Atomera (NASDAQ:ATOM) and ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) Critical Contrast

ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) and Atomera (NASDAQ:ATOM) are both technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

66.7% of ACM Research shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of Atomera shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.4% of ACM Research shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Atomera shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for ACM Research and Atomera, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACM Research	0	2	4	0	2.67
Atomera	1	0	0	0	1.00

ACM Research currently has a consensus target price of $122.75, suggesting a potential upside of 169.96%. Given ACM Research’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe ACM Research is more favorable than Atomera.

Profitability

This table compares ACM Research and Atomera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACM Research	14.48%	4.08%	2.80%
Atomera	-9,742.17%	-71.37%	-65.30%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ACM Research and Atomera”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACM Research	$1.04 billion	2.83	$94.08 million	$2.10	21.65
Atomera	$60,000.00	2,178.62	-$20.17 million	($0.65)	-5.15

ACM Research has higher revenue and earnings than Atomera. Atomera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ACM Research, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

ACM Research has a beta of 2.09, meaning that its share price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atomera has a beta of 2.03, meaning that its share price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ACM Research beats Atomera on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company markets and sells its products under the SAPS, TEBO, ULTRA C, ULTRA Fn, Ultra ECP, Ultra ECP map, and Ultra ECP ap trademarks through direct sales force and third-party representatives. ACM Research, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

About Atomera

Atomera Incorporated engages in the developing, commercializing, and licensing proprietary processes and technologies for the semiconductor industry in North America and the Asia Pacific. The company's lead technology is the Mears Silicon Technology, a thin film of reengineered silicon that can be applied as a transistor channel enhancement to CMOS-type transistors. Its customers include foundries, integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, and electronic design automation companies. The company was formerly known as Mears Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Atomera Incorporated in January 2016. Atomera Incorporated was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California.