$PLAB earnings yesterday. Here’s our take.

Financially? Clean.

✅ $638M cash, $4M debt

✅ Margins expanding in a weak cycle

✅ ~23x P/E — historically traded at 10-15x

They missed slightly — revenue came in at $209.9M vs $211M last year (-0.5% YoY) and Non-GAAP EPS $0.42 vs $0.48 expected. But profitability? Up massively. GAAP EPS jumped from $0.15 → $0.54 YoY (+260%) and operating cash flow hit $144M in just the first half alone.

Only issue is timing. In the call they flagged delayed design starts due to high fab utilization and memory supply constraints — that’s what’s hitting near-term numbers. AI capex tailwind hits PLAB 1-2 years later by nature of the business.

Not broken. Just early.

Bull case PT: $75-85 by 2027

— CapEx cycle done → FCF explodes

— AI photomask orders start flowing

— Market reprices to a premium multiple.

Every fab needs photomasks. No exceptions and well everybody builds fabs now.

NFA, DYOR.