Photronics Jumps on Q3 Earnings Results

Shares of Photronics PLAB are rallying hard in the after-hours following the release of the company's Q3 earnings results. Currently, shares are higher by 9.43%, trading at $6.15; they ended the regular session lower by 9.21%, at $5.62. Photronics reported Q1 EPS of $0.23 on revenues of $135.9 million. Revenues increased 21.0% year over year. Operating margin improved 90 bps sequentially. Cash flow provided by operations in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $9.5 million compared with $20.4 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 and $28.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Constantine Macricostas, Photronics' chairman and chief executive officer, commented: "We exceeded our guidance range and reported record revenue of $135.9 million, while also achieving a new quarterly sales record for IC photomasks. Demonstrating the success of our high-end strategy, advanced IC sales grew 24% sequentially to $34.9 million." Photronics, Inc. is a manufacturers of photomasks, which are precision photographic quartz plates containing microscopic images of electronic circuits.