Photronics (PLAB) Stock Moves -1.04%: What You Should Know

Photronics (PLAB) closed at $19 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.04% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.94%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.07%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.39%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the electronics imaging company had gained 35.02% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.77% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.72% in that time.

Photronics will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Photronics is projected to report earnings of $0.31 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 138.46%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $183.65 million, up 20.77% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.30 per share and revenue of $753 million. These totals would mark changes of +46.07% and +13.44%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Photronics. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 25.81% higher. Photronics is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Digging into valuation, Photronics currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.77. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.64.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Photomasks industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 5, putting it in the top 2% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.