Super Micro Computer said Monday that its revenue nearly quadrupled over the past year, with fiscal first-quarter sales of $19.9 billion coming in well above the company's own preliminary estimate from just two weeks earlier, as orders for AI server racks continued to outstrip expectations.
The server maker's own earnings filing showed net sales rising from $5.0 billion a year earlier and $11.1 billion in the prior quarter. Gross margin improved to 12.7% on a GAAP basis, still thin by industry standards but up from levels that had worried investors earlier in the year. The company reported GAAP diluted earnings of $1.75 a share and non-GAAP earnings of $1.81 a share.
Guidance Already Looked Aggressive
Just two weeks before reporting final results, Supermicro had told investors to expect revenue of $18.5 billion to $19.5 billion for the quarter, itself a sharp jump from an earlier forecast of $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion. The final number of $19.9 billion came in above even that revised, already-raised range, underscoring how quickly demand for the racks of servers that power AI data centers has accelerated this year.
The jump has not come without costs. Supermicro reported cash flow used in operations of $434 million for the quarter, as the company poured money into inventory and components to keep pace with orders, while bank debt and convertible notes stood at $8.6 billion against $6.9 billion in cash on hand.
Supermicro's results arrived the same day as a blowout quarter from chipmaker AMD, whose data-center revenue nearly doubled, adding to evidence that spending on AI computing infrastructure has yet to slow even as some investors have grown nervous about whether that spending is sustainable, according to a market summary of the results. Supermicro is one of the largest assemblers of the server racks that house AI chips from Nvidia and AMD, giving it a direct read on how fast hyperscale cloud companies are building out capacity.
The company did not issue specific full-year guidance in Monday's release. Investors will be watching Supermicro's margins closely in coming quarters, since the company's profitability has historically lagged its revenue growth as it competes aggressively on price with larger rivals for AI server contracts.