At a glance
Photronics Inc is worth $1.73B, about 13 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue fell 2.0% to $849.3M in fiscal 2025, with 16.1% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 6.9% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $148.2M buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +22.3% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +18.1% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 42.1% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 44.8% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 17 months and 9 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Photronics makes photomasks: quartz or glass plates carrying microscopic images of electronic circuits. Masks are sold in sets, one for each layer of a design. Chip and display makers use them as master stencils to print circuit patterns onto chip wafers and flat-panel display glass. After a customer approves Photronics as a supplier, it often gives the company an agreed share of its mask orders, as long as Photronics stays competitive.
Customers include chipmakers, contract foundries, "fabless" companies that design chips but outsource production, and display makers. Photronics sold to about 636 of them in fiscal 2025, which ended October 31, 2025. Revenue that year was $849.3 million. Masks for mainstream chips, with features of 32 nanometers (billionths of a meter) or larger, brought in 44%. Masks for high-end chips of 28 nanometers or smaller brought in 28%, high-end display masks 23% and mainstream display masks 5%.
Photronics reports as a single business segment, but most of its sales are in Asia. Taiwan accounted for 33% of fiscal 2025 revenue, China 26%, South Korea 19%, the US 18% and Europe 4%. It runs eleven factories near its customers: three each in Taiwan and the US, two each in China and Europe, and one in South Korea.
Price history
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PLAB +22.3% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Mainstream Integrated Circuits | $376.2M | 44.3% |
| High End Integrated Circuits | $238.9M | 28.1% |
| High End Flat Panel Displays | $195.5M | 23% |
| Mainstream Flat Panel Displays | $38.7M | 4.6% |
By geography
| TW | $283.8M | 33.4% |
| CN | $221.0M | 26% |
| KR | $158.5M | 18.7% |
| US | $148.9M | 17.5% |
| Europe | $34.1M | 4% |
| Other | $2.9M | 0.3% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Aug 2, 2026), revenue was $216.0M, up 2.7% from a year earlier, and net income was $28.9M (+26.3%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $849.3M (-2.0% year over year; +6.9% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 16.1% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +6.9% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 24.5% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 7% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 11.6% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 7.6% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $668.9M good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $609.7M | $33.8M | $72.2M |
| FY2021 | $663.8M | $55.4M | $41.7M |
| FY2022 | $824.5M | $118.8M | $162.8M |
| FY2023 | $892.1M | $125.5M | $170.9M |
| FY2024 | $866.9M | $130.7M | $130.5M |
| FY2025 | $849.3M | $136.4M | $59.7M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $1.73B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 12.9 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Photronics’s market value went from $772.1M at the end of 2016 to $1.73B on Oct 28, 2026, about 2.2 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is down 8%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $1.73B | -8.4% |
| 2025 | $1.89B | +26.7% |
| 2024 | $1.49B | -24.0% |
| 2023 | $1.96B | +89.0% |
| 2022 | $1.04B | -9.5% |
| 2021 | $1.15B | +60.9% |
| 2020 | $713.3M | -30.8% |
| 2019 | $1.03B | +59.0% |
| 2018 | $648.4M | +10.2% |
| 2017 | $588.7M | -23.8% |
| 2016 | $772.1M |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLAB price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -8.3% | +22.3% | +16.4% | +18.1% | +11.5% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -8.3% |
| 2025 | +35.8% |
| 2024 | -24.9% |
| 2023 | +86.4% |
| 2022 | -10.7% |
| 2021 | +68.9% |
| 2020 | -29.2% |
| 2019 | +62.8% |
| 2018 | +13.6% |
| 2017 | -24.6% |
| 2016 | -9.2% |
| 2015 | +49.8% |
| 2014 | -8.0% |
| 2013 | +51.5% |
| 2012 | -2.0% |
| 2011 | +2.9% |
| 2010 | +32.8% |
| 2009 | +128.2% |
| 2008 | -84.4% |
| 2007 | -23.7% |
| 2006 | +8.5% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 94% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 97.3%, back to its old high 132.5 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 34.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 42.1%, back to its old high 17.4 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 24.2% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 44.8%, back to its old high 9.1 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 19 sales ($13.9M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 8, 2026 | George Macricostas CEO | sell | $4.7M |
| Apr 14, 2026 | Constantine S Macricostas Director | sell | $2.3M |
| Apr 9, 2026 | Eric Rivera President, CFO | sell | $1.8M |
| Apr 14, 2026 | Hsueh-Chun Wang SVP/COO IC & US/EU Mnstrm Ops | sell | $872K |
| Apr 9, 2026 | Hsueh-Chun Wang SVP/COO IC & US/EU Mnstrm Ops | sell | $525K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 15% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors LP | 6.2% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.1% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in PLAB
| PSI Invesco Semiconductors ETF | 3.16% |
| SIXS ETC 6 Meridian Small Cap Equity ETF | 1.09% |
| DEEP Acquirers Small and Micro Deep Value ETF | 0.94% |
| FSGS First Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF | 0.91% |
| GRPZ Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 GARP ETF | 0.84% |
| FYT First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund | 0.64% |
| SEIS SEI Select Small Cap ETF | 0.56% |
| DSMC Distillate Small/Mid Cash Flow ETF | 0.46% |
What could go wrong
- Demand depends on new chip designs. Mask orders follow how many new chip and display designs customers launch, not how many chips they sell. The chip industry has a history of sharp downturns, excess capacity and falling prices.
- Half of sales come from five customers. In fiscal 2025, the two largest customers made up 29% of revenue and the top five 50%. Losing one, or a big cut in its orders, could significantly hurt results.
- Few suppliers for key machines and materials. A limited number of firms make and repair its imaging and inspection machines, and some take 12 months or more to deliver. Quartz blanks and other materials come from few suppliers, without long-term contracts.
- Large, ongoing spending on equipment. Leading-edge masks require costly new machines. Photronics expected about $330 million of capital spending (on equipment and facilities) in fiscal 2026. High fixed costs mean a sales slump can strain cash flow.
- Complex, high-precision manufacturing. The first mask layers sometimes must ship within 24 hours of receiving designs. Trouble with sophisticated equipment or complex processes, such as too many defective masks, could delay deliveries and hurt results.
- Trade restrictions and currency swings. Government-imposed restrictions could stop suppliers from delivering or servicing equipment, and exchange-rate moves can raise equipment and material costs. Most fiscal 2025 revenue came from Taiwan, China and South Korea.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
Photronics pays no dividend and paid none from fiscal 2021 through 2025, so income investors would need to sell shares for cash. The company has instead bought back stock, which shrinks the share count. It spent $148.2 million on buybacks over fiscal 2021 to 2025, including $97.4 million in fiscal 2025 and none in 2023 or 2024. Shares outstanding fell 3.1%, from 60.9 million on December 9, 2021, to 59.0 million on September 3, 2026.
The share price has fallen hard in downturns. In the 2008 financial crisis it dropped 97.3% from its December 2007 peak and did not regain that level until December 2019. It fell 42.1% in the 2020 COVID crash, recovering about 17 months after the low. In the 2022 bear market it fell 44.8% and recovered in about 9 months. In the year to October 28, 2026, it fell as much as 50.6% from a high. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
What does Photronics make and how does it make money?
Photronics makes photomasks, the quartz or glass plates carrying microscopic circuit patterns that chip and display makers use to print their products. Revenue was $849.3 million in fiscal 2025, which ended October 31, 2025. Mainstream chip masks provided 44%, high-end chip masks 28%, high-end display masks 23% and mainstream display masks 5%. Customers usually approve Photronics as a supplier first, then negotiate prices. Demand depends mainly on how many new designs customers release.
Does Photronics pay a dividend?
No. Photronics does not pay a dividend and paid none from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025. It has returned cash through share buybacks instead: $148.2 million over that period, including $97.4 million in fiscal 2025. Buybacks reduce the number of shares, which gives each remaining share a larger slice of profits, but they do not put cash in shareholders' pockets. Investors who rely on portfolio income would need to sell shares to draw cash from this stock.
Who are Photronics' biggest customers?
Photronics does not name them, but a few customers matter a lot. In fiscal 2025, three it calls Customers A, B and C provided about 16%, 13% and 8% of revenue. The five largest together provided about 50%. It sold to roughly 636 customers that year, mainly chipmakers, contract foundries, fabless chip designers and display makers. Losing a major customer, or a sharp cut in its orders, could significantly hurt results.
Is Photronics growing?
Over five years, yes, though unevenly. Revenue rose from $609.7 million in fiscal 2020 to $849.3 million in fiscal 2025, about 6.9% a year. But it slipped after peaking at $892.1 million in fiscal 2023, including a 2% dip in fiscal 2025. Net income rose 4.4% that year to $136.4 million, or $2.28 per share. In the quarter ended August 2, 2026, revenue rose 2.7% from a year earlier to $216.0 million, and net income rose 26.3% to $28.9 million.
Does Photronics have a lot of debt?
No. As of August 2, 2026, Photronics held $672.8 million in cash and investments and just $3.9 million of total debt. That left net cash (cash minus debt) of about $668.9 million. The cushion matters because the business needs heavy, ongoing investment. The company expected about $330 million of capital spending (on equipment and facilities) in fiscal 2026, and its annual report notes that in some past years it relied on outside financing.