Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) stock is trading higher on Thursday as the company gave stock investors an unexpected update on Tuesday after stating that fourth-quarter revenue is expected “near the low end” of its guided range of $11 billion to $12.5 billion.
The Nasdaq is down 2.26% while the S&P 500 has shed 1.35%.
Stock traders focused instead on preliminary gross margins of 15% to 17%, up from previous guidance of 8.2% to 8.4%, and “more than $60 billion” in new AI infrastructure orders.
Revenue Takes A Backseat To Profitability
During the AI expansion, traders evaluated companies based on revenue growth and GPU shipments. Super Micro Computer challenged those metrics by delivering higher profitability despite forecasting lower-end revenue.
Management attributed the higher gross margins to a “favorable customer and product mix,” indicating customers are purchasing richer AI system configurations.
Product mix improvements signal potential pricing power and stronger demand for premium offerings alongside a record order pipeline.
Technical Analysis
SMCI is trying to stabilize after a steep 12-month slide of 39.69%, and today’s push has the stock trading 12.2% above its 20-day SMA ($27.75), a sign the near-term trend has improved. The bigger picture is still mixed-to-bearish because it remains 5% below its 50-day SMA ($32.79) and 7.3% below its 200-day SMA ($33.59).
- Key Resistance: $36.50 — a nearby ceiling where rebounds can stall, sitting above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages that the stock still needs to reclaim
- Key Support: $25.50 — a nearby floor tied to a prior buyer-defense zone, and it’s also below the 20-day average where a failed rebound could retest
Super Micro Computer Stock Short Interest Report
Short interest in Super Micro Computer increased during the last reporting period, rising from 96.23 million to 103.19 million. This put 20.83% of the company’s publicly available shares short.
Based on the recent average volume of 65.17 million shares traded per day, it would take 1.58 days for holders of this short interest to close out their positions without sending the stock sharply higher.
SMCI Price Action: Super Micro Computer shares were up 5.04% at $32.10 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Image via Shutterstock
