ACM Research, Inc. (ACMR) | The Buildout — AI Infrastructure
The Verdict
ACM Research builds the wet-process and plating tools semiconductor makers use to clean wafers, deposit copper and package chips. As AI accelerators move to larger dies with more interconnect layers, and as memory packaging stacks more DRAM die, those steps get more numerous and harder to control. The company is also pushing into panel-level packaging, a shift it says it began investing in years before the market arrived. It sells mostly into mainland China today, with a small and growing set of customers elsewhere in Asia and in the United States.
| Market Cap | — |
| Revenue (TTM) | $1.0B |
| Revenue Growth | +27.3% |
| EBITDA Margin (TTM) | 15.9% |
| Net Cash | $1.1B |
| Earnings Beats | 5 of 7 |
| P/E (TTM) | — |
| EV/EBITDA (TTM) | — |
What We Like
- H1 2026 orders rose 105% year over year across all product categories, with heavier emphasis on new products (Q2 2026 call).
- ECP/furnace/other revenue was $128.5M in Q2 2026, up 167.7% year over year and 43.9% of sales, versus 22.1% of FY2025 revenue.
- Advanced packaging ex-ECP revenue was $31.4M in Q2 2026, up 153.3% year over year.
- Customer concentration improved to one 10% customer at 12.7% of H1 2026 revenue, versus three 10% customers at 49.9% in H1 2025.
- $1.36B of cash, equivalents, restricted cash and time deposits at June 30, 2026; net cash of $1.0B, about $300M of it on the U.S. balance sheet.
What We’re Watching
- SPM: management targets more than 20 single-wafer SPM units by end of 2026 and ties the cleaning rebound to them, but revenue lags shipments by quarters.
- Component shortage: management said it is the one thing that 'might impact our whole year shipment,' with lead times extended from about four months to longer.
- Gross margin: 46.0% in Q2 2026 versus 48.7% a year earlier on product mix.
- Panel plating: the evaluation system for the new Asia customer carries no disclosed conversion date.
On the record, the thesis is strengthening. Management raised the low end of its full-year revenue guide, reported strong first-half order growth, landed panel-level plating orders from two advanced-packaging customers, and sharply reduced its largest customer exposure. Against that: the cleaning franchise is contracting, gross margin is compressing on product mix, and management flagged a component shortage as the one thing that could hit full-year shipments. Several first-quarter forward claims — Oregon's U.S.-made tool capability and the full-year cleaning mix target — were not repeated. The open question is whether the SPM ramp and panel-level plating convert on schedule in the second half.
Earnings Beat
ACM reported Q2 2026 revenue of $292.9 million, up 36% year over year, with gross margin of 46.0% versus 48.7% a year earlier. The standout disclosure came in prepared remarks: first-half 2026 orders rose 105% year over year across all product categories, with heavier emphasis on some newer products.
| Metric | Q2 FY2026 | Q1 FY2026 | Q2 FY2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $293M | $231M | $215M | +36.0% |
| Gross margin | 46.0% | 46.4% | 48.5% | -250bps |
| EBITDA | $62M | $42M | $35M | +75.7% |
| EPS | $1.24 | $0.25 | $0.44 | +180.8% |
| Shipments | $281.5M | $240.7M | n/a | +36.4% YoY |
…For the first half of 2026, orders increased 105% year-over-year. This is a mix across all product categories with a heavier emphasis on some of our new products.— David Wang, CEO, 2026-08-07
Management tone: The shift from Q1 to Q2 was from promising the product cycle to reporting progress on it. Management named the soft spots in prepared remarks — cleaning down 14.2%, gross margin down to 46.0%, and a component shortage it said might affect full-year shipments — and raised the low end of its revenue guide. It stayed guarded on customer-specific detail, competitive share, panel-plating conversion timing and the Hong Kong listing.
Management Guidance
Management raised FY2026 revenue guidance to $1.125 billion to $1.175 billion from a prior $1.08 billion to $1.175 billion, implying 25% to 30% year-over-year growth. It expects shipment growth to outpace revenue growth, capital expenditures of about $175 million, an effective tax rate of 10% to 12%, and sales and marketing in the 8% range. The long-term gross margin target range is 42% to 48%. There was no formal quarterly guide; management said third- and fourth-quarter revenue depends on order execution and component supply.
Trajectory
Revenue reached $292.9 million in Q2 2026, up 36% year over year and 26.6% sequentially, following $269 million, $244 million and $231 million in the prior three quarters. The composition is rotating fast: cleaning was 69.5% of FY2025 revenue but 45.4% of Q2 2026 sales, while ECP/furnace/other rose from 22.1% to 43.9% and advanced packaging ex-ECP grew 153.3% year over year. Gross margin compressed to 46.0% from 48.7% on product mix, while operating margin held near 19%. Free cash flow was negative $71.5 million in the quarter as capex and evaluation-tool inventory built.
The Model
The model projects FY+1 revenue of $1,185 million and EBITDA of $241 million, a 20.3% margin, and FY+2 revenue of $1,550 million and EBITDA of $327 million, a 21.1% margin. The near-term anchor is the order book plus the year-end qualification targets for SPM, PECVD and Track and the Lingang second building. FY+2 depends on the newer platforms — Track, PECVD and horizontal panel plating — moving from evaluation into commercialization.
| Metric | FY2025 | Next FY (E) | Following FY (E) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $901M | $1.2B | $1.6B |
| YoY Growth | — | +31.5% | +30.8% |
| EBITDA | $126M | $241M | $327M |
| EBITDA Margin | 13.9% | 20.3% | 21.1% |
Projections are the median of 5 independent model runs. The model’s revenue sits 7.9% above analyst consensus.
Management raised FY2026 revenue guidance to $1.125 billion to $1.175 billion from a prior $1.08 billion to $1.175 billion, implying 25% to 30% year-over-year growth. It expects shipment growth to outpace revenue growth, capital expenditures of about $175 million, an effective tax rate of 10% to 12%, and sales and marketing in the 8% range. The long-term gross margin target range is 42% to 48%. There was no formal quarterly guide; management said third- and fourth-quarter revenue depends on order execution and component supply.
What Could Go Right — and Wrong
- Panel-level horizontal plating converts from evaluation to a volume production order.
- More than 20 SPM units ship by year-end and total cleaning revenue returns to growth.
- PECVD and Track reach production qualification by year-end and convert to production orders.
- The early-October backlog release corroborates the first-half order growth.
- Gross margin holds above the midpoint of the 42%–48% target range despite the mix shift.
- SPM slips past year-end, making the cleaning decline look structural rather than a qualification-timing gap.
- The component shortage delays second-half shipments and pushes revenue into 2027.
- Gross margin drifts toward the low end of the range as the raw-materials stockpile depletes.
- Customer diversification proves a one-half anomaly and concentration rises again.
- Applied Materials or another incumbent gains panel-level packaging volume before ACM's evaluation converts.
Looking Ahead
The next twelve months turn mostly on whether promised products convert. Management has dated a cluster of milestones to year-end 2026: more than 20 SPM units, PECVD qualification, Track production qualification, the Lingang second building, and more than 20 tools installed outside Mainland China across about 10 customers in 5 countries. The nearest hard datapoint is the ACM Shanghai backlog figure as of September 30, due in early October. There is no formal quarterly guide; management says third- and fourth-quarter revenue depends on order execution and component supply.
- Early October 2026Backlog figure release — First hard check on the H1 order surge from ACM Shanghai's own disclosure.
- By year-end 2026SPM ramp — More than 20 single-wafer SPM units targeted; revenue lags shipments.
- By year-end 2026PECVD qualification — Second PECVD tool is in customer evaluation; qualification targeted.
- By year-end 2026Track qualification — High-throughput track tool targeted for production qualification.
- Later this yearLingang second building — Second Shanghai building opens; two sites support up to $3B annual output.
Financials
Annual Summary
| Metric | FY2024 | FY2025 | TTM | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $782M | $901M | $1.0B | +15.2% |
| Gross Margin | 50.2% | 44.8% | 43.9% | 538bps |
| EBITDA | $161M | $126M | $165M | -22.0% |
| EBITDA Margin | 20.6% | 13.9% | 15.9% | 665bps |
| Net Income | $104M | $94M | $150M | -9.2% |
| Free Cash Flow | $66M | −$68M | −$120M | — |
| Net Cash | — | — | — | — |
Key Ratios (Trailing)
- P/E TTM—
- EV/EBITDA TTM—
- EV/Revenue TTM—
- Price/FCF TTM—
- Gross Margin (TTM)43.9%
- EBITDA Margin (TTM)15.9%
- Net Margin (TTM)14.5%
- ROIC14.5%
- FCF Conversion-72.8%
- SBC / Revenue2.0%
The Company
ACM Research supplies wafer-processing equipment for semiconductor and advanced wafer-level packaging. Its tools handle yield-critical steps — removing particles, depositing material uniformly and controlling the process — that get harder as chips scale to smaller geometries and more complex structures. The portfolio spans single-wafer cleaning (SAPS, TEBO, Tahoe, semi-critical), electrochemical plating (Ultra ECP ap and Ultra ECP map), furnace, PECVD, track, and a set of advanced-packaging tools including coaters, developers, strippers, scrubbers and wet etchers. It shipped its 2,000th electroplating chamber in Q2 2026.
ACM is the U.S.-listed parent of ACM Shanghai, the operating subsidiary it owns a majority of; ownership fell from 74.6% to 73.6% after a February 2026 minority share sale. Manufacturing and R&D sit mostly in Shanghai — the Lingang R&D and Production Center, four owned buildings at ZhangJiang Science City, and more than 200,000 square feet of leased space in Chuansha — plus a leased U.S. sales office and a 39,500-square-foot Oregon facility acquired on 2024-10-01 for $7.75 million, including a 5,200-square-foot clean room. The company also has a manufacturing capability in Korea. Substantially all revenue still comes from customers in mainland China.
Business Segments
Competitive Landscape
ACM competes against established broad-line equipment makers. Its FY2025 10-K names Lam Research, NAURA Technology Group, SCREEN Holdings, SEMES and Tokyo Electron as competitors, and adds Applied Materials and Suzhou Jingtuo as principal competitors for its PECVD and Track products. The pressure sits in the categories driving ACM's growth — plating-adjacent advanced packaging and track/coater-developer tools. Management acknowledged that the PECVD market is competitive, and said it believes the company will be among the first to deliver horizontal panel-level plating to multiple customers across multiple regions.
- Named in the 10-K as a competitor. The ecosystem read-through describes Lam guiding advanced-packaging revenue growth above 50% in calendar 2026.
- Named in the 10-K as a principal competitor for PECVD and Track. The ecosystem read-through describes packaging revenue growth above 70% in calendar 2026 and new plating and advanced-packaging products.
- Tokyo Electron Ltd.Named in the 10-K as a competitor; not discussed.
- SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.Named in the 10-K as a competitor; not discussed.
- NAURA Technology Group Co., Ltd.Named in the 10-K as a competitor; described in the source material as a domestic Chinese broad-line equipment supplier. Not discussed on the calls.
Supply Chain
ACM buys components and subassemblies, then builds wet-process and plating tools, mostly in Shanghai. It sells mainly to customers in mainland China, with a small and growing set elsewhere.
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