Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) is a critical cog in the AI ecosystem because of what it makes. It isn’t a semiconductor company per se, but makes photomasks, the blueprints from which nearly all semiconductors are made.
The company is tight-lipped about client details but it is understood to be well entrenched, serving major manufacturers, including NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), and Micron (NASDAQ: MU) alongside legacy manufacturers and foundries including Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN), STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), and, most importantly, Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM). The takeaway is that semiconductors are in the midst of a global supercycle, underpinned by high demand, capacity expansion, and, most importantly, AI, and Photronics is well-positioned to benefit.
