Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Receives "Hold (C)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has restated its "Hold (C)" rating for Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB), despite varying opinions from other research firms, with some upgrading the stock to "Buy" or "Strong Buy."
• Photronics reported earnings of $0.51 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and indicating a net margin of 12.67%, while also providing guidance for Q4 2025.
• Insider trading activity showed that executives sold significant shares recently, with one executive reducing their ownership by 4.75% and another by 55.85% in recent transactions.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating restated by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on PLAB. Singular Research raised shares of Photronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Photronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Photronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Photronics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $31.00.

Photronics Stock Up 1.2%

PLAB opened at $23.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $22.38 and its 200-day moving average is $20.24. Photronics has a 52-week low of $16.46 and a 52-week high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.12. Photronics had a net margin of 12.67% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The company had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Photronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.420-0.480 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Photronics will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $219,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 200,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,398,960.63. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Paladino sold 42,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.00, for a total transaction of $1,026,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $811,152. This trade represents a 55.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,750 shares of company stock worth $1,828,600. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Photronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Photronics during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 336.4% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,600 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Photronics during the first quarter valued at about $98,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 36.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,755 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 424.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,363 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company's stock.

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.

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