PLAB
Photronics, Inc.
PLAB has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
SNDK
Sandisk Corporation
SNDK has the edge over PLAB overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
PLAB Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
PLAB's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently strong, and its revenue is stable.
SNDK Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
SNDK's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
PLAB PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 9.9x | $27.88 | — |
| Cheap | 10x | $28.49 | +2.2% |
| Fair | 13x | $37.09 | +33% |
| Forward | 13x | $27.88 | — |
| Expensive | 22x | $62.33 | +124% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
PLAB's PE is in its cheap range at 9.8x. On analysts' estimates for next year's earnings, today's price would be 13x, in its fair range.
SNDK PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 3.8x | $937 | — |
| Current | 7.5x | $937 | — |
| Cheap | 17x | $2,173 | +132% |
| Fair | 24x | $3,048 | +225% |
| Expensive | 59x | $7,452 | +695% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
SNDK has the edge over PLAB in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
PLAB Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly deteriorating | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect PLAB's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
SNDK Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| High |
SNDK has the edge over PLAB on the outlook, with more favorable valuation and revenue expectations.
PLAB Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.09 | -26% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.83 | +61% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.73 | +42% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.34 | -0.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.28 | +9.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.76 | -22% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.92 | -11% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.35 | +5.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.09 | +3% |
PLAB earned $2.83 per share over the past year, up 61% from the year before.
SNDK Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $247.30 | +97% |
| Q3 2026 | $125.61 | +$137.63 |
| Q2 2026 | $73.76 | +$85.07 |
| Q2 2025 | -$11.31 | -$6.65 |
SNDK has the edge over PLAB in the latest year-over-year earnings comparison.
PLAB Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $216M | +2.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $209.9M | -0.5% |
| Q1 2026 | $225.1M | +6.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $215.8M | -3.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $210.4M | -0.3% |
| Q2 2025 | $211M | -2.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $212.1M | -1.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $222.6M | -2.1% |
PLAB's revenue grew through 2022 and has held roughly level since: $216M last quarter, up 2.7% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 21% | -1.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 20% | -6.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 24% | -0.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 24% | -0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 23% | -1.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 26% | +0.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 25% | -2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 25% | -3.4 points |
PLAB's operating margin was 21% last quarter, down 1.8 points from the same quarter a year ago.
SNDK Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11B | +378% |
| Q2 2026 | $9B | +372% |
| Q1 2026 | $6B | +251% |
| Q4 2025 | $3B | +61% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.3B | +23% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.9B | +8% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.7B | -0.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.9B | +13% |
SNDK has the edge over PLAB on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 80% | +72 points |
| Q2 2026 | 78% | +78 points |
| Q1 2026 | 69% | +180 points |
| Q4 2025 | 35% | +25 points |
| Q3 2025 | 7.6% | -9 points |
| Q2 2025 | 0.9% | N/A |
| Q1 2025 | -111% | -122 points |
| Q4 2024 | 10% | +6.6 points |
SNDK has the edge over PLAB on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
PLAB Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $39.4M | +56% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.2M | +$30.3M |
| Q1 2026 | $49.6M | +15% |
| Q4 2025 | $20.3M | -19% |
| Q3 2025 | $25.2M | -50% |
| Q2 2025 | -$29.1M | -152% |
| Q1 2025 | $43.3M | +$45.1M |
| Q4 2024 | $25.2M | -54% |
PLAB still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2022 peak: $110M over the past year.
SNDK Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6.3B | +1340% |
| Q2 2026 | $7.1B | +14355% |
| Q1 2026 | $3B | +$3B |
| Q3 2025 | $438M | +$636M |
| Q2 2025 | $49M | +$217M |
| Q1 2025 | -$18M | +$23M |
| Q3 2024 | -$198M | -$157M |
SNDK generated $17.4B in free cash flow over the past year, more than ten times what it generated the year before.
PLAB Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -27K shares |
| 1 year | +1.1% | +650K shares |
| 3 years | -5.3% | -3.3M shares |
| 5 years | -4.5% | -2.8M shares |
| Available history | -15% | -10.4M shares |
PLAB has the edge over SNDK on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | $20.7M |
| Q2 2025 | $72.1M |
| Q1 2025 | $4.6M |
| Q4 2023 | — |
PLAB hasn't bought back shares in the past year.
SNDK Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.6% | -1M shares |
| 1 year | +3.4% | +5M shares |
| 3 years | +6.9% | +10M shares |
SNDK has 154M diluted shares, up 3.4% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5B |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | — |
PLAB Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -2.0x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.7x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -1.8x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -2.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
PLAB has the edge over SNDK on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
SNDK Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.7x | Net Cash |
SNDK has more cash than debt.
PLAB Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 15.9 | Oversold |
PLAB's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 16 (oversold).
SNDK Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 10.6 | Oversold |
SNDK's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 11 (oversold).
PLAB PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | PLAB | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 9.9x | 28x | 65% below |
| PE % | 14 | 35 | 21 pts below |
PLAB is trading at 9.8x earnings, a 65% discount to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
SNDK PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | SNDK | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 7.5x | 28x | 73% below |
| PE % | 4 | 27 | 23 pts below |
SNDK has the edge over PLAB on valuation relative to its sector.
PLAB Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $28.8 | 3% below |
| 20 week MA | $29.5 | 5.4% below |
| 50 week MA | $34.6 | 19% below |
| 100 week MA | $27.9 | 0.1% below |
| 200 week MA | $25.7 | 8.3% above |
PLAB has stronger trend alignment. PLAB is above 1 of 5 weekly averages versus SNDK above 0 of 3.
SNDK Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $1,317.5 | 29% below |
| 20 week MA | $1,465.4 | 36% below |
| 50 week MA | $1,119.6 | 16% below |
SNDK is in a downtrend: it's below all three of its weekly moving averages, and 16% below its 50-week average.
PLAB Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $15.8 | $11.0 | -30% |
| 2021 | $11.0 | $18.5 | +68% |
| 2022 | $18.5 | $16.4 | -11% |
| 2023 | $16.4 | $31.4 | +91% |
| 2024 | $31.4 | $23.9 | -24% |
| 2025 | $23.9 | $33.7 | +41% |
| 2026 YTD | $33.7 | $27.9 | -17% |
PLAB has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 17% so far in 2026.
SNDK Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $50.4 | $250.1 | +396% |
| 2026 YTD | $250.1 | $937.5 | +275% |
SNDK has the edge over PLAB on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.