Super Micro shares soar 31% after company names new auditor to help keep Nasdaq listing

Super Micro Computer shares jumped 31% on Tuesday after the embattled server maker said it named BDO as its new auditor and submitted a plan to Nasdaq detailing its efforts to regain compliance with the exchange.

The stock has now climbed more than 50% over the last two trading days on optimism that it will keep its Nasdaq listing. Still, the company has lost about three-quarters of its value since its stock peaked in March, a decline that’s wiped out roughly $54 billion in market cap.

Super Micro is late in filing its 2024 year-end report with the SEC and said earlier this month that it was looking for a new accountant after its previous auditor, Ernst & Young, stepped down in October. Ernst & Young was new to the job, having replaced Deloitte & Touche as Super Micro’s accounting firm in March 2023.

Super Micro said in a statement late Monday that it told Nasdaq that the company believes it will be able to file its annual report for the year ended June 30, and quarterly report for the period ended Sept. 30. The company said it will remain listed on the Nasdaq pending the exchange’s “review of the compliance plan.”

Analysts at Mizuho, who previously suspended their rating on the stock, wrote in a note that Nasdaq still has to approve the plan, which could take two to five weeks.

Super Micro CEO Charles Liang said in Monday’s statement that appointing BDO marks “an important next step to bring our financial statements current, an effort we are pursuing with both diligence and urgency.”

Shares of Super Micro soared more than twentyfold over a two-year period from early 2022 until their peak in March. But the stock has been hammered on troubling news about its compliance with Nasdaq.

Super Micro has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom, due to its relationship with Nvidia. Sales last fiscal year more than doubled to $15 billion.

On Monday, Super Micro announced it is selling products featuring Nvidia’s next-generation AI chip called Blackwell. The company competes with vendors such as Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise in packaging up Nvidia AI chips for other companies to access.

Super Micro was added to the S&P 500 in March, reflecting its rapidly growing business and then-soaring stock price. Less than two weeks after the index changes were announced, Super Micro reached its closing high of $118.81.

The troubles began within months. In August, Super Micro said it wouldn’t file its annual report with the SEC on time. Noted short seller Hindenburg Research then disclosed a short position in the company, and said in a report that it identified “fresh evidence of accounting manipulation.” The Wall Street Journal later reported that the Department of Justice was at the early stages of a probe into the company.

The month after announcing its report delay, Super Micro said it had received a notification from the Nasdaq, indicating that the delay in the filing of its annual report meant the company wasn’t in compliance with the exchange’s listing rules. Super Micro said the Nasdaq’s rules allowed the company 60 days to file its report or submit a plan to regain compliance. Based on that time frame, the deadline was Monday.

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