ACM Research Inc (NASDAQ:ACMR), a leading supplier of wafer processing solutions for semiconductor and advanced wafer-level packaging applications, stock rose 13.38% (As on July 4, 2:17:40 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company  was lifted to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, with its price target lifted to $23.40 from $9 per share in a note to clients. The brokerage firm’s analysts said the rating change was based on less strict DUV rules lifting China’s fab CapEx. The Dutch government announced the SPE export rules recently, allowing the export of ASML’s oldest Arf immersion machine, NXT1980Di. Since it’s expected that the machine can produce 16/14nm and even 7/5nm, the analyst believes China will buy as much equipment as possible during this golden window. The firm also raised its 2023E~26E revenue forecast for ACMR by 23% and is now 8% above consensus.

Meanwhile, the company is moving forward with the global expansion efforts. The company had purchased land in South Korea, to serve as a site for a new R&D and production facility, in an effort to further leverage local expertise in the close proximity to large potential customers. The evaluation of two cleaning tools at the U.S. facility of a major U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer is going well, and the company recently leased a facility in Oregon to add to the services and demonstration capabilities in the region. The company are excited to begin initial production at the new facility in Lingang, Shanghai in the second half of 2023. On the other hand, total shipments in the first quarter of 2023 were $89.0 million, up 33.0% from the first quarter of 2022. Total shipments include deliveries for revenue in the quarter and deliveries of first tool systems awaiting customer acceptance for potential revenue in future quarters. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ACM Research, Inc., was $9.9 million as compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $0.6 million. Revenue was $74.3 million, up 76.0%.

The Company has maintained its revenue guidance range of $515 million to $585 million for fiscal year 2023. This expectation is based on ACM management’s current assessment of the continuing impact from current U.S.-China trade policy together with various expected spending scenarios of key customers, supply chain constraints, and the timing of acceptances for first tools under evaluation in the field, among other factors.