studies in applied finance probabilistic valuation of ...probabilistic valuation of nanotronics...

27
PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise Studies in Applied Finance SAF/No.26/April 2019

Upload: others

Post on 29-Jun-2020

2 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS

Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke

Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business

Enterprise

Studies in Applied Finance

SAF/No.26/April 2019

Page 2: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

Probabilistic Valuation of Nanotronics

by Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke

Copyright 2019 by the author.

About the Series

The Studies in Applied Finance series is under the general direction of Prof. Steve H. Hanke, Co‐Director of The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health and the Study of Business Enterprise ([email protected])

Steve H. Hanke is a Professor of Applied Economics and Co-Director of the Institute for Applied

Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at The Johns Hopkins University

in Baltimore. He is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Troubled Currencies Project at the Cato

Institute in Washington, D.C., a Senior Advisor at the Renmin University of China’s International

Monetary Research Institute in Beijing, a Special Counselor to the Center for Financial Stability

in New York, a contributing editor at Central Banking in London, and a contributor at Forbes.

Prof.

Carlos Gomez is a 2017 Ph.D. graduate in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. His doctoral work focused on crystallographic analysis of virulent factors and identification of hypervirulent pathways responsible for yeast pathogenesis. Research for this working-memo was undertaken while working as an Equity Research analyst for the Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise. Subsequent to graduation he went on to work as a postdoctoral fellow with Arix Bioscience - a life science focused Venture Capital company in NYC.

Hesam Motlagh is a Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise, a Visiting Scholar in the Johns Hopkins Department of History, and an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. As a Pear Venture Capital Fellow in Silicon Valley, he is an entrepreneur focusing on applying artificial intelligence to pharmaceutical and biotechnological drug development. At the Institute, he was a lecturer in Professor Steve Hanke’s Applied Economics and Finance course for two years culminating in a book entitled, “Security Analysis: A Probabilistic Approach.” Previously, he was a quantitative research analyst at Croft-Leominster Investment Management in Baltimore, where he focused on equity valuation and portfolio theory. He has authored or co-authored numerous research articles and book chapters, including a review that was highlighted on the cover of Nature magazine. His current research interests at the Institute include portfolio optimization, machine learning algorithms as they apply to asset pricing, and value investing. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Johns Hopkins University, and two B.S. degrees: one in Biochemistry and a second Mathematics & Statistics both from Miami University, Ohio.

About the Authors 

Page 3: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

Hanke is also a member of the Charter Council of the Society of Economic Measurement and of

Euromoney Country Risk’s Experts Panel.

In the past, Prof. Hanke taught economics at the Colorado School of Mines and at the University

of California, Berkeley. He served as a Member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers

in Maryland in 1976-77, as a Senior Economist on President Reagan’s Council of Economic

Advisers in 1981-82, and as a Senior Advisor to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S.

Congress in 1984-88. Prof. Hanke served as a State Counselor to both the Republic of Lithuania

in 1994-96 and the Republic of Montenegro in 1999-2003. He was also an Advisor to the

Presidents of Bulgaria in 1997-2002, Venezuela in 1995-96, and Indonesia in 1998. He played an

important role in establishing new currency regimes in Argentina, Estonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia-

Herzegovina, Ecuador, Lithuania, and Montenegro. Prof. Hanke has also held senior

appointments in the governments of many other countries, including Albania, Kazakhstan, the

United Arab Emirates, and Yugoslavia.

Prof. Hanke has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by the Bulgarian Academy of

Sciences, the Universität Liechtenstein, the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, the Free

University of Tbilisi, Istanbul Kültür University, and Varna Free University in recognition of his

scholarship on exchange-rate regimes. He is a Distinguished Associate of the International

Atlantic Economic Society, a Distinguished Professor at the Universitas Pelita Harapan in Jakarta,

Indonesia, a Professor Asociado (the highest honor awarded to international experts of

acknowledged competence) at the Universidad del Azuay in Cuenca, Ecuador, a Profesor

Visitante at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (the UPC’s highest academic honor),

and the Gottfried von Haberler Professor at the European Center of Austrian Economics

Foundation in Liechtenstein. In 1998, he was named one of the twenty-five most influential

people in the world by World Trade Magazine.

Prof. Hanke is a well-known currency and commodity trader. Currently, he is a member of the

Supervisory Board of Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. in Amsterdam, Chairman Emeritus of

the Friedberg Mercantile Group, Inc. in Toronto, and is a member of the Board of Directors of

Airtm in Mexico City. During the 1990s, he served as President of Toronto Trust Argentina in

Buenos Aires, the world’s best-performing emerging market mutual fund in 1995.

Prof. Hanke’s most recent books are Zimbabwe: Hyperinflation to Growth (2008), A

Blueprint for a Safe, Sound Georgian Lari (2010), Juntas Monetarias para Paises en

Desarollo (2015), Currency Boards for Developing Countries: A Handbook (2015), and

Prof. Hanke and his wife, Liliane, reside in Baltimore and Paris.

Page 4: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|1

Executive Summary

Nanotronics is a private company providing solutions to silicon wafermanufacturers via the most common inspection tool: the optical microscope. Visualinspection fordefectsofadvancedwafer features requiresscanningelectronmicroscopes(SEM), transmission electron microscopes (TEM), or other analytical tools. 2 As thesemiconductor industry shifts towardmore complex 3D-chip designs and newmaterials,manufacturers place significant value on inspection systems. Nanotronics provides thesolutionintheformofasinglesystemwithanunprecedentedresolutionscaleandsoftwareoptions to suit a customer’s desired application. Given the superior product and servicebaseof the company,weexpect significantgrowth supportedby tailwinds fromAsiaandthestrongdemandinadvancedmemorychips(DRAM,3DNAND).

To determine how these market fundamentals translate to valuation, we built aProbabilistic Discounted Free Cash Flow (PDCF) model for Nanotronics.3By buildingdifferentgrowthprojections(Bear,Base,andBull),wederivedthatNanotronics’valuationis stronglydeterminedby its ability to create and capturemarket share. Giventheuncertaintyinfutureforecasts,themostrecentpublicpost-moneyvaluation($350million)falls in the~40th percentile of our bull casedistribution and is completely justified. Therelationshipbetweengrowthandvaluationhelpsus interpret the importanceof thetotaladdressablemarket(“top-downanalysis”),whichisestimatedtobeupwardsof$10billion.4Thus,Nanotronicsrepresentsamulti-billiondollarvaluationopportunity ifitmanagestocapture>10%marketshare,ascomparedtoour“bottom-upanalysis”throughourPDCFwhichsuggests~2.5%marketshare.

2Toolsincluding,butnotlimitedto:EnergyDispersiveAnalysisofX-rays(EDAX),X-rayphotoelectronspectroscopyforchemicalanalysis(ESCA),AugerRutherfordBackscattering(RBS)andothers.3ThisproprietarymodelhasbeenusedforovertwodecadesatTheJohnsHopkinsUniversitytoevaluatecompanies.PreviouslypublishedarticlesutilizingthisapproachcanbefoundatTheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterpriseintheStudiesinAppliedFinanceWorkingPaperSeries.4Marketsizeisbasedondataanalysisof10-Kfilings(whereavailable)ofthetop15-20publiclytradedcompanieswith$100millionmarketcapminimums.

Page 5: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|2

Table of Contents ExecutiveSummary 1CompanySnapshotandAnalysisOverview 3MarketAnalysis:CatalystsandRisks 3Semiconductors 4Medicine/Biopharmaceuticals 8AdvancedMaterials 9ConcludingThoughtsonEnd-Markets 10

BusinessProducts 10nSpec 11nSpec3D 11nPLACE 11

Competitors 11CompanyValuation 14BalancesheetandIncomestatement 14ValueDrivers 16MonteCarloSimulationAnalysis 16

Conclusions 19SupplementalBloomberginformation 20Citations 23Appendix 24

Page 6: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|3

Company Snapshot and Analysis Overview

• Todate,Nanotronicshasraiseda totalof$71million incapitalandhassteadilygeneratedrevenueoverthepastfouryears.5

• ThecompanyestablishedworkingfactoriesinCalifornia,Ohio,andNewYorkandisdeveloping new facilities in Singapore to address the tremendous growthopportunitiesinAsiantechnologymarkets.

• Over twelve patents have been awarded to the company, ranging from artificialintelligence’s(AI)uniqueresolutionalgorithmstoautomatedmicroscopeprocesses.

• Thepost-moneyvaluationforNanotronicssitsat$350million,6whichwithourPDCF in conjunction with market share analysis, suggests that Nanotronics isexpectedtogain~3.5%marketshare.

Nanotronics is pioneering the development of cutting-edge, innovative products

dedicatedtoautomatedopticalinspection.Thefutureofmanufacturingprocessesisbeingadvanced with a combination of optical microscopy, artificial intelligence, andcomputationalsuper-resolution.Thecompany'smicroscopesarebeingintegratedintothemanufacturing of most advanced technologies such as semiconductors, microchips, harddrives, LEDs, and in varied industries such as automotive, advancedmaterials, consumerelectronics, aerospace,medicine/biopharmaceuticals, and numerous othermanufacturingsectors.Whilethecompanyisadisruptorformultipleindustrysectorsouranalysisfocusesprimarily on the current applications of products for the semiconductor industry. Webelieve this is appropriate considering ~75% of sales are from the semiconductorinspectionsmarket.

In the following section, we discuss three of the major addressable markets:semiconductors,biopharmaceuticals,andadvancedmaterials.Ourobjectiveisnottovaluethecompanyalongeachofthoseindustriesbuttohighlightanddrawattentiontothewiderangeofapplicationsandconsiderableopportunitiesavailabletothecompany. Thus,webegin our analysis with a section onMarket Analysis: Catalysts and Risks. Following anappreciation of the vast market potential, we highlight the specific product base ofNanotronics tomeet thesemarket demands (section entitledBusinessProducts). After abrief discussionof competitors in themarketplace,we turnour attention to the financialstatements and valuation model of Nanotronics to draw our final conclusions (sectionsentitledCompanyValuationandConclusions).

Market Analysis: Catalysts and Risks Webeginourdiscussionbydetailingthreeofthemajorend-marketsforNanotronics:semiconductors,biopharmaceuticals,andadvancedmaterials.Inparticular,itisclearthatthesemarketshavenotonlysustainedsignificanthistoricalgrowthbutaresupportedbylong-termseculartailwindsthatwebelievewillleadtosustainedgrowth

5Nanotronicsauditedfinancialstatements6Source:PitchbookData;accessed8/1/2018.

Page 7: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|4

duringourforecastingperiod.ThispaintsanoptimisticpictureofthemarketpotentialforNanotronicstotapintoinyearstocome.

Semiconductors

Inabsolute terms, theU.S. semiconductor industry’s shareofU.S.GDP is the thirdlargest of all U.S. manufacturing industries behind the petroleum refinery andpharmaceutical industries. Pertinently, Nanotronics has established ExxonMobil andIllumina as initial top tiercustomers in their respective industries.Despitenotbeing thelargest manufacturing industry, semiconductors have been the fastest growing industrysegmentintheU.S.,whichhasgrownatastunningrateof265%from1987to2011(Exhibit1).Toemphasizeitsimportance,the2018policyprioritiespublishedbytheSemiconductorIndustryAssociation7(SIA) recommendsan increaseofFederal funding inSemiconductorResearchatDARPA,NST,NSF,andDOE.Notably,avibrantU.S.semiconductor industry isstrategictomaintainingAmerica’sstrengthandahealthyinnovativeeconomy.Exhibit1.

TheU.S.semiconductorindustryhasgrownmorethananyothermanufacturingindustrysince1987.(Source:http:www.semiconductors.org/ItAllStartsHere)

Assumingnosignificant lossesinmarketshare,thesemarketdynamicsprovideuswithalowerboundforcompanygrowth.Specifically,thesegrowthopportunitieslieinthedevelopment of Asian markets, especially in China. China's national guidelines call forambitioustargets:1)by2020acompoundannualgrowthrate(CAGR)of>20%inrevenues,and2)by2030aworld-classintegrated-circuit(IC)industryvaluechainincludingasetoftier1playersintheglobalmarket.1Chinahasalreadycommitted$150billiontobuilditsdomesticsemiconductorindustryoverthenextdecadeviathe“MadeinChina2025”development program (Exhibit 2). Presently, semiconductor consumption in Chinaoutpaces the overallmarket, reaching about 50%of the global total (Exhibit 4b). A clearindication of the importance of China’smarket can be appreciated from the activities ofseveralglobalindustryplayers:1

7SIA,https://www.semiconductors.org/issues/research/research/

Page 8: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|5

• QualcommhaspartneredwithSMICon28-nmproductsand14-nmprocess

technologydevelopment.• UMCcollaboratedwithXiamengovernmentandFuJianElectronicsandInformation

Groupona$6.2billioninvestmentinafoundry(Fab).• Intelinvested$1.5billioninasubsidiaryofTsinghuaUnigroup,whichownsthetwo

largestfablessdesigncompanies.Adding to China’s motivation to become a technological powerhouse, the recent tradedisputeswiththeU.S.onlyhighlightChinesedependenceonforeignmicrochiptechnology.2Direct engagement in pursuit of shaping the semiconductor market is China’s goal, andNanotronicsispoisedtobecomeamajorpartnerforthatgrowingmarket.8

Exhibit2.AllincrementalfoundrycapacitygloballywouldhavetobemadeinChinainthenext10yearstomeet"Made-in-China-2025"targets.(Source:HISApplicationForecastTool2015,Mckinseyanalysis)

Yet another development in the semiconductor industry supporting long-termgrowthisthedemandforautomotivechips.Revenuesfromthismarkethaveincreasedfrom$7billionto~$30billionfrom1996to2015(Exhibit3).Ifthistrendcontinues,themarketisforecasttogrowataCAGRof8.2%between2016and2021andisultimatelyprojectedtoreach$39-$42billionin2021.3Applicationsforautomotivesemiconductorsincluderadarchips, advanceddriver assistance systems, hybrid and electric vehicle systems, in-vehiclenetworking,LED lighting,aswellas fueleconomy,emissionsreduction,andgeneralbody

8ThecurrenttariffimpositionsmayactuallybedetrimentaltotheU.S.semiconductorindustry.Becauseofcomplexsupplychains,U.S.companiesaremoreexposedthantheircounterparts.(FinancialTimesJuly4&11,2018)ConcernsandchallengesregardingChina’sforcedtechnologytransferandintellectualpropertypracticeswillnotbeaddressedhere.

Page 9: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|6

andinteriorelements.Moreover,thegrowthofelectricvehicles(EV)isshiftingdemandindevice segments as well. Hybrid electric vehicles (EV) contain $900 worth ofsemiconductors, standard EVs contain $1000 worth, while conventional cars carry only$330worthofsemiconductors.Wecaneasilyrecognizethatascarsbecomemoreandmorecomplex combined with a push toward autonomous driving, the demand forsemiconductorsintheautomotiveindustrywillcontinuetorisesteadilyandprovideanewmajorlong-termgrowthengine.

Exhibit3.Automotivemarketgeneratesanincreasingportionofsemiconductorsales.

Recently, the SIA announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $111.1billionduringthefirstquarterof2018,anincreaseof20%comparedtothefirstquarterof2017(Exhibit4a).Year-over-yearsalesincreasedacrossallregionsinMarch:theAmericas(35.7%),Europe (20.6%), China (18.8%),AsiaPacific/AllOther (13.3%), and Japan (12.4%).5 One final key-contributing factor to market growth is the increased demand formemory chips (NAND, 3D-NAND).9Altogether, the various factors applying pressure onsupply-demandconditionsareresulting innewFabsbeingbuilt in2018 toaccommodateproduction needs. Therefore, we also expect increased sales for semiconductormanufacturing related equipment. For our purposes, the semiconductor industryrepresents a baseline level growth opportunity for the company.Ourmodelweighssubstantiallyalongtheseassumptionsforparallelgrowth.

9Duetospaceconstraints,“demandonmemory”willnotbediscussedorelaboratedhere.

Page 10: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|7

Exhibit4a,b.a.WorldwideSemiconductorRevenues b.GlobalSemiconductorIndustry

Year-over-year%growth.(Source:WSTS)Marketsharebyconsumption (Source:PWC,ANZResearch,FinancialTimes)

Acriticalaspectofinvestments inthesemiconductorindustryrequiresustobecognizantofthefactthatprofitsaretypicallygeneratedoverlongertimeframesthanexpected,especiallyintheprocessandmanufacturingsegmentsthatareontheorderof5,10,andeven15-yeartimeframes1duetothecyclicalnatureofthebusiness.AstheChinese focusondesign innovationand improved capabilities, their totaldemand forcomponents including semiconductors will increase from $350 billion in 2016 to $500billion by 2020.6 Substantial optimism about China both as a market and a source ofpartnership, aswell aswith the general automotivemarket allays our risk concerns andhelps provide a long-term view of growth for the next 10 – 15 years. Current headlinessignalapotentialpeakinthemarket,especiallyasthenexttechnologicalnodeapproaches;nonetheless,our long-termsentimentremainsanchored incompany fundamentalswithasubstantialgrowthoutlook.Positivemarketcatalysts:

• Recordequipmentspendingwithprojectedgrowth14%2018YoYand9%in2019.• An increase in 2017 CAPEX has created a pickup in semiconductor supply for

2018/19.• Fullyautonomouscarsby2021requiringatremendousincreaseinsemiconductor

content.• Connecteddevicesgrowth~20%through2020,expected1TrillioncumulativeIoT

devicesby2035.• Fabinvestments:(300mm-Infineon,Vanguard,Bosch),Rohm,andMicron.

PotentialmarketRisks:

• Potentialexcesssupplyin2018/19.• Semiconductordebtlevelshaveincreasedpostmergers,interestratesuptoo.• Thedisconnectbetweenend-marketunit growth,high inventoryonbalance

sheets,andsemiconductorunitgrowth.4

Page 11: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|8

Medicine / Biopharmaceuticals One of the most essential tools in biotechnology/science is the use of the

microscope. Advanced imagery analyses along with the introduction of atomic forcemicroscopy (AFM) have allowed the characterization of subcellular structures, viruses,protein-protein interactions, and smallmolecules. Even the 3D-architectures of DNA andproteinsareknowableattheatomiclevel.Muchliketheminiaturizationofmicrochipshasadvanced the semiconductor industry, nanotechnology will be transformative for thebiopharmaceutical market and medicine in general. Tools functioning at the nanoscalerangewillundoubtedlyacceleratethecommercializationofproductswithapplicationsfromdrug discovery, diagnostics, and drug delivery. These tools fall into 3 major categories:processdevelopment,productdevelopment,andpersonalizedmedicine8-allaccessibletothecompany’sproducts.In2016,totalU.S.prescriptiondrugexpenditurewasestimatedat$450billion10andisestimatedtoreach$610billionby2021,presentingatremendousmarketopportunity.

Nanotronicscanbecometheidealpartnertopushforwardseveralnewtechnologiesanddevicesthatwillbringimportantnewtherapiesanddiagnostictoolstoareasofunmetmedicalneed.Thepowerofthistechnologyisillustratedwithafewbriefexamples:

o OneongoingeffortisthereductionofmultiplepoliovaccinedosesdowntoasingleinjectionbyutilizingFDAapprovedpolymers(PLGA-PEGnanoparticleencasement)asdeliveryvectors.Thesepolymerscanbedesignedtodegradeatadefinedtime-rate resulting in controlled vaccine release to ultimately achieve global polioeradication.

o Diagnosticpathologicalscreeningsfordiseaseslikecancercouldbeperformedinahigh-throughput fashion. Machine learning, a cornerstone of Nanotronicstechnology, can be leveraged to identify validated disease features at the cellularandsubcellularlevel.

o Pill size reductions to the nanoscale will impart different pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profiles allowing for better solubilization and reduced drugconcentrations. This approach opens the door to promising therapies that werepreviouslyunabletomoveforwardinclinicaltrialsbecauseofpoorbioavailabilitycharacteristicsorundesiredtoxicityprofiles.

Monitoring,imaging,validation,screening,andQCarebutafewofthefunctionssuitableforthe company’smicroscopes. Nanotronics anticipates establishing a strong customer basethroughout the entire healthcare/biotech market industry. Current customers includeIllumina, the industry leader inDNAsequencingandDNA/RNAmicroarraychips.Pfizer,Allergan, GSK, and Astra-Zeneca (top-20 companies by market cap) are strongprospectiveclients.

One of the more exotic nanoscale solutions to emerge is due to the exponentialproliferation and accumulation of “Big Data.” Companies like Twist Bioscience aredeveloping DNA applications as a new medium for high-density long-term digital datastorage with a greater half-life than current storage devices and higher rates ofreproducibility.AlmostazettabyteofdatacanfitinonegramofDNAthatcanlastfor

10https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drugspending-quintilesims

Page 12: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|9

10,000 yearsata fractionof thecostofcloudcomputingsolutions.DNAhasamoleculardiameterof~2nmandanaveragelengthof45-50nm(140-150bp)inaqueoussolutions;attheoperationalrangeofNanotronics’microscopes.

The nanodrug delivery market just exceeded $20 billion while the overallnanomedicine market is forecast to reach $293.1 billion by 2022 11 primarilyaddressingthefollowingareasofimpact:cancer,CNSdisorders,cardiovasculardisease,andinfectiousdiseasecontrol.Fromsmallmoleculestobiologicalsandfromdevicediagnosticstodrug-delivery technologies like nanoparticles12(PLGA-polymers,metalloid or lipid-based),thetoolsdevelopedbyNanotronicswillbeinhighdemandtohelpensureproductconsistency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness that will enable these medical products tocometomarket. Overall,thebiopharmaceuticalindustrypresentsanexcitingareawheresignificanttechnological developments are occurring and long-term growth should be supported bycurrent investment levels. Nanotronics is well positioned to benefit from both of thesetailwinds,whichleadsustobeoptimisticaboutthegrowthprospectsforthecompany.

Advanced Materials

Another industry where Nanotronics anticipates adding value along themanufacturing process is advanced-materials (consumables to industrial applications).Advancedmaterialsaffectawiderangeofmarkets,includingeverydayclothingandelectric

vehicles. From stain-resistant fabrics to therevolutionary impact on lithium-ion batterytechnology(amarketthatisforecasttoreach$30billionby2020)–nanotechmaterialsareessential.

Nanoscale chemical industry players are

constantly investing in researchanddevelopmentfor the latest and innovative technologies in thenanoscalemarket.Duetoincreasingdemandfromindustries such as medical, construction, andelectronics,theglobalnanoscalechemicalsmarketisexpectedtoexpandataCAGRofaround10-12%from 2015-2025.9 The availability of high-throughput,in-linemetrologytoenableclosed-loopprocesscontrolandqualityassuranceisacritical prerequisite for the development ofcost-effective nano-manufacturing. High-performance structural carbon-basednanomaterials, optical metamaterials, andcellulosic nanomaterials are key sustainablematerials with the potential to affect multipleindustrysectorswithsignificanteconomicimpact.

11https://www.bccresearch.com/12GlobalnanoparticlesmarketinbiotechnologyandpharmaceuticalsectorsisexpectedtogrowatCAGRofcloseto22%duringtheperiod2017-2021.(www.businesswire.com)

Exhibit5.CarbonNanotubesspunintothread;16gaugewire.(Source:Nanocomp)

Exhibit6.Graphenetransistorwithasheetofcarbononeatomthick.(JamesYardley,ColumbiaUniversityNanocenter).

Page 13: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|10

One leading innovator - Nanocomp Technologies, is the only player to successfullydevelop processes that generate carbon nanotubes (macro-format) into bundles andnetworks to ultimatelymake sheets, yarns, and tapes suitable for commercial, industrial,aerospace,andmilitaryapplications–realproductsmanufacturedatscale, impartedwithhighstrength,highlyefficientelectricalconductivityandthermalconductivity(Exhibit5).

Interestingly, the silicon-based semiconductor industry itself is undergoing arevolution of sortsmarked by a critical inflection point – Moore’s Law is unsustainable.However,thispresentsagrowthopportunityforNanotronics.GalliumNitride(GaN)isthenewmaterialofchoicetoenablehigh-poweredapplicationsfoundinindustrials,consumer,solar,ACdrive,UPSinverters,andhybridandelectriccars.Onesuchinnovator–EpiGaNisalreadyaNanotronicscustomer.TheGaNsubstratemarketisestimatedtogrowpast$4billion in 2020withLEDdevicesmakingupabout70%of themarket share. In fact, theGaNpowerbusinessisprojectedtogrowexponentiallyat79%CAGRuntil2022.10

The nanomanufacturing process can create more powerful nanoscale transistors(Exhibit6)andnumerousmaterialsthatarestronger,lighter,durable,water-repellent,anti-reflective,self-cleaning,UV/IRresistant,anti-fog,antimicrobial,orscratch-resistantamongothertraits.Currentnanotechnology-enabledproductsrangefrombaseballbatsandtennisracketstocatalysts forcrudeoilrefiningandultrasensitivedetectionandidentificationofbiological and chemical toxins.8 The engineering of these materials will require tools toensureprocesscontrolefficiencies.

Concluding Thoughts on End-Markets The three discussed end-markets for Nanotronics are all exhibiting excitingtechnological development and are undoubtedly areas where businesses are investingsignificant capital. Which specific products and technologies will be the winners in themarketplace are difficult to forecast. However, one thing is abundantly clear: failureinspectionandanalysisfromproductsakintowhatNanotronicsofferswillbeintegralinthemanufacturing development process. As a result, we turn our attention to the specificproducts that Nanotronics offers in the following sections, which guides our financialforecastofcompanyperformance.

Business Products

Given themarket trendswe discussed,we now turn our attention to the specificproducts that Nanotronics produces that will help meet these market demands. Thefollowing brief product descriptions13represent the main product line-up offered by thecompany and are the primary source of sales revenues. Additional business operatingsegmentssuchasservicecontracts,standalonesoftware,andcomponentswouldhavebeentoocumbersometomodelespeciallywithout thebenefitofanyhistoricaldata toattemptprojectedestimates.Therefore,weassumeaconservativetilttoourmodelbynotexplicitlymodelingthesecomponents.Thehistoricalcontributiontototalrevenueforeachproductisindicatedbelowthetitlename.13Descriptionsprovidedbyhttps://nanotronics.co/

Page 14: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|11

nSpec (55%ofrevenue)

ThenSPecisafullyautomatedinspectionsystemforanalyzingopaque,transparent,and semi-transparentwafers for defects.14The system offers quantitative and qualitativereporting on an unprecedented scale. Multiple magnifications allow for a completecharacterization of defect type and frequency on substrate, epiwafers, and dicedwafersincludingdevices.Various configurationoptionsareavailable for specificneeds includingresolution level of scans. Nanotronics has proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms toclassify features according to morphology using positive identification from relativelysparsedatasets.Theinspectionsystemwillbeamajordisruptorforfabricationprocessesinanumberofvaryingindustries(electronics,aerospace,advancedmaterials,automotive),whichdemandahighdegreeofengineeringtolerancesinqualitycontrol.

nSpec 3D (5%ofrevenue)

The nSPec 3D is an automated, rapid optical microscope that provides surfacetopographies and quantitative roughness measurements. It offers a new way of qualitycontrol inspection being demanded by a range of industries, including the tire, medicaldevices,steel,battery,aerospaceandautomotivemanufacturingindustries.Anunmatchedtool with rapid, reproducible, and easy to use manner for capturing measurements andfeaturesinthree-dimensionalspacetooptimizeaprocessandtransferdatatoaproductionplatform. It uniquely offers an atomic force microscope (AFM) attachment to visualizesamplesinnanometerresolutionscale.

nPLACE (30%ofrevenue)

Nanotronics’bench-topwaferloadersaredesignedtohandleawiderangeofwafersizesandcanbeintegratedwithothermachines.Thehighlightsoftheloaderincludesthecontrolsoftwareforgroupandindividualwaferhandlingforgeneratingreproducibleanalysisinthequalitycontrolprocess,aswellasbuilt-inversatilitywithendeffectorsforcustomizableapplications.

Competitors

Thevaluationanalysisposedanunusualchallengegiventhatthecompanydoesnothave specific direct competitors in the nascent markets described. Nonetheless, in thebusiness segment for wafer inspections, there are certainly several automated opticalinspection (AOI) players, but none that offer the level of computer processing power

14Wafersarethethinslicesofsemiconductormateriallikesiliconusedinelectronicsforthefabricationofmicroelectronicdevices,integratedcircuits,andphotovoltaics.PhillipA.Laplante(2005).Comprehensivedictionaryofelectricalengineering(2nded.).CRCPress.ISBN978-0-8493-3086-5.

Page 15: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|12

merged with AFM capacity available to generate nanoscale resolution renderings. Inaddition to thevarioussystemoptionsandconfigurations,aVR3D-tomographyoutput isavailable tomeetauser’sanalyticalgoals.Traditionalorcurrent inspectionsystemsoffersolutionsofsortswithacombinationoftoolsthatremainmostlyunautomated.

The ~$10 billion semiconductor metrology/inspection market is dominated by

KLA-Tencor(Exhibit7),15AppliedMaterials,HitachiTech,Nanometrics,andRudolphTechnologies,which represent a combined 87%market share (Table 1). Mergers haveresulted in consolidation from37 companies to about 20 companies from2002 to 2017.DemandfromChinesemanufacturersdroveupsalesin2017andwillcontinuetodosoin2018 and beyond. Notably,KLA-Tencor equipment orders to Chinese customers almosttripledin2017andRudolphTechnologiesrevenuesfromChinamorethandoubledinthepast twoyears. Ingeneral, theglobalsemiconductorequipmentmarketgrew12.5%QoQ,indicatinganotherstrongyearofgrowth.AndwhiletheChineseAOIequipmentmarketisdominatedbyforeigncompanies,theirmarketwilllikelymaintainan8.9%CAGRbetween2017and2022.11

Exhibit7

Top5SemiconductorMetrology/InspectionCompanies2017.

Microscopy innovators like Zeiss and Nikon are not direct competitors as only asmallsegmentoftheirbusinesses,~5-10%isdedicatedtoinspectionsystems.Atleastthiswas the case until several weeks ago when Zeiss announced its entry into ‘processcontrol solutions’ leveraging theirproprietarymicroscope technologies including anon-destructive3DX-raymicroscopesystem.Webelieveitistooearlytotelltheoverallimpactof thisnews,butcostswillsurelybeadeterminant factor.Tothispoint, therearetwotypesofpurchasesbeingmadebycustomers:purchasesforcapacityorpurchasesfortechnology.Asnewtechnologynodesappearimminent,anupdateonoldequipmentwillnot be a viable option if companies expect to remain competitive. Of note, RudolphTechnologies,whichsellsFabautomationsoftware,ledtheback-endinspectionmarket.Incontrast,webelievethatNanotronics’marketopportunityliesinthefronttomid-endrangeofthesupplychain.

15InMarch2018,KLATencoracquiredOrbotechfor$3.6Bat~15%premium.

KLATencorAppliedMaterialsHitachiHighTechNanometricsRudolphTechnologies

Page 16: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|13

Table1.

°KLATencorrecentMarchacquisitionofOrbotechfor$3.6Ba~15%premium.*Specificbusinesssegmentdata(SEC-EDGAR)wasgathered,thoughcompaniesmanytimesdonotdisaggregateopticalinspectionfromthediversifiedgeneralmetrologyequipmentsegment;thetargetmarketisabouthalfofour estimates ~ $10 B. Color highlighted companies represent the majority (85%) of the semiconductorinspectionsystemsmarket.

The company also competes with manual inspections and Big Data analytic

software,making it difficult to identify head to head competitors. Irlynx (France-based),Xore (Sweden-based),andFreePointTechnologies(Canada-based)arereasonablepeers(Table2)butarecurrentlyinacceleratorstageorVCbackedearlystagedevelopmentthatonly offer niche solutions to specific industry sectors. For example, Xore is developingautomatedon-lineelementalanalyzersfortheminingindustrybasedonX-rayFluorescencesystems. IRlynx designs and sells advanced human activity-sensing modules. Their firstproduct isanoptronicmodule includinga far IRreactivematrixcombinedwithopticandembedded processing capable of delivering presence, position, motion direction andnumberofpeopledata.Theyoungcompanyisbasedondisruptivetechnologywithvariousapplications for smart buildings, energy saving, safety, and assisted living. FreePointTechnologies, a true peer competitor, offer solutions formachinemonitoring for today’smanufacturing environment at all levels, utilizing advanced software and analytics withpatent-pendingsystemsindicatingon/offmachinestatus.Allthesame,weareconfidentinNanotronics’superiorproductperformancetodeliversubstantialmarketsharegainsinthewaferinspectionbusinesssegmentandbeyond.(See“COMPS”inExcelfile)

millions'(USD) Price'$ Market'CapEnterprise'Value'(EV) Revenue Rev'Growth

EV'/'EBITDA

EV'/'Revenue

ASML%Holding $212.75 91,794 80,136 10,000 33.23% 25.58 7.48Applied'Materials $46.76 47,136 45,176 14,540 34.29% 9.30 3.11Lam%Research $177.81 29,170 25,952 8,020 36.19% 11.69 2.52KLA'Tencor'° $120.80 16,640 16,598 3,480 16.60% 12.55 4.22Nikon%Corporation $17.31 6,939 4,282 6,931 9.85% 5.40 0.62Carl%Zeiss%AG $60.50 6,902 6,878 1,315 8.10% 23.56 3.65Hitachi'High'Tech $39.97 5,506 3,674 5,783 6.69% 7.30 0.64Brooks%Automation $25.70 2,260 2,210 693 23.60% 19.60 2.39LaserTec $28.52 1,376 1,228 157 13.58% 25.33 6.40FormFactor $12.80 1,000 987 548 26.88% 10.77 1.84Rudolph'Technologies $29.75 970 789 255 9.59% 10.80 2.70Nanometrics $29.72 908 783 259 16.95% 12.10 2.98Nova%Measuring%Instruments $28.49 790 630 222 35.44% 9.70 2.59Camtek $6.71 292 244 94 9.41% 16.28 2.10Estimated%market%size%* 20,569

Bloomberg'(Peer'Group'Comparables)

Page 17: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|14

Table2.

Source: Pitchbook Data: Peer group Early Stage Companies

Competitor Financing Stage Location

Growth Rate

Size Multiple

Last Financing Date/Type

Financing Amount

Robosense Accelerator/ Incubator

Shenzhen, China Accelerator/ Inc

Irlynx VC-Backed Montbonnot, France 0.0029 1.05x 2016/Accelerator/Inc $0.02M

Xore VC-Backed Skellefteå, Sweden 0 0.20x 2015/Early Stage VC $0.49M

FreePoint Technologies VC-Backed London, Canada 0.0094 0.30x 2017/Early Stage VC

Soft Robotics VC-Backed Cambridge, MA. USA 2018/Series A1 $20.2M

Company Valuation

Somebasicsemiconductorindustryinformationandstatisticshelpedprovidesomelimits and assumptions for themodel (Exhibit 8). These values helped us guardrail ourmarket assumptions which ensured that we did not forecast Nanotronics’ growth toooptimistically. Furthermore, the idiosyncrasies of the PDCF allowed us to ensure thatgrowthwasaccompaniedbyproperinvestmentintothecompany’sassetbase.

Exhibit8.Semiconductorindustryandstatistics

Balance sheet and Income statement

Duetoarelativelylimitedhistoricalwindowofoperations,itwasdifficulttomakesubstantialclaimsorassumptionsfromthedata.16Nevertheless,analysesofthecompany’sfinancialstatementsshowasteadilygrowingassetbaseonaYoYbasisassalescontinuetopushforwardforthepastfouryearswithsomefluctuationasexpected.Notably,inventories

16Themodel'sstartingpointisbasedonNanotronics'internalbestsalesestimates,whichwerelyupontoextrapolaterevenueprojections.Weneedtoacknowledgethefactthatourmodelmaybesomewhatunderdeterminedduetothesheerearlystageindevelopmentofthecompanyandmoreimportantlythelackorlimitinglevelofhistoricaldataavailable.Additionally,thesemiconductormarketisalmostperfectlycyclicalhoweverwedidnotaccommodatethisprototypeinourmodelasthesemiconductorindustryisbutoneindustrybeingfeatured.Consequently,anyexpectedrevenueinterruptionswilllikelybecoveredbynumerousdiverseindustriesadoptingthelatestprocesscontroltechnologies–growthisourthesis.

Semiconductor,Industry,Info: market'size'($B) growth'2011'6'presentsuppliers 113'Bfront'end'manufacturing 51'B 10%back'end 11'B 20%assembly'and'testing 15'B 4%wafers'materials 11'B 5%Semiconductor'Manufacturing:

Max Avg MinWafer'processing'equipment 53% 32% 8.7%Top'Peers'YoY' 2014 2015 2016 2017EV/Sales'growth 21.1% 621.6% 39.7% 13.4%

Y6o6Y'growth'month'to'month'basis'(12mo.)

Page 18: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|15

haverisenataCAGRof43%since2014,whilenetincomeremainsnegativeasthecompanyexpands and establishes a customer base. Encouragingly, the company is tracking acontinuousreductionofoperatingexpensesasamarginontotalrevenuesandanuptickinsales.We cangather a senseof theoperational efficienciesby chartingSales andR&Dasshowninthefigurebelow(Exhibit9a).Themodelcontinuestolowercostsandultimatelylevels off at 15 – 20%margins for all expense line items (Exhibit 9b, refer to Excel file).OPEXwas averaging~50%margins andwas brought in linewith benchmarked historicaverages.

Exhibit9a.Sales,andR&Das%ofRevenue9b.BestCase–EstimatedSalesandOPEX

Of some concern is the continued rise in bad debt expense, which is about 50%higherthanthesalesrate(nonoteswereprovidedfortheapparentlosses).Dependingonthe scenario, themodel’s sales projections indicate an aggressive profile or verymodestgains derived primarily by the customer base. In general, peer group analysis of YoYrevenue growth ranged between mid-single digits up to 40% with exceptional yearsindicatingtwo,threeandeven400%whileOPEXrangesbetweenlowteensand25%.Wehighlight thecompany’sbullishestimates thataresubstantiallyaboveexpectationyetarejustified by broad product applications and assumed performance beyond the currentlyreferencedpeergroup. Regardless,projectedestimatesare tethered toan initialstrategyaimedat3–5%potentialmarketsharecaptureandeventuallyplateausaround~10%ofour current market estimates. The best-case “bull” scenario estimates project revenuesapproachingthe$1billionmarkwhichfollowsourgeneralassumptionsofstrongrevenuegainsaccompaniedbyimprovedoperatingmarginsascanbeappreciatedinExhibit9b,10a,and10b.

Exhibit10a.BaseCase-EstimatedSales10b.BearCase–EstimatedSales(AllOPEXmarginsrange15-20%)

91%$

74%$

28%$21%$

0$1$2$3$4$5$6$7$8$9$10$

0%$

20%$

40%$

60%$

80%$

100%$

2014$ 2015$ 2016$ 2017$

$"millions"

%"of"reven

ue"

Sales$ R&D$

0"

50"

100"

150"

200"

250"

300"

350"

400"

0%"

5%"

10%"

15%"

20%"

25%"

30%"

35%"

40%"

2017" 2019" 2021" 2023" 2025" 2027"

Millions'$'

%'of'R

even

ue'

Sales" COGS"

0"

50"

100"

150"

200"

250"

0%"

10%"

20%"

30%"

40%"

50%"

60%"

2017" 2019" 2021" 2023" 2025" 2027"

Millions'$'

%'of'R

even

ue'

Sales" SG&A"

0"

200"

400"

600"

800"

1000"

0%"

10%"

20%"

30%"

40%"

50%"

60%"

2017" 2019" 2021" 2023" 2025" 2027"

Millions'$'

%'of'R

even

ue'

Sales" COGS" Marke8ng" SG&A"

Page 19: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|16

Value Drivers

Asmentionedabove,OPEXmarginsweregraduallyloweredtopeergrouphistoricallevels and we kept depreciation and amortization (D&A) at an 8.85% margin as amaintenancevalueestimategiventheproductlevelsophistication.Therewillbesometaxforwardcarryoveryearsgiventhecompany'sburnrateandnetoperatingincome,however,weassumeda21%corporaterate(tobeadjustedaccordingtogeographicalexposureofthecompany)startingfromyearswheredeferredtaxassetsbecameexhausted.Keycashflowdrivers:workingcapital(WC)andcapitalexpenditures(CAPEX)aredecliningbutremainatsomewhathighmargins inorder tomaintain theappropriateamountofassets to sustainthecompany’shigh-growthforecast.

Monte Carlo Simulation Analysis

Wepresent3potentialscenariosrepresentingdifferenttranchesofcustomerbasegrowth.Exhibits10,11,and12. (Detailscanbe found in the“PDCF”and“MC” tabs in theaccompanyingExcelfileNano_valuation_final).

1) The bullish case gathers up all current customers and prospective customersfromalltiergroupsalongwithaggressivesalesestimates.2)Thebasecasefeaturescurrentcustomersalongwithtieroneprospects.3) Finally, the bear case scenario depicts a flat customer base and modest salestrends.

TheuniqueaspectofMonteCarlo (MC)analysis is that it takes intoconsideration

thestochasticnatureofcompanydevelopment;explicitlyinthiscasethemodelisweightedheavily on our revenue assumptions. Essentially, the growth rates for each scenario aresomewhat similar but what we ultimately derive for sales estimates are a range ofpossibilities indicative of discrete starting points for each scenario defined by a differentcustomer base (bull, base, bear) as can be appreciated below in Exhibit 11. All othermodeling parameters are reasonable approximations of benchmarked historicalperformancestatistics(OPEX,non-OPEX,CAPEX,WC)ofcomparablecompanies.

Revenue projections for each product were determined manually and salesassumptionswereguidedbydatagatheredfromoverhalf-dozenpeergroupcompaniesinthe wafer inspections/semiconductor equipment market. Our PDCF model uses an 11%discountrateanda1.5%terminalgrowthvaluetogenerateanestimatedcompanyvalueof$418million, $223million, and$110million for thebullish,base, andbear casescenarios respectively. 100,000MC simulationswere performed to ensure an unbiasedestimateoffundamentalvalue.Inall,thecompanydoesnotbegintogenerateprofitsuntil2022-23 (~halfway) in our projections as indicated in the breakeven analysis depictedbelowwithfreecashflow(FCF)estimates.

Page 20: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|17

Exhibit11.EstimatedSalesandFCFbreakevenpoints(Bull-green,Base-blue,Bear-red).

Implied company valuations or a theoretical takeover price is described by theGaussiandistributionswiththefollowingmeanvaluesof$110±34million forthebearcase, $223±56million for thebase case, and$418±131million for thebullcase(Exhibit12).Itisimportanttohighlightthatthereissignificantuncertaintyinourestimatesduetothenatureofmodelingahighgrowthbusiness: thecompanywillnotbeprofitableuntil ~2022-2023 which is the most uncertain portion of our forecast. However, thisemphasizes an important point that must be elaborated: the most recent post-moneyvaluationof$350millionseemstobejustifiedbutfallsintheupperdecileofourbasecasemodel. We, therefore, believe that an ~8.0x-10.0x sales multiple on 2019E is theapproximatefairvalueofthecompany.Investorscanreadilyappreciatethecaveatherebyobserving thebroaddistributionofvaluerangesand the largestandarddeviation(SD) ineach case.Thesevaluationsare also strongly tied to theprojected revenuegrowthof thecompanyaswell,whichcanbeappreciatedbythesalesgrowthvaluesontheleft-sidepanelofExhibit11.

Thisunder-determinationisnotderivedfromthemodel’sinherentuncertaintybut

originates from a number of sources: our input parameters regarding sales growthassumptions, OPEX efficiencies, and the limited historical data due to the company’sdynamic growth leavesuswith large variances in all our input variables.The results canalsobesomewhatexpectedbyacursoryviewofthemodeltuningparameters(notshownforbrevity).Wehaveverylimitedinsightfromhistoricalanalysisofourtuningparametersaswecanseethatthemodeliscurrentlyforecastingbeyondanypreviousoperatinglevels–againexpectedfromahigh-growthcompany.MCsensitivityanalysis(datanotshown)doesallow us to adjust themodel, however,wewill not be able to improve upon the level ofvariance in our inputs. While the distributions may be broad we are confident in theaccuracyofconvergencetothemeanvalues.Therefore,giventhetotalcash investedthusfar($71million)weestimateamultipleofapproximately10x2019Esalescorrespondstothefairvalueofthecompany.Webelievethatthecurrentsalesmultiplesareoptimisticandaremorethanlikelydiscounting~10%marketsharegainaspreviouslydiscussed.

Page 21: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|18

Exhibit12.CompanyValuationsfromthreedifferentcustomerbases(Bear,Base,Bull).

Onefinalnoteforclarity:apartfromtheproductsaleswehaveaseparaterevenuesegmentrepresentinggrowthinAsiaalonethatisprojectedtoaccountfor20%to30%ofsales in thebearcaseandbull case respectively.Wekept this figure intentionally low,assales throughoutAsiawill eventually account forupwardsof half the company revenues.Consequently, increasing the fractional margin projections would otherwise lead to adoublecountingofsalesestimates.

A steadily expanding customer base is the primary factor that impinges upon themodel. Undoubtedly, we expect the company to achieve substantial market shareaccompanied by a tapering of customer growth in due time. As those revenue marginsnarrow they will likely be offset by a rise in demand in software updates, stand-alonecomponents, and service contracts that will eventually represent the bulk cash flowstreams. These sales streams are not directly modeled in our assumptions but we canreasonably attach a 20-30% premium on our valuations. Current and expected marketconditionsprovidestrongconfidenceforcompanyperformance.

Asmentioned,we estimate thatNanotronicswill be competing for a~$10Billion

market in the end-markets we have explicitlymodeled. Thus, our valuation estimate of$223 million (base case) suggests ~2.25% market share from our bottom-up analysisscenarioandapotential~4.2%sharewitha$418millionestimateinthebest-casescenario.Giventheuncertainty,itisilluminatingtoconsiderthatatop-downanalysiswouldsuggestthat the $350 million post-money valuation implies ~3.5% market share. Given limitedvisibility infuturemarketshare,weshouldnotethat ifthecompanyisabletoexceedourconservativeestimatesandachieve~10%marketshare,thecompanywouldeasilyattainafairvalueinexcessof$1billion.Thecurrentpost-moneyvaluationof$350millionmaybemodestly overvalued with respect to our base case scenario at this time, however, ouroutlook for the company remains overwhelmingly positive. We would be particularlyinterested in updating our PDCF with new numbers (when available) from financialstatementstogainmorecertaintyinourvalueestimates.

Page 22: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|19

Conclusions

Nanotronicsissettobecometheleaderinautomatedopticalinspectioninhigh-techmanufacturing. As the semiconductor market continues to grow we can indirectlyextrapolateasubstantialgrowthvaluationandmarketpenetranceasNanotronicscontinuesto gather a prominent list of partners and clients that function at the leading edge oftechnology.Anexpandingcustomerbasesupportedby favorablemarketconditionsandawealthofgrowthindicatorsdrivesourmodel.Beingmindfulthatthevaluationrepresentsbut one of several industries open to Nanotronics’ market disruption opportunities, werecognize the transformative potential of merging artificial intelligence, automatednanoscaleresolution,andvirtualrealitytorevolutionizemanufacturingprocessesthatmayeventuallyyieldastrongervaluation.Overall,weprovideaconservativeoutlookgiventheabsentparticipation inmajor industries likebiopharmaceuticals,materials,andaerospacewhere the company will likely experience continued growth. Given the sizeable marketlandscape and level of applications for the company, our model denotes a positiveinvestmentrecommendationforthebusinessopportunity.

o HighdemandforAOIequipmentmarketinChina~9%CAGRforecastto2022o Projectedgrowthinrobotics,andIoT–with~20%growththrough2020.o Cloudcomputingandmobiledevicesdrivedemandinadvancedmemorychips.o Demandinautomotivechipsforecast~8.2%CAGRto2022.o GrowthinEVsandautonomousvehiclesinChinaandIndia.o 18globalsemiconductorchipmakersincreasedCAPEXR&Dover$1billion,ofwhich10

companiesincreasedR&Dby~6%overpreviousyear.174o Multiplemarketsremaintobeaccessed:Biopharmaceuticals,materials,aerospace.

17http://www.eenewsanalog.com/news/18-chip-companies-over-1bn-2017-rd-spending/page/0/1

Page 23: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|20

Supplemental Bloomberg information

S-1.ComparativeReturns:Comparablecompanies(RTEC,NANO)versusS&P500(SPX)

S-2.PeerGroupRatios:SemiconductorEquipmentServicesandComponents

Page 24: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|21

S-3ComparativeReturns:BIGlobalCompositesandAdvancedMaterialsCompetitivePeersversusS&P500Index

S-4ComparativeReturns:SGIGlobalNanotechIndexversusS&P500Index

Page 25: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|22

References 1.ChristopherThomas.Anewworldunderconstruction:Chinaandsemiconductors,2015McKinsey&Company.2.EdwardWhite,Hsinchu,June18,2018.FinancialTimes,https://www.ft.com/content/a1a5f0fa-63f7-11e8-90c2-9563a0613e563.StefanBurghardt,SeunghyukChoi,andFlorianWeig.2017McKinsey&Company.Mobilitytrends:What’saheadforautomotivesemiconductors,4.DanielT.Niles,AlphaOneCapitalPartners,NexGenTechFund,20185.SemiconductorIndustryAssociation,https://www.semiconductors.org/news/2018/07/026.HowsemiconductorcompaniescanwininChina’snewproductdevelopmentlandscape,2017McKinseyQuarterly.7.ChallaS.S.R.Kumar.MaterialsToday,NanotechnologyToolsinPharmaceuticalR&D.Vol.12ElectronMicroscopyspecialissue,Elsevier2010.8.NationalNanotechnologyInitiative,https://www.nano.gov/9.YoleDeveloppement,PowerGaN2017:Epitaxy,Devices,Applications,andTechnologyTrends201710.RobertCastellano.SemiconductorEquipmentCompaniesAreHeadingToSemiconWestAsAppliedMaterialsSputters.https://seekingalpha.com11.GlobalNanotechnologyMarket2018–2024.GlobeNewswireMay2,2018.https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/global-nanotechnology-market-2018-2024

Page 26: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|23

Citations 1. ThomasC.Anewworldunderconstruction:Chinaandsemiconductors.McKinseyCo.

2015.2. WhiteE.ChinaseekssemiconductorsecurityafterZTEban.FinancialTimes.

https://www.ft.com/content/a1a5f0fa-63f7-11e8-90c2-9563a0613e56.PublishedJune18,2018.

3.StefanBurghardt,SeunghyukChoi,andFW.Mobilitytrends:What'saheadforautomotivesemiconductors.McKinseyCo.2017.

4. NilesDT.AGoldenAgeforGlobalGrowthSemiconductorrevenuesupover20%y/y.In:AlphaOneCapitalPartners,LLC.;2018.

5. SemiconductorIndustryAssociation.https://www.semiconductors.org/news/2018/07/02.Published2018.

6. ChesnaisT,ThomasC.HowsemiconductorcompaniescanwininChina’snewproductdevelopmentlandscape.McKinseyCo.2017.

7.GlobalNanotechnologyMarket2018–2024.GlobeNewswire.https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/global-nanotechnology-market-2018-2024.Published2018.

8. KumarCSSR.NanotechnologyToolsinPharmaceuticalR&D.MaterToday,Elsevier.2010;Vol.12(ElectronMicroscopyspecialissue).

9. NationalNanotechnologyInitiative.https://www.nano.gov/.Published2018.10. VillamorA.PowerGaN2017:Epitaxy,Devices,Applications,andTechnologyTrends.

YoleDevelopment.2017.11. CastellanoR.SemiconductorEquipmentCompaniesAreHeadingToSemiconWest

AsAppliedMaterialsSputters.https://seekingalpha.com.

Page 27: Studies in Applied Finance PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF ...PROBABILISTIC VALUATION OF NANOTRONICS Carlos Gomez, Hesam N. Motlagh and Steve H. Hanke Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied

ProbabilisticValuationofNanotronicsBy:CarlosGomez1,HesamN.Motlagh1,andSteveH.Hanke1

1TheJohnsHopkinsInstituteforAppliedEconomics,GlobalHealth,andtheStudyofBusinessEnterprise

Page|24

Appendix

CourtesyofOfficeofBasicEnergySciences,OfficeofScience,U.S.DepartmentofEnergyProductionmetrologymustbefast,economicalandsensitivetothenanoscale.

Carbonnanotubenano-compositepilotlineatAppliedNanostructuredSolutions–nanostructuresgeneratedonmeterwidewebmovingatmeters/minute(Nano.govUSNationalNanotechnologyInitiative).https://www.nano.gov/NSINanomanufacturing