What happened
The stock of semiconductor materials maker Atomera (ATOM -4.21%) was quite the outperformer on Thursday, closing the day almost 22% higher. This followed news of a somewhat vague yet very promising business announcement made by the company after market hours on Wednesday.
So what
In a fairly terse press release, Atomera said that it has signed a joint development agreement with "a major semiconductor foundry" that it did not identify.
Image source: Getty Images.
This is the second such deal inked by the company. In February, Atomera trumpeted an arrangement with an entity again described only as "a semiconductor foundry." That partnership concerns the licensing of the company's Mears Silicon Technology (MST) to that business. Together, the two will collaborate to integrate MST into the foundry's semiconductor production.
MST is described by Atomera as a "quantum-engineered material that enhances transistors to deliver significantly better performance in semiconductor devices while shrinking die sizes and reducing costs." This is particularly appealing in a world where devices are getting ever smaller, and the need for quicker and more powerful computing is on a seemingly permanent rise.
Now what
As with the February announcement, Atomera did not provide any financial details about the arrangement. Regardless, securing its second collaboration deal in a matter of a few months is a notable achievement that pushes its business forward.
Potential investors should be cautioned, however, that Atomera remains at a very early stage of development. The specialty chip company has only rarely posted any revenue at all, and none in its past three reported quarters.
