Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for FormFactor (FORM - Free Report) . Shares have added about 4.6% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is FormFactor due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at its latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent drivers for FormFactor, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late.

FormFactor's Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/YFormFactor delivered second-quarter 2026 non-GAAP earnings of 82 cents per share, up 203.7% year over year, and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 34.43%.

Revenues increased 32% year over year to $258.2 million and surpassed the consensus mark of $240 million by 7.55%. Broad demand across high-bandwidth memory, foundry and logic, and co-packaged optics helped FORM post record revenues.

FORM's Probe Card Revenues AdvanceProbe Card revenues reached $209.7 million, increasing 29.4% year over year. The segment benefited from rising test intensity across advanced memory and high-performance computing applications.

Foundry and Logic revenues increased 22.4% year over year to $121.8 million. Growth was led by probe cards for data-center CPU applications, alongside continued networking strength, early momentum in hyperscaler custom ASICs and steady PC and mobile demand.

Management expects further sequential growth in the third quarter, supported by broad demand across its served applications. FORM is also shipping production units for a newly qualified GPU program, which is expected to begin contributing revenues in the second half of 2026.

FORM's DRAM Business Sets Another RecordDRAM revenues jumped 48.9% year over year to $85 million. High-bandwidth memory accounted for approximately two-thirds of DRAM sales, driven by two customers adopting the company’s SmartMatrix full-wafer contactor technology for high-speed HBM4 testing.

SmartMatrix allows customers to test hundreds of completed HBM stacks simultaneously at data rates exceeding 10 gigabits per second. This capability helps verify that HBM stacks are functional before they are combined with expensive GPUs or custom ASICs in advanced packaging.

Third-quarter DRAM revenues are expected to remain comparable with the second-quarter record. However, management anticipates a significant mix shift from HBM toward DDR as memory manufacturers adjust wafer production to capitalize on higher DDR pricing.

FormFactor's Systems Segment ReboundsSystems revenues increased 43.9% year over year to a record $48.5 million. Sales also rose sharply from $27.9 million in the prior quarter, reflecting a recovery in the engineering prober business and accelerating demand for co-packaged optics.

FORM now expects 2026 co-packaged optics revenues to exceed $20 million, surpassing its previous projection of reaching the high end of a $10-$20 million range. The company expects cumulative CPO revenues to cross $20 million by the end of the third quarter, followed by additional contributions in the fourth quarter.

FORM's Margins Show Operating LeverageNon-GAAP gross margin expanded to 53.3% compared with 38.5% reported in the year-ago quarter.

Non-GAAP operating expenses were $65.7 million, up 25.1% year over year.

Non-GAAP operating income rose to $72 million from $22.8 million a year earlier.

FormFactor's Cash Flow and Liquidity ImproveAs of June 27, 2026, cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $345.6 million compared with $303.2 million as of March 28, 2026. Cash provided by operating activities was $61.8 million, up from $18.9 million in the year-ago period. Free cash flow totaled $52.6 million compared with a free cash outflow of $47.1 million reported in the year-ago quarter.

FORM continues to expect 2026 cash capital expenditures of $140-$170 million, primarily supporting its Farmers Branch manufacturing expansion. The new facility remains on track to begin ramping in the fourth quarter and continue through 2027. Its initial capacity is expected to be roughly equivalent to the company’s current California probe-card manufacturing footprint.

FORM Offers Upbeat Q3 GuidanceFor the third quarter of 2026, FormFactor expects revenues of $270 million (plus or minus $10 million). At the midpoint, this implies continued sequential growth and another quarterly revenue record.

Non-GAAP gross margin is projected at 54% (plus or minus 150 bps). The margin outlook includes an anticipated $7-$9 million benefit from tariff refunds, partly offset by a less favorable DRAM product mix. Non-GAAP earnings are expected at 86 cents per share (plus or minus 9 cents).

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?In the past month, investors have witnessed a upward trend in estimates review.

The consensus estimate has shifted 52.16% due to these changes.

VGM ScoresCurrently, FormFactor has a great Growth Score of A, a score with the same score on the momentum front. However, the stock was allocated a score of F on the value side, putting it in the fifth quintile for value investors.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

OutlookEstimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. It comes with little surprise FormFactor has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months.

Performance of an Industry PlayerFormFactor belongs to the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry. Another stock from the same industry, Amkor Technology (AMKR - Free Report) , has gained 7.2% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026.

Amkor Technology reported revenues of $1.9 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +25.6%. EPS of $0.70 for the same period compares with $0.22 a year ago.

For the current quarter, Amkor Technology is expected to post earnings of $0.79 per share, indicating a change of +54.9% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) for Amkor Technology. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of C.

Is Cohu Inc. One of the Cheapest Chip Stocks Around?FormFactor NASDAQ: FORM reported record second-quarter revenue, gross profit and earnings per share, as demand for semiconductor test products increased across high-bandwidth memory, data-center computing and co-packaged optics.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Slessor said the company surpassed a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate and exceeded 50% gross margin during the quarter, marking progress toward the long-term target model introduced in May. That model calls for revenue of $1.6 billion, non-GAAP gross margin of 55% and non-GAAP earnings per share above $5 by 2030.

Get FormFactor alerts:

“FormFactor's second quarter revenue, gross profit, and earnings per share set all-time records,” Slessor said. He added that the company expects further sequential increases in both revenue and profitability in the third quarter.

Second-Quarter Results Revenue for the second quarter was $258.2 million, up $32.1 million, or about 14%, from the first quarter and $18.2 million above the midpoint of the company’s outlook range. Chief Financial Officer Aric McKinnis said the result represented FormFactor’s third consecutive quarterly revenue record.

GAAP gross margin was 50.7%, compared with 38.4% in the first quarter. The prior-quarter result included $18.8 million in restructuring costs that did not recur in the second quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin reached 53.3%, up 430 basis points sequentially.

McKinnis said roughly one-third of the sequential gross-margin improvement came from durable baseline cost reductions, one-third reflected the $32 million increase in revenue, and one-third came from items not expected to recur, including tariff refunds and precious-metal recovery associated with the shutdown of the company’s Baldwin Park site.

Excluding those nonrecurring items and favorable product mix, McKinnis said FormFactor’s normalized non-GAAP gross-margin baseline was about 51% at second-quarter volumes. He said the company expects its Farmers Branch, Texas, manufacturing site to be accretive to gross margins once it comes online.

GAAP net income was $56.2 million, or $0.71 per diluted share, compared with $20.4 million, or $0.26 per share, in the first quarter. Non-GAAP net income was $65 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, compared with $44.5 million, or $0.56 per share, in the first quarter. Free cash flow totaled $52.6 million, up from $30.7 million in the prior quarter. Cash and investments increased $42.8 million sequentially to $349 million. Systems-segment revenue reached a record $48.5 million, rising $20.6 million, or 74%, from the first quarter. McKinnis said the recovery reflected stronger engineering-prober demand and accelerating co-packaged optics revenue.

HBM, DDR and Foundry Demand FormFactor’s DRAM probe-card business posted another record quarter as demand for HBM4 products increased alongside continued DDR demand. HBM accounted for approximately two-thirds of overall DRAM revenue during the period, according to Slessor.

The company said two customers continued to adopt its SmartMatrix full-wafer contactor technology for high-speed HBM4 testing. Slessor said the technology allows customers to test hundreds of completed HBM stacks simultaneously at HBM4 data rates exceeding 10 gigabits per second.

For the third quarter, however, FormFactor expects overall DRAM revenue to remain comparable with the second-quarter record while the mix shifts materially toward DDR. Slessor attributed that expected shift to constrained memory supply and increased DDR pricing, which he said is prompting customers to adjust wafer-start mixes toward DDR designs.

Foundry and logic probe-card demand also increased significantly from the first quarter, driven primarily by data-center CPU applications, continued networking strength, early momentum in hyperscaler custom ASICs, and steady PC and mobile demand.

Slessor said increasing CPU compute intensity associated with agentic AI use cases is creating probe-card opportunities. He cited FormFactor’s incumbent position with a data-center CPU supplier, an expanding relationship with a high-performance-compute leader across networking, GPU and CPU products, and multiple design wins at a large fabless XPU customer.

He characterized the company’s current share at the fabless CPU customer as low single digits but said it has additional opportunity over time. Capacity availability could limit the pace of share expansion until Farmers Branch begins ramping, he said.

Co-Packaged Optics Gains Momentum FormFactor increased its outlook for co-packaged optics, or CPO, revenue after seeing faster-than-expected adoption. The company had initially forecast 2026 CPO revenue of $10 million to $20 million but now expects to exceed $20 million by the end of the third quarter and to finish the full year significantly above that level.

The growth is being supported by planned increases in CPO chip volumes later in the year and FormFactor’s role in testing photonic integrated-circuit wafers before they are combined with electrical integrated circuits to create optical modules, Slessor said.

While he said FormFactor is seeing “strong acceleration” in the business, Slessor did not provide a detailed quarterly CPO forecast for 2027, citing variables including customer adoption, yields and test times. The company has previously identified a CPO served market of about $400 million by 2030.

Capacity Expansion and Third-Quarter Outlook FormFactor’s Farmers Branch facility remains on track to begin ramping at the end of 2026 and continue ramping through 2027. The initial targeted capacity is roughly equivalent to the company’s existing California probe-card manufacturing footprint, McKinnis said.

The company expects 2026 cash capital expenditures for Farmers Branch and other capacity additions of $140 million to $170 million. It also expects total pre-production ramp costs of about $25 million to $30 million this year, including roughly $12 million incurred through the second quarter and approximately $7 million expected in the third quarter.

McKinnis said FormFactor expects Farmers Branch to be accretive to gross margin after reaching its initial target capacity, which is anticipated by the beginning of 2028. The company has received incentives that include a $24.2 million grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund, subject to meeting certain criteria.

For the third quarter, FormFactor forecast revenue of $270 million, plus or minus $10 million, and non-GAAP gross margin of 54%, plus or minus 150 basis points. The outlook includes expected tariff refunds that McKinnis said would contribute about 300 basis points to gross margin. The company forecast non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $0.86, plus or minus $0.09.

About FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM)FormFactor, Inc NASDAQ: FORM is a leading provider of advanced test and measurement solutions for the semiconductor industry. The company specializes in the design, development and manufacture of high-performance wafer-level and package-level test interfaces used in wafer sort, characterization, reliability and failure analysis applications. By leveraging precision microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and photolithographic processes, FormFactor delivers probe cards, analytical probes and test sockets that enable device makers to validate next-generation integrated circuits across logic, memory, RF, analog and power applications.

FormFactor's product portfolio includes custom probe cards for wafer probers, TEM-based analytical probes for material and device characterization, and socket solutions for burn-in and final test of packaged devices.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Should You Invest $1,000 in FormFactor Right Now?Before you consider FormFactor, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and FormFactor wasn't on the list.

While FormFactor currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

Click the link to see MarketBeat's list of seven stocks and why their long-term outlooks are very promising.

Get This Free Report

Key Takeaways FormFactor shares surged 110.7% YTD as record DRAM revenue and HBM demand fueled outperformance.FORM is expanding beyond memory into networking chips, GPUs, custom ASICs and co-packaged optics.FORM targets $240 million in Q2 2026 revenues, while heavy expansion spending may pressure margins. FormFactor (FORM - Free Report) shares have jumped 110.7% year to date (YTD), outperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s appreciation of 17%. The outperformance can be attributed to record DRAM revenues, driven by an accelerating high-bandwidth memory (HBM) demand and sharp margin expansion. However, FORM’s prospect remains dependent on continuing AI infrastructure spending. Heavy investments in the Farmers Branch manufacturing expansion are likely to keep margins under pressure.

Nevertheless, we believe FORM’s share price is well-poised to appreciate, driven by strong demand for HBM as well as an expanding AI exposure beyond memory into networking, GPUs and custom ASICs. These factors are expected to strengthen FORM’s competitive position against broader semiconductor competitors, including Teradyne (TER - Free Report) , Cohu (COHU - Free Report) and KLA (KLAC - Free Report) YTD. Shares of Cohu, KLA and Teradyne have returned 141.4%, 90.5% and 85.8%, respectively. So, what should investors do with the stock? Let’s dig deep to find out.

FORM Stock’s Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

AI & Strong HBM Demand Aids FORM’s ProspectFormFactor is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI infrastructure buildout through its leadership in HBM probe cards. The company expects another record DRAM revenue growth in the second quarter of 2026 as a second major customer ramps up adoption of FORM’s SmartMatrix technology. The company also highlighted that the transition from HBM3 to HBM4 and eventually HBM5 increases test intensity and market-share opportunities.

FormFactor is now winning business across networking chips, data-center CPUs, GPUs and custom ASICs. Management noted that networking growth helped a leading high-performance computing customer become a 10% customer for the first time. FORM also secured additional GPU design wins, expects production shipments in the second half of 2026 and is deepening engagements with hyperscalers on custom ASICs. This broadens AI exposure and reduces dependence on any single product category.

FormFactor is also benefiting from the emergence of co-packaged optics (CPO), an important AI networking technology. The company raised its 2026 CPO revenue outlook toward the high end of the previously guided $10-$20 million range, citing faster production ramps and growing demand for Triton production-test systems developed with Advantest and Tokyo Electron. Through its Triton production-test platform and Keystone Photonics acquisition, FORM expects accelerating CPO adoption to become another long-term growth driver.

FormFactor sits at the intersection of two of the industry's strongest secular trends - high-performance computing and advanced packaging. As chips become more complex, advanced packaging, HBM stacks and chiplet architectures require substantially more testing, increasing probe card demand. At Investor Day, FormFactor outlined plans to double revenue by 2030 while more than doubling non-GAAP earnings, supported by AI infrastructure growth, advanced packaging adoption and higher test intensity.

FORM’s Earnings Estimate Revision Shows Positive TrendFormFactor’s guided second-quarter 2026 revenues to $240 million (plus or minus $5 million), with non-GAAP gross margin expected at 49.5% (plus or minus 1.5%), and non-GAAP earnings projected at 61 cents (plus or minus 4 cents) per share.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2026 earnings is pegged at 61 cents per share, up 10.9% over the past 60 days and indicating 125.93% growth over the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. The consensus mark for second-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $240.1 million, suggesting 22.6% growth from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is pegged at $2.40 per share, up 5.7% over the past 60 days and indicating 84.62% growth over 2025’s reported figure. The consensus mark for 2026 revenues is pegged at $958.05 million, suggesting 22.1% growth from 2025’s reported figure.

FORM Shares Are Trading at a PremiumFormFactor shares are trading at a premium as suggested by a Value Score of F.

In terms of the forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S), the company is trading at 9.23X compared with the broader sector and peers. The broader sector is trading at 6.98X while Cohu, Teradyne and KLA trade at 4.28X, 11.24X and 17.47X, respectively.

FORM Stock’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

ConclusionFormFactor is benefiting from the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, leveraging its leadership in semiconductor probe cards and wafer-level testing technologies. As hyperscalers and chipmakers invest heavily in AI servers, the demand for HBM, GPUs, networking chips and custom AI accelerators continues to rise, significantly increasing the need for advanced semiconductor testing solutions. Momentum is also supported by co-packaged optics programs, including the Triton production-test ramp and the Keystone Photonics acquisition that expands optical probing capability. These factors justify a premium valuation.

FormFactor currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which implies that investors should start accumulating the stock right now. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.