Semiconductor equipment supplier Photronics on Wednesday missed Wall Street's targets for its fiscal third quarter and with its outlook for the current period. PLAB stock plunged on the news.
The Brookfield, Conn.-based company earned 44 cents a share on sales of $224.2 million in the quarter ended July 30. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Photronics to earn 52 cents a share on sales of $230 million. On a year-over-year basis, Photronics earnings declined 14% while sales increased 2%.
For the current quarter, Photronics forecast revenue of $222 million to $232 million. The midpoint of $227 million is below Wall Street's target of $231 million for the fiscal fourth quarter. In the same period last year, Photronics generated revenue of $210.3 million.
In morning trades on the stock market today, PLAB stock plummeted as much as 22.9% to 18.12. It ended the trading day down 6.8% to 21.91.
PLAB Stock: Slowdown In End Markets
Photronics makes photomasks, which are used to produce integrated circuits and flat-panel displays. Photomasks are high-precision quartz plates that contain microscopic images of electronic circuits.
"We experienced a temporary demand slowdown in some of our end markets," Chief Executive Frank Lee said in a news release.
"Despite lower revenue (than the second quarter), we maintained good profit margins and once again drove strong cash flow generation, further strengthening the balance sheet to fund our strategic growth initiatives and navigate the industry downturn," Lee said.
Ahead of the earnings report, PLAB stock had been consolidating for the past seven weeks at a buy point of 26.98, according to IBD MarketSmith charts.
Photronics ranks fifth out of 27 stocks in IBD's semiconductor equipment industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. PLAB stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 96 out of 99.
Further, PLAB stock is on the IBD Tech Leaders list.
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