Atomera Inc (ATOM) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Financial Challenges Amid ...

GuruFocus.com
30 Oct 2024
  • GAAP Net Loss: $4.6 million or $0.17 per share for Q3 2024.
  • Revenue: $22,000 in Q3 2024.
  • GAAP Operating Expenses: $4.8 million in Q3 2024.
  • Non-GAAP Net Loss: $3.9 million in Q3 2024.
  • Cash Equivalents and Short-term Investments: $17.3 million as of September 30, 2024.
  • Cash Used in Operating Activities: $2.9 million in Q3 2024.
  • Shares Outstanding: 28.3 million as of September 30, 2024.
  • Stock Compensation Expenses: Approximately $900,000 in Q3 2024.
  • Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Signs with ATOM.

Release Date: October 29, 2024

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

  • Atomera Inc (NASDAQ:ATOM) is experiencing significant progress in its development efforts, customer activity, partnerships, and technology advancement.
  • The company is actively working with STMicroelectronics on next-generation smart power products, with promising development and manufacturability progress.
  • Atomera Inc (NASDAQ:ATOM) has finalized a 48-volt version of its SPX technology, showing dramatic performance improvements for data centers.
  • The company is engaged with multiple customers in advanced node and memory segments, which are critical areas for semiconductor industry growth.
  • Atomera Inc (NASDAQ:ATOM) has entered into an agreement with Sandia National Labs to advance its GaN on silicon technology, potentially accelerating time to market.

Negative Points

  • Atomera Inc (NASDAQ:ATOM) reported a GAAP net loss of $4.6 million for Q3 2024, with revenues of only $22,000, indicating financial challenges.
  • The timeline for revenue generation from STMicroelectronics is uncertain and entirely under ST's control, creating potential delays.
  • The company faces slower progress in legacy technology segments, which take longer to transition to production.
  • Atomera Inc (NASDAQ:ATOM) has a lower cash balance compared to the previous quarter, raising concerns about funding and cash needs.
  • The company has not yet secured Chips Act funding, and the timeline for decisions on their proposals remains unclear.

Q & A Highlights

Q: Can you provide more details on the transformative situation you mentioned in your remarks? A: Scott Bibaud, President and CEO, explained that the transformative situation involves a large customer with significant revenue potential. If Atomera can enter production with this customer, it could provide a compelling financial position due to high gross margin revenue. The company has been working with this customer for some time, and they are now in active negotiations, although specific details about the segment or timing cannot be disclosed.

Q: How is Atomera progressing with other customers in the funnel, especially those close to qualification? A: Scott Bibaud noted that Atomera has customers in various phases of their funnel, with some in phase four having technology installed in their fabs and making progress. Phase three customers are conducting active experiments, and Atomera is hopeful they will achieve the performance needed to move into production. Advanced node customers, like those working on gate-all-around and memory, are expected to move faster due to their large engineering teams and push to production.

Q: What is the status of the RF-SOI technology and its potential delays? A: Scott Bibaud mentioned that the industry has identified thinner wafers as the next level of performance for RF-SOI. Atomera has an agreement with Soitec to produce engineering wafers for testing, and they are working with customers in this area. Progress is ongoing, but no announcements are ready yet.

Q: Is Atomera working with both foundries and fabless players on advanced nodes? A: Scott Bibaud clarified that Atomera is primarily working with manufacturers of gate-all-around technology. The complexity of gate-all-around means that fabless companies have less influence than they used to, so Atomera targets those with the factories to run these chips.

Q: Can you provide comments on the gate-all-around silicon results presented at Prime 2024? A: Scott Bibaud explained that the presentation focused on using MST to prevent phosphorus diffusion in gate-all-around transistors, which can improve performance and yield. By blocking phosphorus from entering the channel, MST can help prevent short circuits and enhance device performance, leading to higher yields in manufacturing.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

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