also means price action is often driven by fundamentals and institutional flows rather than retail trading. Institutional holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Clustered insider selling — Multiple insiders have sold sizable blocks in mid‑April: COO Hsueh‑Chun Wang (19,250 shares at ~$45.30), Director Kang Jyh Lee (10,000 shares at ~$45.10), CFO Eric Rivera (small recent sale plus a ~41k sale earlier), and other directors/executives. These concentrated disposals are prompting short‑term selling pressure and media scrutiny. InsiderTrades alert COO Form 4 Director Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Media/analyst focus on cash‑outs — Coverage calling out the insider cash‑outs increases volatility and could deter some investors until insiders’ reasons (liquidity, diversification) are clarified. TipRanks discussion

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLAB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Photronics in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Photronics in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on Photronics in a research report on Friday, March 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised Photronics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Photronics presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $46.33.

Photronics Profile

Photronics, Inc is a leading global supplier of photomask products used in the manufacture of integrated circuits, flat panel displays, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and advanced packaging applications. Photomasks, also known as reticles, are critical templates that carry the precise circuit patterns required for semiconductor lithography processes. The company offers a comprehensive range of mask solutions, including binary masks, attenuated phase-shift masks, reticles for micro-optics, and specialized products for high‐resolution applications.

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Brookfield, Connecticut, Photronics has grown through organic expansion and strategic investments in high‐end lithography technology.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.