FORM vs PLAB Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
FORM (FormFactor) and PLAB (Photronics) are both small-cap semiconductor materials and equipment companies serving essential roles in chip manufacturing — FormFactor's wafer probe cards for electrical testing and Photronics' photomasks for lithographic patterning. Both are cyclical businesses tied to semiconductor manufacturing volumes and leading-edge node development.
FORM vs PLAB compares two essential small-cap semiconductor manufacturing suppliers — FormFactor's probe test infrastructure versus Photronics' photomask lithography templates, both riding leading-edge chip manufacturing technology investments.
FORM holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. FORM has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+58.87% vs +14.64%), though PLAB has the better forward P/E setup (13.42x vs 27.77x for FORM). FORM leads on both revenue growth (31.90%) and operating margin (24.12%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for PLAB (+48.31%) than for FORM (+43.65%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want small-cap semiconductor test equipment exposure through the dominant wafer probe card supplier to leading memory and logic chipmakers
- See advanced packaging growth (2.5D, 3D stacking) as driving demand for more sophisticated and valuable probe card solutions
- Value FormFactor's non-discretionary position in every semiconductor test workflow as a resilient demand characteristic
- Want small-cap semiconductor materials exposure through photomask manufacturing across leading-edge and mature node chipmakers
- See EUV adoption and advanced node transition as increasing photomask value and pricing per design layer
- Value Photronics' geographic diversification and essential role in every chip manufacturing process
| Metric | FORM | PLAB |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 61.0 | 41.6 |
| AI ranki | #118 | #1004 |
| Latest closei | $87.30 | $27.40 |
| 1M returni | -41.47% | -12.99% |
| 3M returni | -19.76% | -12.63% |
| 6M returni | -35.03% | -44.62% |
| 1Y returni | +58.87% | +14.64% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | FORM | PLAB |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $15.48K (+54.8%) started 2025-11-03 | $11.29K (+12.9%) started 2025-11-03 |
| 5Y ago | $20.3K (+103.0%) started 2021-11-03 | $20.04K (+100.4%) started 2021-11-03 |
| 10Y ago | $97.54K (+875.4%) started 2016-11-03 | $27.26K (+172.6%) started 2016-11-03 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | FORM | PLAB |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $7.54B | $1.64B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 66.55 | 9.92 |
| Forward P/Ei | 27.77 | 13.42 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 7.91 | 1.63 |
| Analyst targeti | $138.63 | $41.33 |
| Target upsidei | +43.65% | +48.31% |
| Metric | FORM | PLAB |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 31.90% | 2.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 502.50% | 25.60% |
| EPS growthi | +502.50% | +25.60% |
| FCF margini | +12.73% | +3.40% |
| Operating margini | 24.12% | 21.06% |
| Profit margini | 12.80% | 19.05% |
| ROIC proxyi | 10.99% | 13.77% |
| Return on equityi | 10.99% | 13.77% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 1.25 | 1.37 |
| Debt/equityi | 2.69 | 0.22 |
| Current ratioi | 4.08 | 4.94 |
| Quick ratioi | 3.09 | 4.36 |
Over the past year, FORM and PLAB have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.53), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | FORM | PLAB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +54.79% | +12.90% |
| CAGRi | +55.02% | +12.94% | |
| Volatilityi | 84.75% | 83.40% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.89 | 0.51 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.31 | 0.77 | |
| Max drawdowni | 47.82% | 50.58% | |
| Current drawdowni | 45.41% | 50.15% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.60% | 24.89% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.22% | 31.15% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.00% | 36.42% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 30.23% | 39.99% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +103.02% | +100.44% |
| CAGRi | +15.23% | +14.93% | |
| Volatilityi | 62.42% | 58.92% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.47 | 0.45 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.69 | 0.68 | |
| Max drawdowni | 62.75% | 50.62% | |
| Current drawdowni | 45.41% | 50.15% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 25.81% | 24.83% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 30.43% | 28.67% | |
| Max daily dropi | 24.13% | 36.42% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 30.43% | 39.99% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +875.42% | +172.64% |
| CAGRi | +25.59% | +10.55% | |
| Volatilityi | 56.51% | 51.54% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.61 | 0.37 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.90 | 0.54 | |
| Max drawdowni | 64.42% | 50.62% | |
| Current drawdowni | 45.41% | 50.15% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 21.63% | 22.88% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 26.49% | 26.06% | |
| Max daily dropi | 24.13% | 36.42% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 30.43% | 39.99% |
| Category | FORM | PLAB |
|---|---|---|
| Company | FormFactor, Inc. | Photronics, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductor Equipment & Materials | Semiconductor Equipment & Materials |
| Core business | FormFactor designs and manufactures probe cards — precision test accessories used during wafer-level semiconductor testing to make electrical contact with chips while still on the silicon wafer — enabling testing of memory chips, logic chips, and advanced packaging interconnects before dicing. | Photronics manufactures photomasks — glass plates with precise patterns of circuit elements that serve as templates for lithographic printing of circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers — supplying photomasks to chipmakers worldwide. |
| Investor focus | Investors track FormFactor's probe card revenue across memory and logic segments, advanced packaging probe demand, and the correlation to semiconductor capital equipment spending cycles particularly in DRAM and NAND memory. | Investors track Photronics' IC and FPD (flat panel display) photomask revenues, high-end mask (EUV-compatible, advanced node) penetration and pricing, and geographic revenue mix from leading semiconductor hubs. |
- Dominant probe card market position with strong customer relationships at leading memory makers (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron) and logic foundries
- Advanced packaging probe cards for 2.5D/3D chip stacking are a growing high-value segment as chipmakers move to multi-die interconnect architectures
- Probe card consumption is non-discretionary for semiconductor testing — chipmakers must test every die, making probe cards essential throughout the manufacturing process
- Photomasks are essential for every semiconductor manufacturing step — no chip can be made without photomasks, making them non-discretionary manufacturing inputs
- Leading-edge photomasks for EUV and advanced nodes earn significantly higher prices than older-generation masks as technical complexity increases
- Geographic diversification across U.S., Europe, Asia, and Taiwan reduces single-country concentration risk
- Memory semiconductor cycles heavily influence FormFactor — DRAM and NAND spending on new capacity and probe cards is very cyclical
- Probe card pricing faces competition as customers develop alternatives and Japanese competitors (Micronics Japan) compete for market share
- Advanced packaging complexity increases probe card technical requirements and development cost
- Photomask market is sensitive to semiconductor fab utilization rates — when production slows, mask orders decline as fewer new designs are started
- EUV mask infrastructure requires massive capital investment in specialized equipment and clean room facilities
- Competition from Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) and Toppan in the large-scale photomask market
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