For our GAAP results and reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP amounts, you should refer to our earnings release, which is posted on the IR section of our website and on slide 13. Hello, everyone, and welcome to ACM's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. We started the year with a solid Q1 report, with revenue up 34% and gross margin above the middle point of our long-term targets range. Revenue growth for the quarter was driven by the continual strength in our ECP and advanced packaging business.
With regard to revenue, we anticipate incremental contribution from new product cycle from Tahoe, single wafer SPM, and our vertical furnace product. The ECP category was a primary growing driver, with revenue up more than three times year-over-year. We had a little contribution from new cleaning product in our Q1 2026 revenue. The solid growth reflect strong customer demand and execution across our product portfolio.
For reference, shipments of the cleaning category grew by 32% for the quarter. For 2026, we continue to expect the shipment growing to outpace revenue growth. Gross margin was 46.5% for the first quarter, above the middle point of our long-term range, 42%-48%. The capital providing a solid foundation for continued investment in our global operations.
| Metric | Period | Current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 gross margin | FY2026 | 42%-48% target range reaffirmed (Q1 at 46.5%, above midpoint); mix can cause quarterly fluctuation |
| 2026 operating expenses | FY2026 | R&D 16%-18% of sales; S&M 8%-9%; G&A 5%-6% |
| 2026 effective tax rate | FY2026 | 8%-10% |
| 2026 capital expenditures | FY2026 | Raised to about $175 million |
| 2026 cleaning revenue mix | FY2026 | Expected to normalize toward the ~65% level (similar to 2025) as SPM revenue ramps later in the year |
| 2026 shipments | FY2026 | Shipment growth expected to continue outpacing revenue growth |
| Single-wafer SPM units | FY2026 | More than 15-20 units expected to be delivered by year-end across the customer base |
| Long-term revenue target | Long term | Reaffirmed $4 billion; goal of becoming a top-tier global semiconductor capital-equipment supplier |
| Metric | YoY | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | +34.2% to $231.3M | Driven by ECP and advanced packaging strength, partly offset by a 6% decline in cleaning. |
| Gross margin | -170 bps to 46.5% | Above the midpoint of the 42%-48% target and a strong recovery from the low-40s in Q3/Q4 2025 on favorable mix and lower inventory provisions. |
| Operating income | +17% to $41.8M | Higher revenue outpaced a 38.5% rise in opex; operating margin 18.1% versus 20.7%. |
| Net income attributable to ACM Research | -22% to $24.3M | Diluted EPS $0.34 versus $0.46; higher tax expense and opex; SBC expected to rise in Q2 on ACM Shanghai option grants. |
| Shipments | +53.6% to $240.7M | Solid demand and execution plus the initial SPM ramp; ~15% was catch-up from tools rescheduled from Q4; cleaning shipments up 32%. |
| Cleaning (single-wafer, Tahoe, semi-critical) | -5.5% to $122.5M | ~53% of sales; little new-product contribution yet as SPM ships ahead of revenue; expected to normalize toward ~65% mix for the year. |
| ECP, front-end packaging, furnace and other | +204.9% to $84.2M | 36.4% of sales; majority ECP front-end, very little furnace; strong plating momentum from HBM and advanced packaging. |
| Advanced packaging (ex-ECP) | +62% to $24.5M | 10.6% of sales; broader wafer-level and panel-level packaging tools (coaters, developers, etchers, strippers, scrubbers, vacuum flux cleaning). |
| Net cash | - | $924.2M versus $844.5M at year-end 2025, including ~$110M gross from the February ACM Shanghai share sale. |
| Topic | Previous mention | Current period | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-wafer SPM ramp | Technical progress | ACM began delivering SPM tools and expects 15-20+ units by year-end; its maintenance-free nozzle design achieves fewer than 15 particles at 15 nm - better than the market leader - critical for advanced GAA logic and HBM memory, in a segment that is ~30% of the cleaning market. | — |
| Panel-level horizontal plating | First 515x510 tool shipped in Q4 2025 | Development began in 2022; ACM is building backlog for both 515x510 and 310x310 panels, keynoted the Taiwan Electronic Equipment Forum, and expects successful evaluations to convert to volume orders as plating is the panel-packaging bottleneck and ACM is the only horizontal-plating supplier. | — |
| New product platforms (PECVD, Track, furnace) | In development | Shipped a first PECVD silicon-carbonitride system in April (three-station rotating, one-station/one-RF architecture) now in customer evaluation; the 300 WPH KrF Track tool is progressing toward mass-production qualification; vertical furnace tools are under evaluation at multiple customers with more meaningful revenue expected later in 2026. | — |
| ECP and advanced-packaging strength | - | ECP revenue more than tripled year over year on front-end and HBM/2.5D-3D advanced-packaging demand, the primary driver of Q1 growth. | — |
| ACM Planetary Family portfolio | - | Unveiled at SEMICON China, organizing ACM's tools into eight product families aligned to key semiconductor process steps, showcasing its multi-product, world-class positioning and global reach. | — |
| Global reach and capacity | Lingang and Oregon build-out | Lingang's first building is in volume production (second to open later in 2026, toward ~$3 billion capacity) and its Class-100 mini-line is in full operation accelerating internal and joint-customer R&D; ACM shipped a panel-level vacuum-cleaning system and wafer-level packaging tools to global customers outside mainland China. | — |