Down 84%, Nvidia’s Favorite Partner Is About to Get Delisted… Can it Survive The Brutal “Wild West?"

As December drew to a close, Super Micro's executive team and CEO were likely brainstorming their New Year’s resolutions for 2024. I’d bet “losing 84% of our stock’s value and getting delisted from Nasdaq” didn’t make the shortlist—or the company Christmas cards. Yet here we are in November, and that's exactly where the story's landed.

In March 2023, Super Micro’s stock peaked at an all-time high of $122.90, fueled by excitement around artificial intelligence and its close partnership with Nvidia, the go-to supplier for its high-performance GPUs. Over the previous year, the stock had soared 318%, making it one of the hottest names in tech. Investors on reddit were dreaming big (yachts, vacations, and strippers).

But good times don’t last forever (especially when you’re juggling delayed filings, auditor drama, and a short-seller nuke).Today, the stock has cliffjumped to $18.58. An 84% plunge that wiped out those dreamy gains. Turns out, you can’t coast on AI hype when the SEC starts sniffing around your paperwork.

And about that paperwork—Super Micro decided to ghost the SEC by not filing its 10-K on time. (Pro tip: That’s how you get delisted.) Things escalated when Ernst & Young noped out as their auditor in October, citing “concerns.” Translation: “We don’t want to be anywhere near this dumpster fire.”

For the uninitiated, pink sheets are the Wild West of stock trading (think low liquidity, higher costs, and a serious reputational downgrade). Analyst Matt Bryson of Wedbush put it bluntly: “There are huge questions hanging over the stock.”

In August, short-seller Hindenburg Research dropped a report accusing Super Micro of accounting manipulation and export control issues. The company denied it, of course, but the damage was done. Shares tanked, and investors were left wondering if they’d just bought into Enron.

Here’s the thing: Super Micro’s story isn’t entirely a horror movie. Back in 2018, the company was delisted for similar issues but clawed its way back to Nasdaq in 2020. Plus, unaudited reports show they pulled in nearly $15 billion in sales last year. 

But analysts are skeptical. Dell and Cisco are circling like sharks, ready to poach Super Micro’s AI server customers. And Nvidia, their biggest supplier, could redirect shipments to less drama-filled competitors.

If Super Micro can pull together a compliance plan, Nasdaq might give them a 180-day extension. But the clock is ticking, and their track record with deadlines is about as accurate as my local weather forecast.

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Stock.News has positions in Dell.