Why Is PLAB Stock Rising Today?

• Third-quarter revenue rose 2.7% year-over-year to $216 million compared to an estimated $208.75 million.
• Adjusted earnings per share stood at $0.5 compared to the Street estimate of $0.4.
• For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenue to be between $207 million and $227 million.

Shares of Photronics Inc. (PLAB), a manufacturer of integrated circuit and flat panel display photomasks, surged in Wednesday’s premarket after the company reported upbeat third-quarter performance. 

CEO George Macricostas highlighted that the firm was able to recognize a recovery of some of the temporarily delayed semiconductor design releases that occurred during the fiscal second quarter.

“Continued high fab utilization rates throughout the industry have been a positive influence toward node migration trends, resulting in a record percentage for our high-end I.C. business at 44% of total I.C. revenue. Our investments in the U.S. and Korea remain on track as we continue to strengthen our position at the high end of the market over the coming years,” said Macricostas.

PLAB stock jumped over 21% in pre-market trade, and was on track to hit highs seen in May.

PLAB’s Q3 Report

Third-quarter (Q3) revenue rose 2.7% year-over-year (YoY) to $216 million compared to an estimated $208.75 million. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) stood at $0.5 compared to the Street estimate of $0.4.

The firm’s IC revenue rose 5% YoY to $154.7 million while FPD revenue fell 2% to $61.4 million. Its cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments at the end of the quarter totaled $672.8 million.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenue to be between $207 million and $227 million. This compares with a consensus estimate of $215.68 million. The firm expects adjusted earnings per share attributable to shareholders to be between $0.40 and $0.56, compared with the Street estimate of $0.42.

How Retail Reacted To PLAB’s Earnings

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment rose to ‘extremely bullish’ territory from ‘bullish’ a day ago, amid ‘high’ levels of retail chatter.

One user said they expected a better earnings report.

Another user believes that the stock is still in recovery mode and that a rally might commence once it hits $45.

PLAB shares have lost nearly 17% this year without taking into account Wednesday’s premarket movement.

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