As the Q1 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, including Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) and its peers.

The semiconductor industry is driven by demand for advanced electronic products like smartphones, PCs, servers, and data storage. The need for technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G networks, and smart cars is also creating the next wave of growth for the industry. Keeping up with this dynamism requires new tools that can design, fabricate, and test chips at ever smaller sizes and more complex architectures, creating a dire need for semiconductor capital manufacturing equipment.

The 14 semiconductor manufacturing stocks we track reported a very strong Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.2% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 5.5% above.

Luckily, semiconductor manufacturing stocks have performed well with share prices up 15.2% on average since the latest earnings results.

Weakest Q1: Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB)

Sporting a global footprint of facilities, Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) is a manufacturer of photomasks, templates used to transfer patterns onto semiconductor wafers.

Photronics reported revenues of $209.9 million, flat year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 2.8%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations and a significant miss of analysts’ operating income estimates.

Commenting on the second quarter performance, Chairman and CEO George Macricostas said, “Photomask market dynamics reflect a mix of supportive long-term drivers and several temporary headwinds. In the near term, certain design releases have been delayed due to elevated fab utilization rates, which are extending new product launch timelines, memory supply constraints and related cost pressures for OEMs, and geopolitical uncertainty. The underlying long-term demand environment remains strong as we advance our investments in the U.S. and Korea to strengthen our position at the high end of the market over the coming years.”

Photronics delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, weakest guidance update, and slowest revenue growth of the whole group. The market seems disappointed with the results as the stock is down 41.4% since reporting and currently trades at $31.38.

Read our full report on Photronics here, it’s free.

Best Q1: Kulicke and Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC)

Headquartered in Singapore, Kulicke & Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) is a provider of production equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices

Kulicke and Soffa reported revenues of $242.6 million, up 49.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 5.5%. The business had a stunning quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and operating income estimates.

Kulicke and Soffa scored the highest guidance raise among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 27.5% since reporting. It currently trades at $119.53.

Is now the time to buy Kulicke and Soffa? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ: IPGP)

Both a designer and manufacturer of its products, IPG Photonics (NASDAQ: IPGP) is a provider of high-performance fiber lasers used for cutting, welding, and processing raw materials.

IPG Photonics reported revenues of $265.5 million, up 16.6% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 3.4%. Still, it was a mixed quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 5.6% since the results and currently trades at $115.50.

Read our full analysis of IPG Photonics’s results here.

Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX)

Founded in 1980 by David Lam, the man who pioneered semiconductor etching technology, Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) is one of the leading providers of wafer fabrication equipment used to make semiconductors.

Lam Research reported revenues of $5.84 billion, up 23.8% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. It was an exceptional quarter as it also produced revenue guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is up 44.2% since reporting and currently trades at $383.00.

Read our full, actionable report on Lam Research here, it’s free.

Amkor (NASDAQ: AMKR)

Operating through a largely Asian facility footprint, Amkor Technologies (NASDAQ: AMKR) provides outsourced packaging and testing for semiconductors.

Amkor reported revenues of $1.68 billion, up 27.5% year on year. This print topped analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also recorded a beat of analysts’ EPS and operating income estimates.

The stock is up 17.8% since reporting and currently trades at $89.10.

Read our full, actionable report on Amkor here, it’s free.

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand-wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

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