Atomera Stock Pops on Q2 Update

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The post Atomera Stock Pops on Q2 Update appeared first on Millennial Money.

Shares of Atomera (NASDAQ: ATOM) popped on Wednesday after the company provided investors with an update for its second quarter. Atomera continues to garner customer interest for its Mears Silicon Technology (MST) as it marches towards commercialization.

The current period’s financial results aren’t too relevant since Atomera is still pre-revenue, but investors were encouraged by the company’s progress.

As of 11:45 a.m. EDT, Atomera stock was up by 22%.

The path to commercialization

Atomera incurred $3.7 million in operating expenses in the second quarter, which was also its operating loss as the company did not generate any revenue. Net loss was $3.7 million, or $0.17 per share. The company had $34.3 million in cash on its balance sheet at the end of the quarter.

On the conference call with analysts, CEO Scott Bibaud said that the semiconductor industry “has never been more tumultuous,” pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing supply constraints, and rising geopolitical tensions. Travel restrictions have made it difficult to engage with new prospective customers.

“Overall, we are weathering the storm quite well with inbound customer interest and no major disruptions to development projects underway,” Bibaud commented. “In this environment, we’re not surprised that the number of customers and engagements in our pipeline has not changed.”

Customers already in the pipeline, however, are advancing through the different development phases. Atomera had previously announced that a “leading semiconductor provider” had entered into a joint development agreement (JDA), with that partner and other customers “making headway” towards important operational goals.

The JDA customer entered Phase 4 of the development process back in March, and there are 6 total phases before commercialization.

Customer Engagements Number of Customers
Phase 1 9
Phase 2 0
Phase 3 15
Phase 4 1
Data source: Atomera.

While the mix of customer phases is the same as it was in the first quarter, it doesn’t fully represent the progress being made. “So although this [table] is unchanged from last quarters [sic], there’s a lot of good progress hidden within the phases and our JDA is on track,” Bibaud assured.

Atomera also recently released a white paper that outlines the advantages of MST technology and how it can control dopant diffusion in layers thinner than 5 nanometers. Simply put, MST can address the issues chipmakers run into at advanced production nodes.

Lowering expense guidance

As Atomera works with its customers to get to production, the good news for investors is that costs are coming in below initial expectations.

The company does not expect to generate any revenue in the third quarter either, but CFO Frank Laurencio noted on the conference call with analysts that Atomera’s adjusted operating expenses of $6.1 million in the first half of 2021 implies a run rate lower than the company’s previous expense guidance. 

The finance chief had previously forecast $14 million to $14.5 million in adjusted operating expenses for the year, and Atomera now expects to spend just $13.25 million to $13.75 million.

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The post Atomera Stock Pops on Q2 Update appeared first on Millennial Money.

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