Super Micro jumps 12.7% as revenue estimates top guidance, lifting Dell and HPE
Key Facts
Super Micro Computer shares jumped in premarket trading on October 21, 2026, after the company announced preliminary fiscal first-quarter revenue estimates of between $18.5 billion and $19.5 billion. The range exceeded the company's previous guidance for the same quarter of between $14.5 billion and $15.5 billion, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The sales estimates also topped analysts' average forecast of $15.23 billion, according to London Stock Exchange Group data cited by Reuters. The company said the figures were preliminary and unaudited, as part of a business update for the fiscal quarter just ended. The revenue estimates above guidance were accompanied by an announcement of a higher gross margin than the company had expected, while it attributed the strength in sales primarily to increased demand for AI platforms.
Super Micro estimated its fiscal first-quarter gross margin at between 12.0% and 12.5%, compared with previous guidance of between 10.4% and 10.8%, according to the official filing. Despite exceeding guidance, the new range remains below the 17.5% gross margin the company recorded in the previous fiscal quarter ended in June 2026. Revenue for that quarter was $11.1 billion, according to the earnings release, compared with the higher preliminary sales range announced for the fiscal first quarter. For the full fiscal year ended in June 2026, gross margin was 10.8%, according to the company's annual results. Annual gross margin was 11.1% in the fiscal year ended in June 2025, meaning the completed year saw a decline in margin despite higher revenue.
Explaining why revenue exceeded its previous guidance, Super Micro cited "increased demand for AI platforms" in the filing as the main reason for its sales performance. The update follows a fiscal year during which Chief Executive Charles Liang said the company secured "more than $60 billion in new orders," according to the previous year's earnings release. Super Micro's offerings include solutions based on Nvidia's Blackwell architecture, according to the company's page dedicated to Nvidia solutions. Super Micro says those solutions were developed "in close collaboration with Nvidia" as part of its products based on the architecture. For the full year, the company recorded revenue of $39.1 billion in the fiscal year ended in June 2026, compared with $22.0 billion in the previous fiscal year.
In a separate development involving export controls, Super Micro announced the completion of an independent investigation into an alleged diversion scheme and issued a statement on its findings. The company said in that statement that it was not a defendant in the indictment concerning the alleged scheme to violate export controls. It added that the independent investigation found no evidence that any current member of senior management knew of the alleged diversion scheme. Its statement regarding senior management was framed in terms of knowledge of the scheme, according to the company's statement on the independent investigation. As for its status in the indictment, it said that "Super Micro was not named as a defendant," in a confirmation separate from the investigation's finding concerning current members of management.
In the market, Super Micro shares rose 12.7% before the opening of the October 21 session, according to trading moves reported by Reuters following the company's business update. The shares traded at $36.69, with revenue and gross margin estimates exceeding previous expectations. The rally extended to Dell shares, which gained more than 4% before the open, according to the news agency. HPE shares also rose more than 4% over the same period, alongside Super Micro's gains. The moves came amid concerns cited by Reuters about the profitability of data center operators funding expansion through debt issuance at a time of rising borrowing costs.
For the current fiscal year, Super Micro had issued revenue guidance of between $65.0 billion and $72.0 billion, according to its previous annual earnings release. That guidance covers the fiscal year ending in June 2027, at the start of which the quarter covered by the update falls. The annual range appeared in the fourth-quarter and full-year earnings announcement, before the new preliminary estimates for the fiscal first quarter. The company will discuss its financial results on a conference call on November 3, 2026, according to the announcement from investor relations. The results discussion will follow the preliminary unaudited update in which sales and margin estimates exceeded the company's previous guidance for the quarter.