As of September 29, 2026, Acm Research (Shanghai), Inc. (SSE: 688082) had an order backlog of RMB 17.073 billion, up 88.20% year on year.
In the same period, revenue for the first three quarters of 2026 rose 11.57% year on year, gross profit grew 3.22%, and net cash flow from operating activities was negative RMB 270 million.
These figures do not by themselves indicate that order quality has deteriorated. Semiconductor equipment involves a long operating cycle from order signing through production, delivery, installation, commissioning and customer acceptance. The backlog disclosed by the company includes both equipment not yet delivered and equipment delivered but not yet recognized as revenue.
At this stage, order growth at least shows that the company has secured more potential revenue opportunities, but whether orders can be converted into financial returns still depends on acceptance progress, product mix, capital occupation and customer settlement arrangements.
Order backlog keeps expanding while revenue growth still needs to catch up
In September 2024, the company's signed contract backlog was RMB 6.765 billion; in September 2025 it reached RMB 9.072 billion; and by September 2026 it had further risen to RMB 17.073 billion. The order increment has clearly widened, meaning the company's order reserve is in a phase of accelerating expansion.
However, orders are a point-in-time stock while revenue is a period flow, so the two cannot be directly compared by growth rate to conclude that order conversion has slowed. The order balance is also affected by new orders, revenue recognition and contract changes.
The company has not disclosed the full delivery timetable of its orders, nor provided all the data needed to build a rolling order model.
New order demand in 2026 has not yet shown up in the same period's financial statements as an equivalent increase in revenue and gross profit, but it is not yet possible to quantify how much reflects a normal delivery cycle and how much reflects delayed project execution. If orders are mainly delivered over the next few quarters, 2027 revenue could receive support; if new products require a longer customer validation period, the related revenue release may be more spread out.
Profitability enters a phase of structural optimization
In the first three quarters of 2026, the company's operating costs rose 19.77%, faster than the 11.57% increase in revenue, pushing the gross margin down 3.71 percentage points. This shows that the process of converting order growth into profit involves not only a time lag but also a mismatch between revenue and cost growth.
The company is expanding from cleaning equipment into plating, furnace, thin-film deposition and advanced packaging equipment. A multi-product platform may create new market opportunities, but different equipment differs in maturity, cost structure and customer validation progress. A higher revenue share from new products, changes in per-unit equipment configuration and shifts in customer procurement structure can all affect the overall gross margin.
The change in third-quarter net profit also needs further distinction. In the third quarter of 2026, net profit attributable to shareholders fell 85.70% year on year, but net profit excluding non-recurring items fell 29.91%. The company disclosed that a major reason for the large fluctuation in net profit was a significant decrease in fair value changes from external investments compared with the same period last year.
Therefore, it is not accurate to attribute the entire decline in net profit to deterioration in the equipment business. Changes in non-GAAP net profit and gross margin are better suited to judging the core operating condition.
Order expansion drives production stocking while working capital allocation keeps adjusting
More orders increase the need for production, material procurement and delivery preparation, but the company may not receive full payment before equipment delivery. For semiconductor equipment that requires customer acceptance, this time gap is especially important.
As of the end of September 2026, both inventory and accounts receivable had increased from a year earlier. The rise in inventory may correspond to raw material stocking, work in progress and equipment already delivered but not yet meeting revenue recognition conditions. The notes to the 2025 annual report show that the company's inventory categories include goods shipped, which provides an accounting basis for understanding the time gap between equipment delivery and revenue recognition.
Another noteworthy change is impairment. In the first three quarters of 2026, the company recognized a total of RMB 183 million in asset impairment losses and credit impairment losses, including RMB 121 million in inventory write-downs.
This shows that alongside increased stocking, some inventory has already reached the point where impairment must be recognized under accounting standards. Impairment does not necessarily mean the related orders cannot be executed, but it indicates that order growth does not automatically eliminate risks such as technological iteration, material substitution, cost changes and declines in the net realizable value of products.
Room for cash flow improvement is worth watching
In the first three quarters of 2026, cash received from the sale of goods and the provision of services was RMB 5.101 billion, up 26.86% year on year; cash paid for goods purchased and services received reached RMB 4.265 billion, up 43.70% year on year. Purchasing payments growing faster than sales collections is one important explanation for pressure on operating cash flow.
The company also clearly stated in its third-quarter report that order growth brought corresponding production demand, and the scale of raw material procurement and stocking increased at the same time, leading to higher cash payments for procurement.
Over a longer period, the company's operating cash flow has not always moved in step with profit. Net operating cash flow was negative RMB 427 million in 2023, turned positive at RMB 1.216 billion in 2024, and fell to RMB 239 million in 2025. Revenue continued to grow over the same period, indicating that cash flow changes have clear operating cycle and working capital characteristics.
At present, the company may be in a phase of relatively high stocking and delivery preparation. Operating cash flow pressure in this phase can coexist with future revenue growth. But only when subsequent equipment acceptance, customer payments and inventory turnover improve can it be proven that current capital investment corresponds to good order returns.
Therefore, when evaluating performance delivery in 2027, investors should not only check whether operating revenue grows, but also pay attention to the cash recovery efficiency corresponding to new revenue. If revenue rises but inventory and accounts receivable continue to accumulate rapidly, the improvement in operating quality still needs further verification.
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