Super Micro Computer (SMCI) stock plunged more than 16% early Wednesday after the troubled AI server maker’s results underperformed Wall Street’s expectations.
Super Micro late Tuesday reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.41 for its 2025 fiscal fourth quarter, less than the $0.44 expected by Wall Street analysts, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
Its quarterly revenue of $5.76 billion was below the $6 billion projected, while its roughly $551 million gross profit for the period fell short of the estimated $601 million.
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The company’s projections for adjusted earnings per share in the current quarter also disappointed, while its revenue guidance topped estimates. Super Micro Computer expects EPS of $0.40-$0.52 in its first quarter of 2026, lower than analysts’ expected guidance of $0.59. In one bright spot, the company said it expects revenue of at least $33 billion for the period, more than the $30 billion projected.
JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote in a note to clients late Tuesday night that the report “marks yet another quarter of the company’s execution falling short of the targets laid out by the management heading into the quarter.”
Super Micro was an early mover in the AI market following the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, making massive server racks designed by Nvidia (NVDA) with the chipmaker’s GPUs, which are used to train and run artificial intelligence models.
But analysts have increasingly voiced concerns that Super Micro’s competitive edge in the AI server market has dwindled as server companies also adopt Nvidia’s server designs to make their products.
CEO Charles Liang said Super Micro’s earnings disappointment was due to “a capital constraint that limited our ability to rapidly scale production and specification changes from a major new customer that delay revenue recognition.” Liang also pointed to supply chain bottlenecks in receiving chips from Nvidia to make its servers.
Liang said the company’s capital constraint was due to its delayed 10-K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year, in a scathing report by short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, Super Micro was accused of accounting and export controls violations, as well as questionable relationships between its executives and key suppliers.
The company delayed submitting its quarterly and annual filings to the SEC, putting it at risk of being delisted by the Nasdaq. The delayed filings, the report of a DOJ probe into its accounting practices, and the resignation of its accountant sent the stock spiraling to end 2024.
Though Super Micro avoided delisting earlier this year, the stock fell in May after its third quarter earnings report fell short of expectations and the company lowered its full-year revenue outlook, citing economic uncertainty amid President Trump’s trade war and fierce competition from other AI server makers.
Still, shares were up more than 50% as of Wednesday morning, as investors have piled back into AI-themed stocks over the past few months.
Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @laurabratton.bsky.social. Email her at laura.bratton@yahooinc.com.
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