ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) gapped up prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $53.10, but opened at $56.35. ACM Research shares last traded at $56.56, with a volume of 106,915 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ACMR. Weiss Ratings upgraded ACM Research from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of ACM Research in a report on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of ACM Research in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group began coverage on ACM Research in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $136.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded ACM Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ACM Research currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.75.

ACM Research Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.53 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 3.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.84.

ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $292.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.28 million. ACM Research had a return on equity of 4.08% and a net margin of 14.48%. The company’s revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that ACM Research, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ACM Research news, insider David H. Wang sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.59, for a total value of $5,221,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 802,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,873,989.72. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Haiping Dun sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.13, for a total value of $405,650.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,650. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 24.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACM Research

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACMR. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of ACM Research by 16,878.8% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,860,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,849,914 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of ACM Research by 207.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 719,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,286,000 after purchasing an additional 485,282 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of ACM Research by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 402,412 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,835,000 after purchasing an additional 100,700 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of ACM Research by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 373,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,716,000 after purchasing an additional 158,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in ACM Research in the 2nd quarter worth $41,402,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.75% of the company’s stock.

About ACM Research

ACM Research, Inc (NASDAQ: ACMR) develops and manufactures equipment used in semiconductor wafer processing. Its systems are designed to support the fabrication of integrated circuits and other electronic components, with a primary focus on cleaning and other process steps performed during semiconductor manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes single-wafer cleaning systems, wet-cleaning equipment, electrochemical plating systems, and other wafer-processing tools. These products are used by semiconductor manufacturers and foundries in applications involving advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices.