FormFactor Inc

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced a series of benchmark rebalancings on Thursday afternoon, effective prior to the market open on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Cloud communications software maker Twilio Inc Class A will join the flagship S&P 500, moving up from the S&P MidCap 400, replacing Warner Bros Discovery Inc, which is being acquired by S&P 500 constituent Paramount Skydance Corp in a deal nearing final completion. Twilio shares rose 1.6% in extended trading, while semiconductor test equipment producer FormFactor Inc will fill Twilio's former spot in the S&P MidCap 400 as it shifts up from the S&P SmallCap 600. The small-cap benchmark will in turn absorb SaaS platform Workiva Inc, which replaces FormFactor and gained 2.7% after-hours. In a separate structural shift, newly formed Consumer Staples entity Vylor Inc. joined the S&P 500 on Thursday following its spinoff from Corteva Inc, which will transition into the S&P MidCap 400 on Oct. 6, taking the spot of Olin Corporation; Olin moves to the S&P SmallCap 600 to replace chipmaker Qorvo Inc, which is being acquired by Skyworks Solutions Inc in a pending transaction that prompted the chain of small-cap reallocations.

Boeing secured a $20 billion contract with the defense department to develop the next generation of fighter jets, sending its shares up 2% premarket. The deal covers development of the Sixth-Generation F/A-XX Strike Fighter, while Northrop Grumman, reportedly also in contention for the contract, tumbled 3.5%. Robinhood Markets rose 2% after announcing an in-app AI agent for its traders, plans to launch 24/7 trading for certain stocks, and the introduction of perpetual futures to its U.S. users soon. Moderna declined more than 6% after Citi downgraded the stock to sell, with analysts setting a price target 60% below Tuesday's closing price and saying the current valuation can't be justified. Concentrix fell 9.5% after fiscal third-quarter revenue came in slightly below expectations, with non-GAAP earnings per share and current-quarter revenue guidance also below estimates, and the company said on its earnings call that its AI transition is pressuring revenues. Cal-Maine Foods tumbled more than 6.5% after reporting a wider-than-expected fiscal first-quarter loss of $1.26 per share versus the 77-cent loss analysts polled by FactSet expected, while FormFactor rose 1% after Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a buy rating, citing rising chip testing intensity and its position as the second source of probe cards for Nvidia's GPUs at TSMC.

Applied Materials reported quarterly revenues of $9.12 billion, up 24.8% year on year, exceeding analysts' expectations by 0.9%, as the 14 semiconductor manufacturing stocks tracked by the report delivered a very strong Q2 in which group revenues beat consensus estimates by 3.5% and next quarter's revenue guidance came in 6.5% above. President and CEO Gary Dickerson called it another record-breaking quarter with the highest sequential revenue growth in the company's history, citing significant improvement in inventory levels and next-quarter revenue guidance above analysts' expectations, though the stock is down 15.3% since reporting and trades at $453.00. Among peers, Kulicke and Soffa posted the group's fastest growth with revenues of $330.4 million, up 123% year on year and 5.7% above expectations, yet its stock is down 11.7% at $82.90, while KLA Corporation, the weakest of the group, reported revenues of $3.66 billion, up 15.2% and 1.3% above expectations, with its stock down 7.3% at $176.86. FormFactor reported revenues of $258.2 million, up 31.9% and 7.6% above expectations, with its stock up 34.7% at $112.38, and Lam Research reported revenues of $6.72 billion, up 30% year on year, meeting expectations, with its stock up 17.8% at $297.23.

Shares of Marvell Technology, FormFactor, and Applied Materials jumped in afternoon trading after Bloomberg reported that Anthropic told prospective investors its second-quarter revenue surged more than 14-fold to over $11.5 billion, up from $787 million a year earlier and $4.73 billion in the first quarter. The AI company also posted positive adjusted operating income for the first time, though Bloomberg noted the figures could still be revised. Reuters separately reported that Anthropic is projecting 2028 revenue of roughly $190 billion to $200 billion, fueling gains in memory and storage names. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told The Wall Street Journal the Trump administration opposes Apple buying Chinese memory chips, a stance that would benefit Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix. Marvell Technology rose 5.8%, FormFactor gained 5.4%, and Applied Materials climbed 5.9%.

Shares of semiconductor testing company FormFactor jumped 25.6% after it reported second-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations and provided an upbeat outlook. The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.82 per share on revenue of $258.2 million, a 31.9% increase year-over-year, pushing its annualized revenue run rate past the $1 billion mark. Third-quarter midpoint guidance projects adjusted earnings of approximately $0.86 per share on revenue of about $270 million, also well above consensus estimates.

FormFactor Inc reported record second-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $258.2 million, up 14% sequentially and above its outlook range, while non-GAAP earnings per share reached $0.82, a nearly 50% sequential increase. Non-GAAP gross margin expanded to 53.3%, driven by higher factory utilization and improved yields, and the company generated $52.6 million in free cash flow. For the third quarter, FormFactor expects revenue of $270 million plus or minus $10 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 54% plus or minus 150 basis points, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.86 plus or minus $0.09. The company highlighted accelerating demand in co-packaged optics, with full-year 2026 revenue now expected to significantly exceed the initial $20 million forecast, and noted market share gains in HBM4 using its SmartMatrix technology.

Zacks Investment Research identifies Applied Materials, Lam Research, and FormFactor as three stocks to buy from the prospering semiconductor industry, all carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The industry is benefiting from surging AI demand that is expanding beyond model training into inference and agentic AI, driving sustained investments across leading-edge logic, DRAM, NAND, High-Bandwidth Memory, and advanced packaging. Applied Materials expects its semiconductor equipment business to grow more than 30% in calendar 2026, with its stock up 106.1% year to date and a fiscal 2026 earnings estimate of $12.14 per share. Lam Research sees its calendar 2026 wafer fabrication equipment outlook lifted by AI-driven tool demand, with shares up 83% year to date and a steady fiscal 2026 earnings estimate of $5.68 per share. FormFactor is poised for a record second quarter of 2026, driven by probe card demand for high-performance compute and advanced packaging, with its stock up 89.2% year to date and a 2026 earnings estimate of $2.40 per share. The Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry has returned 34.9% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500's 8.8% gain, and currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28X.

Zacks Investment Research identifies Teradyne, FormFactor, Amkor Technology, and Credo Technology as attractive buys following a nearly 30% sell-off over the past month that left them trading roughly 35% below their 52-week highs. The pullback was driven by concerns over the pace of returns on massive AI infrastructure spending by hyperscalers, profit-taking after strong early-2026 gains, and geopolitical uncertainty from the U.S.-Iran conflict. Each of the four stocks carries a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) with a Growth Score of A or B, and has seen upward earnings estimate revisions for the current fiscal year. FormFactor supplies advanced probe cards and saw first-quarter 2026 revenue rise 32% and non-GAAP EPS jump 143%; Credo Technology provides high-speed connectivity for AI data centers and reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue up 157% and non-GAAP EPS up 231%; Teradyne offers automated test equipment and posted first-quarter revenue and non-GAAP EPS growth of 87% and 241%, respectively; Amkor Technology is a leader in outsourced semiconductor packaging and testing, with first-quarter revenue up more than 27% and non-GAAP EPS soaring 267%. Their forward P/E multiples have contracted sharply from one-year highs, and the research firm views the AI-driven semiconductor expansion as a multi-year tailwind.

Shares of semiconductor testing company FormFactor jumped 4.9% to close at $116.29 after Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its Overweight rating and $175.00 price target, citing robust demand for high-bandwidth and DDR memory used in AI systems. The analyst note highlighted market share gains with key customers including Nvidia and AMD. The stock also benefited from a broader rally in semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index rising significantly after a report showed U.S. inflation was not as high as feared. FormFactor remains up 96.5% year-to-date but is still trading 27.3% below its 52-week high of $159.93 from June 2026.

FormFactor shares have surged 110.7% year to date, far outpacing the broader tech sector's 17% gain, fueled by record DRAM revenues from high-bandwidth memory demand and sharp margin expansion. The company guided second-quarter 2026 revenue to $240 million, plus or minus $5 million, with non-GAAP gross margin of 49.5% and non-GAAP earnings of 61 cents per share. FormFactor is expanding its AI exposure beyond memory into networking, GPUs, and custom ASICs, and raised its 2026 co-packaged optics revenue outlook toward the high end of a previously guided $10–$20 million range. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings stands at $2.40 per share, up 5.7% over the past 60 days, while the stock trades at a forward price-to-sales multiple of 9.23 times. FormFactor currently carries a Zacks Rank #1, or Strong Buy.

Shares of semiconductor manufacturing companies FormFactor, Amkor, and Kulicke and Soffa surged in afternoon trading, with FormFactor and Amkor each jumping 9.5% and Kulicke and Soffa rising 9.3%, as the sector rebounded on reports that China may ease restrictions on imports of advanced Nvidia AI chips. The rally was sparked by a report that Chinese authorities told top tech firms including Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek they may soon be allowed to buy a limited quantity of Nvidia H200 processors, capped under 200,000 units, for model training. Additional support came from news that SK Hynix's $24.5 billion U.S. ADR offering was oversubscribed by more than seven times, signaling robust institutional demand for AI memory chips. The gains followed a recent selloff in semiconductor stocks driven by profit-taking.

Zacks Equity Research has identified Micron Technology, FormFactor, Texas Instruments, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing as four semiconductor stocks well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing surge in artificial intelligence infrastructure spending. The analysts note that large cloud providers and hyperscalers are expected to spend around $700 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, with the majority directed toward AI infrastructure, driving demand for advanced chips, memory, and manufacturing services. Micron Technology has already sold out its high-bandwidth memory supply for 2026 and has committed a significant portion of 2027 production, while its fiscal third-quarter revenues surged 346% year over year. FormFactor is seeing increased demand for its semiconductor testing solutions as AI chips become more complex, with first-quarter 2026 revenues up 32% year over year. Texas Instruments' data center business reached an annual run rate of about $1.2 billion in 2025, growing more than 50% year over year, and its first-quarter 2026 data center revenues surged 90% year over year. Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, reported a 41% year-over-year revenue increase in the first quarter of 2026, driven by strong demand for its advanced manufacturing and packaging technologies. All four stocks carry a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) and a Growth Score of A or B.

FormFactor, Inc. has been added to the US large-cap Russell 1000 Index, effective June 29, 2026, as part of the annual Russell indexes reconstitution. Membership is based on inclusion in the broad-market Russell 3000 Index and will remain in place for half a year. The stock was also automatically added to the appropriate growth and value indexes. CEO Mike Slessor called the addition a validation of the company's strategy and momentum, citing its new 2030 Target Model for expanding addressable markets and building a more resilient business. Russell indexes are used by investment managers and institutional investors, with approximately $12.2 trillion in assets benchmarked against Russell US indexes as of June 2025.

FormFactor Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductor probe cards, reported a 32% revenue surge to $226 million in the first quarter of 2026, driving a 349% increase in earnings per share to $0.46. The company, which has a market cap just shy of $12 billion, is emerging from a subdued growth period where revenue rose only 2.8% in 2025, and is now benefiting from rising testing requirements for advanced chips used in AI, high-performance computing, and memory applications. At its Investor Day in May, management highlighted FormFactor's position at the intersection of high-performance computing and advanced packaging trends, with demand accelerating as chips become more complex. Looking ahead, management expects another record quarter in Q2, powered by DRAM probe card sales, and analysts forecast full-year 2026 revenue growth of 22.8% to $960 million and EPS growth of 150% to $2.

FormFactor shares jumped 4.8% to close at $156.68 after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hit a fresh record high, driven by NVIDIA unveiling its next-generation Vera Rubin platform at the ISC High Performance 2026 conference. The platform, designed for supercomputers delivering over 7 exaflops of AI performance, triggered a targeted rotation into semiconductor and AI-hardware stocks even as the broader Nasdaq fell. System-builder partners named by NVIDIA, including Super Micro and Dell, surged on liquid-cooled and server announcements, while Micron rose nearly 5% ahead of earnings and Intel gained 3.8%. The rally highlighted a sharp investor distinction between AI infrastructure builders, which were rewarded, and software and platform companies, which were sold off on disruption fears.

Shares of Western Digital, FormFactor, and Vishay Intertechnology surged in afternoon trading after President Trump announced Apple had agreed to design and manufacture chips with Intel in the United States. Western Digital jumped 7.2%, FormFactor gained 6.4%, and Vishay Intertechnology soared 9.5%. The Intel-Apple deal served as a direct catalyst for Intel and lifted sentiment across the semiconductor industry, while Micron added 7 to 8 percent following a wave of analyst price target hikes from Stifel, Wedbush, Deutsche Bank, and TD Cowen. The macro backdrop also provided support as the US and Iran released the text of a signed interim agreement extending the April ceasefire by 60 days, easing oil prices and relieving inflation pressure that had weighed on high-multiple sectors.