Why Shares of Photronics Jumped Wednesday

Shares of Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) were up more than 12% on Wednesday after the semiconductor company, whose photomask technology is used in integrated circuits (IC) and flat-panel displays (FPD), released second-quarter earnings. The stock is up more than 15% this year.

The company increased revenue sequentially by 9% and year over year by 12% to $229.3 million. Earnings per share (EPS) were reported as $0.65, more than double the first-quarter EPS of $0.23 and the $0.45 EPS of the same period last year. The company said it is seeing strong demand for its IC and FPD products.

While high-end IC demand fell by 9% due to lower demand in Asia, mainstream demand grew 13%.

Source Fool.com