Super Micro pushes up full-year revenue forecast as it points to strong AI demand

Super
Micro
shares
slipped
as
much
as
15%
in
extended
trading
on
Tuesday
after
the
server
maker
reported
slightly
lower
revenue
than
expected
for
its
fiscal
third
quarter,
even
as
it
gave
optimistic
top-line
guidance.

Here’s
how
the
company
did
in
comparison
with
LSEG
consensus:

• 
  Earnings
  per
  share:
  $6.65
  adjusted
  vs.
  $5.78
  expected
• 
  Revenue:
  $3.85
  billion,
  vs.
  $3.95
  billion
  expected

The
company’s
revenue
jumped
200%
year
over
year
in
the
quarter,
which
ended
on
March
31,
according
to
a

statement.
That
compared
with
a
103%
year-over-year
increase
in
the
previous
quarter.
Net
income
came
out
to
$402.5
million,
or
$6.56
per
share,
compared
with
$85.8
million,
or
$1.53
per
share,
in
the
year-ago
quarter.

Super
Micro
is
bumping
up
its
fiscal
2024
revenue
guidance
to
$14.7
billion
to
$15.1
billion
from
$14.3
billion
to
$14.7
billion.
Analysts
surveyed
by
LSEG
had
expected
$14.60
billion.
The
middle
of
the
new
range
implies
approximately
582%
year-over-year
revenue
growth.

“We
are
growing
customer
base
strongly
now,”
CEO
Charles
Liang
said
on
a
conference
call
with
analysts.

Notwithstanding
the
after-hours
move,
Super
Micro
stock
is
up
205%
so
far
this
year,
while
the
S&P
500
stock
index
has
gained
6%.

The
company
goes
up
against
legacy
IT
equipment
providers
such
as


Hewlett
Packard
Enterprise.
But
last
year,
investors
were
keen
to
bet
that
Super
Micro
could
become
a
key
provider
of
servers
containing


Nvidia
graphics
processing
units
for
working
with
artificial
intelligence
models,
pushing
up
the
stock
246%.

In
March,
Super
Micro

took
the
place
of
Whirlpool
in
the
S&P
500.

If
not
for
a
key
component
shortage,
Super
Micro
would
have
delivered
more
during
the
quarter,
Liang
said
on
the
call.
He
said
he
expects
AI
growth
to
remain
strong
for
many
quarters,
if
not
years,
to
come.
The
fast
growth
required
the
company
raise
capital
through
a
secondary
offering
this
year,
Liang
said.

Super
Micro’s
supply
chain
continues
to
improve,
said
finance
chief
David
Weigand.

The
company
is
eager
to
sell
liquid-cooled
servers
that
can
result
in
lower
energy
costs
than
air-cooled
alternatives,
Liang
said.