By Juby Babu
May 5 (Reuters) – Super Micro Computer forecast fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted profit above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, banking on robust demand for its artificial intelligence servers, sending its shares up 18% in extended trading.
The projections will likely reassure investors following the U.S. Justice Department in March charging three people linked to the company for helping smuggle billions of dollars of AI chips to China.
Super Micro projected fourth-quarter revenue in the range of $11 billion to $12.5 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $11.07 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company expects adjusted profit per share in the range of 65 cents to 79 cents, above expectations of 55 cents.
Super Micro has been a primary beneficiary of the AI boom, with its ability to quickly build and ship customized, high-performance servers making it a preferred vendor for data center operators and AI startups.
Demand has been strong for its broader datacenter and cloud software suite, CEO Charles Liang said on a post-earnings call.
The company’s sites in Taiwan, Malaysia and the Netherlands are all “ramping up aggressively”, he added.
The combined AI outlays from Big Tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta Platforms are now projected to top $700 billion this year.
SEEING NO IMPACT
Super Micro’s relationship with vendors including Nvidia, AMD and Intel has not been impacted by the charging.
“There has been no change in allocations,” Chief Financial Officer David Weigand said on the earnings call.
No one other than those named in the indictment was involved, he said.
The company has started an independent investigation into the case.
Super Micro posted revenue of $10.24 billion for the third quarter ended March 31, a jump of more than 122% from the same period last year. It, however, missed analysts’ estimates of $12.33 billion.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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