ACM Nearly Doubles Its Order Book, and Its Own Release Says It May Not Be Revenue
ACM Shanghai's RMB 17.1 billion order book, up 88% in a year, is more than twice the parent's guided revenue for all of 2026, and the release announcing it says the figure is not an accounting measure and may not generate the revenue it estimates. The founder sold $10.6 million of stock three weeks earlier, on a pre-scheduled trading plan.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
One number, two exchanges
On September 29, 2026, ACM Research (Shanghai) posted a backlog of RMB 17.1 billion (about $2.5 billion) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, up 88.2% from the year-before figure; its Nasdaq-listed parent re-released the number the next morning 1. Trade press read it as China's chip-tool localization accelerating 2, and a synthesized market note said the jump "directly translates into improved revenue visibility" 3. Neither quoted the caveat three paragraphs into the release 23.
The release argues with itself
The pushback is in the same document. Backlog "is not a financial measure that is defined or recognized" by Chinese or US accounting rules, the release says. It mixes tools already shipped but not yet booked as revenue with orders "expected to be shipped at a future date," and orders in it "may not actually generate the amounts of revenue estimated" 1.
It is also big. The $2.5 billion book is more than twice the $1.125–1.175 billion of revenue ACM guided to for all of 2026, a range it raised on August 7 5.
ACM's last eight quarters of revenue total $1.85B, still short of the $2.5B backlog
Data
| Revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '24 | $203.98M |
| Q4 '24 | $223.47M |
| Q1 '25 | $172.35M |
| Q2 '25 | $215.37M |
| Q3 '25 | $269.16M |
| Q4 '25 | $244.43M |
| Q1 '26 | $231.26M |
| Q2 '26 | $292.92M |
The founder sold first
Founder and chief executive David Wang sold before the number landed. A Form 4 filed on September 10 shows him exercising options and selling 140,000 Class A shares across September 8 and 9 at $73.26 to $78.64, about $10.6 million in total 7. The filing states the sales ran under a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted on June 5, 2026, on options expiring December 27; the schedule predates the backlog post, and the record carries no motive 7.
Director Haiping Dun halved his stake on August 18, selling 5,000 shares at $81.13 for $405,650 8. Both sales closed before the backlog number reached either exchange.
Two prices for one order book
The listings already disagree. ACM Shanghai's STAR shares closed at 294.28 yuan on September 30, up 67.16% for the year yet down 3.02% on the day the parent re-released the backlog 4. The parent's Nasdaq stock opened October 7 at $75.35, about 41% below its 52-week high of $127.19 8. One bet against the parent's discount: Congress Asset Management added 53,295 shares in the third quarter, a 23.8% increase 8.
The bulls have receipts too
The optimists are not trading air. Second-quarter revenue was a record $292.9 million, up 36%, shipments rose 36% to $281.5 million, net cash stood at $1.0 billion, and the subsidiary's first-half net profit rose 42% 54. One footnote of their own: $69.6 million of the quarter's GAAP net income was an unrealized gain on the subsidiary's short-term investments 5.
October 28 is the tell
Both camps get a date. On October 28, ACM Shanghai reports nine-month results after the China close, and ACM posts preliminary nine-month figures before the US open 1. That day shows how much of the RMB 17.1 billion is becoming revenue. Until then, the order book is a headline waiting for an invoice.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
