Supermicro estimates revenue at $18.5–19.5 billion on AI demand
Key Facts
Supermicro estimated quarterly revenue of $18.5–19.5 billion, exceeding its previous guidance and analysts' expectations, in a preliminary business update issued on October 20, 2026. The update covers the first quarter of fiscal 2027, ended September 30, 2026. The company had forecast revenue of $14.5–15.5 billion for the same period, according to its investor statement. Analysts' average forecast was $15.23 billion, according to London Stock Exchange Group data cited by Reuters, below the low end of the new estimate. The company attributed the beat against its guidance primarily to "higher demand for AI platforms," while also raising its gross margin estimate.
Supermicro estimated gross margin for the quarter at 12.0%–12.5%, according to the preliminary business update. That compares with previous guidance of 10.4%–10.8%, reported by Reuters, putting the entire new range above the company's earlier estimates. The new estimate also exceeds analysts' gross margin forecast of 10.15%, according to the news agency. On a year-on-year basis, the margin is up from 9.3% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, according to the company's results for the corresponding quarter. But it remains below the 17.5% margin recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, meaning the improvement from the corresponding quarter is accompanied by a decline from the previous quarter.
The revenue update follows an earlier announcement by Supermicro that it received more than $60 billion in new orders during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. The company said in its business update for that quarter that delivery of these orders was expected over subsequent quarters. It described their size at the time as "total new orders exceeding $60 billion," referring to orders received during the quarter. On broader spending, Reuters cited expectations that Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta would invest more than $700 billion in AI infrastructure during 2026. That projected spending covers the four companies combined and comes as Supermicro attributes its higher sales estimates to demand for AI platforms.
In the market, Supermicro shares rose 11.3% in after-hours trading on October 20, 2026, following the update, according to Reuters. They then rose 12.2% ahead of the opening of trading on October 21, according to a later update from the news agency. Gains extended to Dell shares, which rose 5.2% in premarket trading. HPE shares also climbed 4% in the same trading session, according to Reuters. The rally thus encompassed all three companies' shares ahead of the session's opening, after Supermicro's revenue and gross margin estimates exceeded analysts' expectations.
The new revenue estimates put Supermicro above the previous fiscal quarter's sales of $11.1 billion, according to its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 earnings announcement. They also exceed sales of $5.0 billion in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, according to its first-quarter fiscal 2026 results. The company ended fiscal 2026 with annual sales of $39.1 billion. That compares with sales of $22.0 billion in fiscal 2025, according to its annual earnings announcement. The quarterly comparison combines higher estimated sales than in the previous quarter with a lower gross margin, despite both exceeding the company's guidance for the new quarter.
Supermicro had set fiscal 2027 sales guidance at $65.0–72.0 billion. That guidance was issued in its annual earnings announcement in August, before the quarterly business update released in October. The annual estimate covers the fiscal year that includes the quarter addressed in the preliminary update. The company scheduled its first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings call for November 3, 2026, according to the event page on its investor relations website. The call is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time.