Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) investors will be delighted, with the company turning in some strong numbers with its latest results. It was overall a positive result, with revenues beating expectations by 3.5% to hit US$216m. Photronics also reported a statutory profit of US$0.49, which was an impressive 21% above what the analysts had forecast. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

After the latest results, the three analysts covering Photronics are now predicting revenues of US$892.4m in 2027. If met, this would reflect a reasonable 2.9% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to dive 27% to US$2.05 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$898.3m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.02 in 2027. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$41.33, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on Photronics, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$44.00 and the most bearish at US$39.00 per share. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that Photronics is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. We would highlight that Photronics' revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 2.4% annualised growth rate until the end of 2027 being well below the historical 4.2% p.a. growth over the last five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 26% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than Photronics.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Photronics going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Plus, you should also learn about the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Photronics .

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.