AXTI vs PLAB vs ASYS Stock Comparison

Axt, Photronics and Amtech Systems Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AXTI Axt Inc
$52.08 -28.6% 1M +905.4% 1Y
Market cap
$3.45B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$116.56M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Materials Technology
4 wins
PLAB Photronics Inc
$28.15 -7.2% 1M +17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$1.62B
P/E
9.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$866.82M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Materials Technology
6 wins
ASYS Amtech Systems Inc
$12.42 -19.5% 1M +58.0% 1Y
Market cap
$194.85M
P/E
48.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$81.67M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Photronics leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Photronics 6, Axt 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAXTIPLABASYSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.45B $1.62B $194.85M AXTI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -2,280x 9.8x 48.7x PLAB
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 63.5x 14.7x 37.6x PLAB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +35.4% +1.2% -2.4% AXTI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1.3% 19.0% 4.9% PLAB
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 0.0% 9.8% — PLAB
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -2.4x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +905.4% +17.6% +58.0% AXTI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +43.6%/yr +18.1%/yr +1.1%/yr AXTI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 151.1% 83.9% 88.0% PLAB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 66/100 59/100 PLAB

Percentile Scorecard

AXTIPLABASYS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAXTIPLABASYS
Valuation 23 #73 of 95 98 #3 of 95 95 #6 of 95
Growth 89 #11 of 93 44 #53 of 93 77 #22 of 93
Profitability 22 #71 of 91 71 #27 of 91 51 #45 of 91
Financial Health 76 #25 of 102 86 #15 of 102 68 #33 of 102
Shareholder Returns – 33 #51 of 76 5 #72 of 76
Overall 53 66 59
  • AXTI ranked among 104 companies in Semiconductors
  • PLAB ranked among 104 companies in Semiconductors
  • ASYS ranked among 104 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAXTIPLABASYSSPY
1 month -28.6%-7.2%-19.5% -1.0%
3 months +10.3%-7.2%-21.8% +2.9%
6 months -31.6%-46.1%-33.8% +6.4%
Year to date +218.5%-12.0%-1.0% +11.4%
1 year +905.4%+17.6%+58.0% +13.1%
3 years +2,256.6%+46.3%+73.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +186.9%+13.5%+20.1% +21.5%
5 years +509.8%+129.6%+5.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +43.6%+18.1%+1.1% +10.9%
10 years +805.7%+185.8%+172.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +24.7%+11.1%+10.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAXTIPLABASYSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 151.1%83.9%88.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 142.2%88.4%95.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 4.212.852.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 5.990.210.66 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -88.1%-50.6%-78.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -63.0%-48.8%-48.2% -2.5%
52-week high $140.83$54.96$23.99 $779.14
52-week low $5.18$20.28$7.05 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAXTIPLABASYS
P/E now vs peer median -2,110xmedian 41.5x 9.9xmedian 41.5x 47.9xmedian 41.5x
P/S now vs peer median 29.3xmedian 6.9x 1.9xmedian 6.9x 2.7xmedian 6.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 27.3x 3.5xmedian 27.3x 14.8xmedian 27.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 35.6x 14.8xmedian 35.6x 24.9xmedian 35.6x
P/B now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 4.2x 0.9xmedian 4.2x 1.9xmedian 4.2x
PEG now vs peer median -239.47median 2.31 0.71median 2.31 -46.68median 2.31

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAXTIPLABASYS
Revenue $116.56M $866.82M $81.67M
Gross profit $33.85M $291.73M $38.27M
Operating income -$1.28M $194.65M $6.62M
Net income -$156.00K $225.93M $4.00M
Free cash flow – $110.48M $8.74M
R&D $9.58M $12.30M $3.10M
EPS (diluted) $-0.02 $2.81 $0.25
Cash & equivalents $412.17M $549.51M $83.11M
Total debt $278.80M $7.80M –
Shares (diluted) 63.47M 58.72M 16.04M
Enterprise value $2.69B -$914.01M $47.34M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAXTIPLABASYS
P/E -2,110x 9.9x 47.9x
P/FCF – 14.8x 24.9x
P/Operating cash flow – 5.3x 22.7x
P/S 29.3x 1.9x 2.7x
P/B 3.7x 0.9x 1.9x
P/Tangible book 3.7x 0.9x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA – 3.5x 14.8x
EV/EBIT -2,155x 5.0x 20.3x
EV/Revenue 23.6x 1.1x 1.6x
EV/FCF – 8.8x 15.4x
EV/Operating cash flow – 3.1x 14.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -239.47 0.71 -46.68

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAXTIPLABASYS
Revenue growth (1Y) 35.4% 1.2% -2.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% -0.3% -11.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 229.2% -4.9% 36.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.9% -4.2% -5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 95.2% -8.1% 121.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 45.1% -7.9% 121.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 99.4% 48.8% 112.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 41.9% 5.6% 3.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 95.7% 50.5% 111.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.8% 13.9% -1.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 35.1% 47.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 3.9% 49.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 71.2% 40.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -5.3% 42.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAXTIPLABASYS
Gross margin 29.0% 33.7% 46.9%
EBITDA margin – 31.6% 11.1%
Operating margin -1.1% 22.5% 8.1%
Pretax margin 3.0% 29.9% 8.0%
Net margin -1.3% 19.0% 4.9%
FCF margin – 12.7% 10.7%
Operating cash flow margin – 35.6% 11.7%
Return on equity 0.0% 13.1% 4.7%
Return on assets 0.0% 11.5% 3.1%
Return on invested capital 0.0% 9.8% –
Return on capital employed -0.2% 11.0% 6.4%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.4x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.6% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAXTIPLABASYS
Debt / assets 8.2% 0.2% –
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.0x –
Net debt / EBITDA – -2.4x –
Debt / FCF – 0.0x –
Liabilities / assets 16.9% 12.4% 26.2%
Equity / assets 83.1% 87.6% 73.8%
Interest coverage – 5,407x 254.5x
Current ratio 4.8x 4.9x 5.4x
Quick ratio 6.3x 4.5x 4.4x
Cash ratio 6.0x 3.4x 3.5x
Altman Z-score 11.62 5.82 3.98

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAXTIPLABASYS
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – -0.1% -26.6%
Shareholder yield – -0.1% -26.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAXTIPLABASYS
Forward P/E 63.5xFY2026 14.7xFY2026 37.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.82FY2026 $1.91FY2026 $0.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -5.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +162.2% +9.9% +178.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $215.33MFY2026 $908.29MFY2026 $87.99MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +143.8%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026 +10.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +117.5% +3.5% +13.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAXTIPLABASYS
Held by institutions 70.1% 94.6% 59.5%
Institutions holding 259 313 111
Change in shares held, QoQ +41.3% -1.1% +39.6%
Institutions buying 205 163 85
Institutions selling 47 115 20
Buyers to sellers 4.36 1.42 4.25

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AXTIPLABASYS
AXTI 1.00 0.37 0.33
PLAB 0.37 1.00 0.38
ASYS 0.33 0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AXTI, PLAB and ASYS?

Axt (AXTI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Axt (AXTI) $3.45B, Photronics (PLAB) $1.62B, Amtech Systems (ASYS) $194.85M.

Which stock is cheaper, AXTI, PLAB and ASYS?

Photronics (PLAB) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Axt (AXTI) -2,280x, Photronics (PLAB) 9.8x, Amtech Systems (ASYS) 48.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Photronics (PLAB) is cheapest (Axt (AXTI) 63.5x, Photronics (PLAB) 14.7x, Amtech Systems (ASYS) 37.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Axt (AXTI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Axt (AXTI) +35.4%, Photronics (PLAB) +1.2%, Amtech Systems (ASYS) -2.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Photronics (PLAB) has the highest net margin (Axt (AXTI) -1.3%, Photronics (PLAB) 19.0%, Amtech Systems (ASYS) 4.9%). On return on invested capital, Photronics (PLAB) leads (Axt (AXTI) 0.0%, Photronics (PLAB) 9.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Axt (AXTI) returned the most: Axt (AXTI) +905.4%, Photronics (PLAB) +17.6%, Amtech Systems (ASYS) +58.0%. Over five years, Axt (AXTI) compounded fastest (Axt (AXTI) +43.6%/yr, Photronics (PLAB) +18.1%/yr, Amtech Systems (ASYS) +1.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Photronics (PLAB) has been the steadiest (Axt (AXTI) 151.1%, Photronics (PLAB) 83.9%, Amtech Systems (ASYS) 88.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AXTI, PLAB and ASYS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Photronics (PLAB) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.