ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,310,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the November 30th total of 3,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

ACM Research Price Performance

ACM Research stock opened at $15.10 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $869.85 million, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 1.48. ACM Research has a one year low of $13.87 and a one year high of $34.40.

ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.35. ACM Research had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $204.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.18 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ACM Research will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Haiping Dun sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.12, for a total transaction of $286,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 774,148 shares in the company, valued at $14,801,709.76. The trade was a 1.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Xiao Xing sold 700,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.41, for a total value of $14,987,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,703,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,890,627.46. This trade represents a 20.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,209,412 shares of company stock valued at $26,246,032. 31.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACM Research

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ACM Research by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,180,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $23,973,000 after buying an additional 26,620 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in ACM Research by 283.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 924,104 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $21,310,000 after purchasing an additional 683,361 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ACM Research by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 921,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $18,705,000 after purchasing an additional 65,616 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in ACM Research by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 405,858 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,239,000 after purchasing an additional 13,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in ACM Research by 8.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 340,207 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,906,000 after purchasing an additional 27,178 shares in the last quarter. 66.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ACMR. Needham & Company LLC lowered ACM Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Craig Hallum cut shares of ACM Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ACM Research presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.00.

About ACM Research

ACM Research, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells single-wafer wet cleaning equipment for enhancing the manufacturing process and yield for integrated chips worldwide. It offers space alternated phase shift technology for flat and patterned wafer surfaces, which employs alternating phases of megasonic waves to deliver megasonic energy in a uniform manner on a microscopic level; timely energized bubble oscillation technology for patterned wafer surfaces at advanced process nodes, which provides cleaning for 2D and 3D patterned wafers; Tahoe technology for delivering cleaning performance using less sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide; and electro-chemical plating technology for advanced metal plating.