Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $28.26, but opened at $23.63. Photronics shares last traded at $24.20, with a volume of 198,635 shares traded.

The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $217.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 9.73%. Photronics’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Photronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Photronics in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Photronics by 571.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Stock Down 2.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.71.

Photronics Company Profile

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.