Palantir Has a $20 Billion Valuation and a Bigger Problem: It Keeps Losing Money
Rob Copeland and Eliot Brown, 12 November 2018
According to the complaint, throughout the Class Period, Defendants misrepresented and concealed that (1) ACM Research’s revenues and profits were diverted to undisclosed related parties, and (2) consequently, the company materially overstated its revenues and profits. Investors allegedly began to learn the truth on Oct. 8, 2020, when J Capital Research published a report entitled “Dirty business,” bringing ACM Research’s reported financials into serious question.
More specifically, J Capital concludes ACM Research is a fraud, over-reporting both revenue and profit. According to the report, “ACMR reports industry-beating gross margins of 47%” but “[w]e believe the real gross margins are half at the best.” J Capital also concludes revenues are overstated by 15-20%, undisclosed related parties are diverting revenue and profit from the company, the key means by which ACMR tunnels over-reported profit out of the company may be through about $20 million in overstated inventory and through cash that is inflated or compromised, and warranty and service costs are understated by at least $11 million.
