Acm Research, Inc. (ACMR) SEC Filing 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending Wednesday, March 31, 2021

ACM Research Reports First Quarter 2021 Results

FREMONT, California, May 6, 2021 (Globe Newswire) – ACM Research, Inc. (“ACM” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:ACMR), a leading supplier of wafer cleaning technologies for advanced semiconductor devices, today reported financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2021.

ACM’s President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Wang commented, “We are off to a great start for 2021, with incremental contribution from new products and new customers, and solid execution by our manufacturing team.  For the first quarter, we grew revenue by 80% year-over-year, achieved record shipments of $74 million, and expanded production capacity with the addition of a second building at our factory in the Chuansha area of Pudong.  We continue to execute on our mission to become a major global player in the semiconductor equipment industry.”

Dr. Wang continued, “We are optimistic about our operating plans and business outlook for 2021.  We continue to anticipate solid growth from our flagship cleaning products, with meaningful contributions from our semi-critical cleaning and electrochemical plating (ECP) products.  We have made significant progress in North America, including hiring a seasoned team of industry veterans with decades of experience with major semiconductor manufacturers.  Although timing is still uncertain for the STAR Market IPO of our subsidiary ACM Research (Shanghai), Inc., we are confident that the IPO will be completed successfully.”

For fiscal year 2021, the Company continues to expect revenue to be in the range of $205 million to $230 million. This expectation assumes, among other factors, improvement with respect to the global COVID-19 pandemic and stability in US-China trade policy. The range of ACM’s 2021 outlook reflects, among other things, variances in spending scenarios for the production ramps of key customers, the trajectory of the DRAM recovery, and the timing of acceptances for first tools under evaluation in the field.

The following figures refer to the first quarter of 2021and comparisons are with the first quarter of 2020, unless otherwise noted.

A conference call to discuss results will be held on Friday, May 7, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 p.m. China Time).  Dial-in details for the call are as follows.  Please reference conference ID 7084698.

A recording of the webcast will be available on the investor page of the ACM website at www.acmrcsh.com for one week following the call.

ACM presents non-GAAP gross margin, operating expenses, operating income, net income attributable to ACM Research, Inc., and basic and diluted earnings per share as supplemental measures to GAAP financial measures regarding ACM’s operational performance. These supplemental measures exclude the impact of stock-based compensation, which ACM does not believe is indicative of its core operating results. In addition, non-GAAP net income attributable to ACM Research, Inc. and basic and diluted EPS exclude non-cash change in fair value of financial assets and liabilities, which ACM also believes is not indicative of its core operating results. A reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is provided below under “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP to GAAP Financial Measures.”

ACM believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in assessing its operating performance. ACM uses these financial measures internally to evaluate its operating performance and for planning and forecasting of future periods. Financial analysts may focus on and publish both historical results and future projections based on the non-GAAP financial measures. ACM also believes it is in the best interests of investors for ACM to provide this non-GAAP information.

While ACM believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information to investors, there are limitations associated with the use of these non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures may not be reported by competitors, and they may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies due to differences in calculation methodologies. The non-GAAP financial measures are not an alternative to GAAP information and are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures. They should be used only as a supplement to GAAP information and should be considered only in conjunction with ACM’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Certain statements contained in the third paragraph of this press release, under the heading “Outlook” above, and in the fourth bullet under “Operating Highlights and Recent Developments” above are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the intent, belief and current expectations with respect to: the demand for ACM’s tools, including specifically in fiscal year 2021; the expansion in 2021 of ACM’s product offering, production capacity and base of major customers; the timing and ability of ACM to secure orders from new customers; and ACM’s plans for completion of the STAR Market initial public offering of shares of ACM Shanghai, which are expectations only, reflect management's current views, are based on certain assumptions, and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, events, or performance may differ materially from the above forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors, and will be dependent upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the following, any of which could be exacerbated even further by the continuing COVID-19 outbreak in China and globally; anticipated customer orders or identified market opportunities may not grow or develop as anticipated; customer orders already received may be postponed or canceled; ACM may be unable to obtain the qualification and acceptance of its delivered tools when anticipated or at all, which would delay or preclude ACM’s recognition of revenue from the sale of those tools; suppliers may not be able to meet ACM’s demands on a timely basis; ACM’s technologies and tools may not gain market acceptance; ACM may be unable to compete effectively by, among other things, enhancing its existing tools, adding additional production capacity and engaging additional major customers; volatile global economic, market, industry and other conditions could result in sharply lower demand for products containing semiconductors and for the Company's products and in disruption of capital and credit markets; trade regulations, currency fluctuations, political instability and war may materially adversely affect ACM due to its substantial non-U.S. customer and supplier base and its substantial non-U.S. manufacturing operations. The completion and timing of ACM Shanghai’s obtaining of remaining regulatory approval for the STAR Market IPO and listing of its shares are subject to numerous risks, such as the receipt of all necessary Chinese governmental approvals, that are outside ACM’s control. ACM cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.  ACM undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any change in its expectations regarding these forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

ACM develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor process equipment for single-wafer or batch wet cleaning, electroplating, stress-free polishing and thermal processes that are critical to advanced semiconductor device manufacturing, as well as wafer-level packaging. The Company is committed to delivering customized, high performance, cost-effective process solutions that semiconductor manufacturers can use in numerous manufacturing steps to improve productivity and product yield.

© ACM Research, Inc. ULTRA Furnace and the ACM Research logo are trademarks of ACM Research, Inc. For convenience, these trademarks appear in this press release without ™ symbols, but that practice does not mean that ACM will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, its rights to the trademarks.

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ACM RESEARCH, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

ACM RESEARCH, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income

ACM RESEARCH, INC.

Total Revenue by Product Category, by Equipment Type and by Region

ACM RESEARCH, INC.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

As described under “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” above, ACM presents non-GAAP gross margin, operating expenses, operating income, net income attributable to ACM Research, Inc., and basic and diluted earnings per share as supplemental measures to GAAP financial measures, each of which excludes stock-based compensation (“SBC”) from the equivalent GAAP financial line items. In addition, non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to ACM Research, Inc., and basic and diluted earnings per share exclude non-cash change in fair value of financial liabilities and unrealized gain on trading securities. The following table reconciles gross margin, operating expenses, operating income, net income attributable to ACM Research, Inc., and basic and diluted earnings per share to the related non-GAAP financial measures:

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