Forensic Analysis · Semiconductors · as of Aug 11, 2026
Photronics Inc (PLAB)
A forensic read on Photronics Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
14.4
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
12.2
P / E (ttm)
11.6%
ROE
$1.9B
Market cap
-2.0%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Photronics Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 14.4, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of noa).
What the filings flag
+20.4%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +20.4% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building sharply — a large slice of profit sits in operating assets, not cash; Richardson/Sloan link high accruals to weaker future returns as they reverse. The build is led by PP&E up +15% against revenue -2% and inventory up +9% against -0% in cost of sales. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 11% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
163% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $97M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 163% of free cash flow, but 39% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow because the business is also funding heavy growth capex (usually debt-financed); the payout itself is covered by operating cash — sustainable as long as that spending is genuine expansion, not upkeep. Counting the $13M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 186%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$849.3M
Revenue Growth YoY-2.0%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+1.0%
Net Margin16.1%
Free Cash Flow$59.7M
Return on Equity11.6%
Debt / Equity0.00x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Photronics Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?