Super Micro Sees Q1 Revenue of $18.5B to $19.5B, Far Above Guidance; Shares Jump 11%
Super Micro Computer ($SMCI) said preliminary Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue should land between $18.5 billion and $19.5 billion versus guidance of $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, primarily due to increased demand for AI platforms.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) said its fiscal first-quarter revenue should come in between $18.5 billion and $19.5 billion, far above its own guidance of $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion, primarily because of increased demand for AI platforms. The server maker also expects gross margin of 12.0% to 12.5%, versus guidance of 10.4% to 10.8%, primarily because of customer and product mix. The preliminary figures came in a Business Wire release at 4:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and the stock jumped in after-hours trading.
Preliminary results versus guidance
| Measure (quarter ended Sept. 30) | Preliminary | Prior guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $18.5B to $19.5B | $14.5B to $15.5B |
| Gross margin | 12.0% to 12.5% | 10.4% to 10.8% |
At the midpoints, revenue of $19.0 billion is about 27% above the $15.0 billion guided, by our calculation. Even the low end of the new range is about 19% above the top of the old range. Gross margin is about 1.65 percentage points higher at the midpoints. Together, our calculation puts implied gross profit at about $2.3 billion versus about $1.6 billion at the guidance midpoints, roughly 46% more. The company said the numbers are unaudited estimates that may change as it completes its financial close. The release did not give earnings per share, so we cannot compare profit to the earlier EPS guidance.
What Super Micro guided in August
| Item | Guidance or result |
|---|---|
| Q1 FY27 revenue guidance | $14.5B to $15.5B |
| Q1 FY27 non-GAAP EPS guidance | $1.01 to $1.10 |
| FY2027 revenue guidance | $65B to $72B |
| Q4 FY26 revenue (reported in August) | $11.1B, up 93% from a year earlier |
| Q4 FY26 non-GAAP gross margin | 17.6% |
When it reported fiscal fourth-quarter results in August, Super Micro said it entered fiscal 2027 with a record backlog and blamed a revenue shortfall on customers' delays in getting power, cooling and networking ready, which management called a timing issue, according to Yahoo Finance's summary of the call. The new range implies sales rising about 71% from the $11.1 billion of the prior quarter, by our calculation, and a $19.0 billion midpoint would be roughly 28% of the $68.5 billion midpoint of full-year guidance. The release did not update full-year guidance. The preliminary gross margin is below the 17.6% non-GAAP margin of the fourth quarter, which management said benefited partly from items that might not recur, and the release does not say whether the new range is GAAP or non-GAAP.
How the stocks reacted
| Stock | Tuesday close | After hours |
|---|---|---|
| Super Micro (SMCI) | $32.47 (+1.15%) | $36.20 (+$3.73, +11.49%) |
| Dell Technologies (DELL) | $461.56 (+1.48%) | $477.01 (+$15.45, +3.35%) |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) | $56.09 (+0.39%) | $57.91 (+$1.82, +3.24%) |
The after-hours quotes, taken from market data pages shortly after the 4:00 p.m. close, show Super Micro up about 11.5% and rival server makers Dell and HPE up about 3% each, a sign investors read the update as good news for AI server demand more broadly. After-hours trading is thin and prices can change quickly. Dell and HPE had fallen sharply last week, when Reuters reported they dropped about 10% and 6% on October 14 amid worries over AI financing costs, with Barclays downgrading both. For more on AI infrastructure spending, see our reports on SpaceX's earnings and the Akamai and Anthropic cloud deal.
Sources: Super Micro release via Business Wire, Yahoo Finance, Stocktwits, Reuters via Investing.com.
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