Super Micro soars after hiring new auditor

Super Micro Computer Inc. shares jumped as much as 27% after the company hired a new auditor and filed a plan to come into compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements.

The server maker said it submitted a plan to the Nasdaq exchange for filing its 10-K financial disclosure report delayed in August. The company also announced that it appointed BDO USA as its independent auditor, effective immediately. 

"In its compliance plan to Nasdaq, the company indicated that it believes that it will be able to complete its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2024, and its quarterly report on 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 2024, and become current with its periodic reports within the discretionary period available to the Nasdaq staff to grant," Super Micro said Monday in a statement. 

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

If Super Micro's plan is accepted by the exchange, its new deadline for the document will likely be pushed to February. It will be able to stay listed on the Nasdaq until a final decision about its compliance is made. If a plan isn't approved, the company can appeal the decision.

Super Micro's previous auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, resigned in October, citing concerns over the company's transparency and governance. Ernst & Young is one of the Big Four accounting firms, the auditors that vet the books of the world's largest companies. BDO USA is the sixth-largest auditor by revenue, according to Inside Public Accounting. The firm has only one other S&P 500 company as a client, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

Finding an auditor is a "big step for them," even if it isn't one of the Big Four firms, Matt Bryson, an analyst at Wedbush, said in an interview. "This is a positive step in terms of putting a plan forth in front of Nasdaq, and, at least from their perspective, hopefully being able to file their financials and put these problems to bed." 

Having a new auditor and a plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq's listing rules is the latest update in a tumultuous few months for Super Micro, which had gained favor with investors earlier this year as a potential beneficiary of the demand for artificial intelligence services. The San Jose, California-based company delayed filing its annual 10-K following a damaging report from short seller Hindenburg Research, and last week said it would be late with quarterly reports. 

Super Micro is also facing a U.S. Department of Justice probe. The shares had tumbled more than 80% from a peak in March through Monday's close.

The company has gone through a delisting and relisting process before. In 2019, the shares were taken off the Nasdaq exchange after Super Micro failed to meet deadlines to file a 10-K and several quarterly reports. The company received approval to rejoin the exchange in 2020, and in the same year paid a $17.5 million penalty to resolve an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Super Micro didn't admit to or deny the regulator's allegations as part of its settlement. 

Some stock bulls are reiterating their investment case for the one-time Wall Street AI darling. 

"We take the view that regardless of its regulatory woes (now receding in the rear-view mirror), SMCI maintains its leadership in the massive, scalable AI data center market for liquid-cooled server racks," Lynx Equity Strategy analyst KC Rajkumar said. 

"SMCI has a leadership position in the rapidly expanding liquid-cooled GPU server data center market, a position it is unlikely to give up any time soon," Rajkumar said.