Photronics, Inc.
PLAB 5Price and target zones价格与目标区间
Above fair value高于合理价值
What the company does公司做什么
Photronics makes photomasks — the master stencils used to print circuit patterns onto silicon chips and onto display glass. A photomask carries the pattern for one layer of a chip; light copies that pattern onto the wafer.Photronics 制造光罩——用来把电路图案印到硅芯片和显示玻璃上的"母版模板"。一张光罩承载着一颗芯片其中一层的图案；光会把这个图案复制到晶圆上。
Earns from营收来源 selling custom photomasks. Each new chip or display design needs a fresh set, so orders follow new design activity.出售定制光罩。每一款新芯片或新显示屏设计都需要一套全新的光罩，所以订单会跟着新的设计活动走。
Read the full description查看完整介绍
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. The company also provides electrical and optical components. It sells its products to semiconductor and FPD designers, manufacturers, and foundries through its sales personnel and customer service representatives. The company was formerly known as Photronic Labs, Inc. and changed its name to Photronics, Inc. in 1990. Photronics, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is based in Brookfield, Connecticut.
Revenue breakdown营收构成 share of revenue营收占比
This segment supplies the master stencils used to print circuit patterns onto silicon wafers during chip manufacturing. A single chip design needs a full set of masks, one per layer, so a new mask order accompanies almost every new or updated chip design. It is the more advanced and capital-intensive half of the business, requiring precision equipment few competitors can match.该部门提供用于在芯片制造过程中将电路图案印制到硅晶圆上的母版模具。每一款芯片设计都需要一整套光罩，每层电路对应一片，因此几乎每一次新芯片设计或改版都会带来光罩订单。这是业务中技术更先进、资本投入更高的一半，需要少有竞争对手能够匹敌的精密设备。
- How they are used它们如何使用 — A chip needs many masks, one per layer. The masks are custom to each design and need very expensive equipment to make.一颗芯片需要许多张光罩，每一层用一张。这些光罩针对每个设计定制，制造它们需要非常昂贵的设备。
This segment makes the master stencils used to print circuit patterns onto the glass panels used in televisions, monitors, and phones. Display makers order a fresh set of masks whenever they launch a new panel design or expand production capacity, so revenue tracks the broader consumer-electronics display cycle.该部门制造用于将电路图案印制到电视、显示器和手机所用玻璃面板上的母版模具。面板制造商每当推出新面板设计或扩大产能时，都会订购新一批光罩，因此收入随消费电子显示面板周期波动。
Company facts公司资料
- Founded成立时间
- 1969
- Employees员工人数
- 1,908
- Industry行业
- Semiconductor Equipment & Materials
- Country国家
- United States
Investment thesis投资逻辑 from the watchlist来自关注列表
✂️ ENTERING THE $33-36 TRIM/EXIT BAND — and the ~8/26 gate is 15 days out. The re-rate arrived before the fix: FY26 FCF is still guided NEGATIVE (~−$85M). The written instruction is "if it re-rates without FCF recovering, take it." That condition is now met. This is the cleanest sell-side action on the list.
What's working
- Fortress balance sheet: zero debt (D/A 0.33%), $486M net cash ($8.44/sh = 30% of price), 1.31x book, 5.4x EV/EBITDA, bought back 5.9% of float at $20-24
Red flags
- But op margin 26.4%→20.1%→18-20% guided in 5 quarters, GM 37.7%→31.3% in 10 quarters, ROIC only 11.3% (≈WACC), and FY26 FCF goes NEGATIVE (≈−$85M) on reaffirmed $330M capex — Korea 8nm revenue not until FY2028
- −36% in one day on 5/28; 5 insiders sold $5.0M at $44.77-46.70 six weeks prior (chairman Macricostas $2.27M), zero buying at $28; class action (Dec 10–May 27 period) on the "record high-end IC" claim
- Watchlist premise was wrong twice: EV/EBITDA is 5.4x not 3.5x, and "only 3 merchant players" masks that ~60%+ of masks are captive — PLAB is excluded from leading-edge EUV and is spending to reach 8nm while DNP demos beyond-2nm. Segment actually carrying revenue is FPD (+13%), not AI. FV $30-34 (Graham $33.74 normalized, but only $28.40 on guided trough EPS = no MoS today); floor $21-25 (book $21.34); bull $38-42 by FY28. Bogle ER ≈8%/yr
Watch
- Resolved 7/29: neither value nor trap — an adequate cyclical at a modestly cheap price. Fails this sleeve's "fixable problem" test.
- Gate: ~8/26 Q3 print — op margin ≥20% = upgrade 6.0; <18% = downgrade 4.0 + exit.
✂️ 正在进入 $33-36 减持/退出区间——而约 8/26 的检验点只剩 15 天。 估值修复来得比基本面修复更早：FY26 自由现金流仍然指引为负（约 −$8,500 万）。 已经写下的指令是「如果它在自由现金流没有恢复的情况下完成估值修复，就了结它」。 这个条件现在已经满足。 这是清单上最干净的一个卖出动作。 ** 🔴 7/29 的结论：既不是价值，也不是陷阱——一家价格略微便宜的普通周期股，不满足这个板块「可修复问题」的检验标准。 ✅ 堡垒式资产负债表：零债务，净现金 $4.86 亿（每股 $8.44 = 股价的 30%）。 🚩 但营业利润率在 5 个季度里从 26.4% 降到 20.1%、并指引到 18-20%，资本回报率只有 11.3%（约等于资金成本）。 持有那 $232 的零头，不要加仓。 **
Historical results历史业绩 past fiscal years — these values do not change过去财年——这些数值不会变动
Profit margins利润率 the share of revenue that stays as profit营收中留存为利润的比例
of every $1 of revenue每 $1 营收中的占比
- Return on equity净资产收益率
- 14%
- Revenue growth营收增长
- +3%
Competitors竞争对手
Why customers stay客户为什么留下
It is one of the few independent mask makers, and mask-making needs heavy, specialised equipment that raises the barrier to entry. The ceiling is honest: most masks for the most advanced chips are made in-house by the chipmakers themselves, so the independent market Photronics serves is the minority of the total.它是为数不多的独立光罩制造商之一，而制造光罩需要笨重的专用设备，这抬高了进入门槛。它的天花板也很坦白：最先进芯片所需的光罩大多由芯片厂自己在内部制造，所以 Photronics 所服务的独立市场只占整个市场的一小部分。