Super Microcomputer logos are displayed at one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade shows on May 30, 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Ann Wang | Reuters
Shares of Super Microcomputer fell on Tuesday after the company announced a new share offering, part of one of the biggest rallies linked to the rise of artificial intelligence.
The company said in a filing Tuesday morning that it plans to sell an additional 2 million shares of common stock, bringing its total shares outstanding to more than 58 million.
Shares fell 10 percent during premarket trading.
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Super Micro, 1 day
“The primary objectives of this offering are to obtain additional capital to support our operations, including the purchase of inventory and other working capital purposes, expansion of manufacturing capacity and research and development (‘R&D’) investments,” the filing said. increase in,” the filing said.
Goldman Sachs is the underwriter for the new share offering. Goldman also has an option to purchase an additional 300,000 shares of Super Microcomputer within the next 30 days.
Super Microcomputer, a tech infrastructure company, has become one of the biggest winners of Wall Street’s AI investment appetite. Its stock has gained more than 900% in the past year before Tuesday’s decline, outpacing even Nvidia.
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Super Microcomputer, YTD
Recent advances in AI, including large language models such as ChatGPT, require increased computing power and data storage. This has led investors to focus on supermicrocomputers such as Nvidia and server infrastructure companies as the first wave of beneficiaries.
Supermicrocomputer is a fast-growing company, but still relatively small compared to tech giants that have also seen stocks rally due to interest in AI. The company reported net sales of $3.66 billion for the fourth quarter, up more than 100% year over year. It generated net income of approximately $300 million.
In particular, Super Microcomputer has seen some of its insiders sell their shares in the company in recent months. CEO Charles Liang sold about 1,000 shares in January that were attributed to his spouse. Director Daniel Fairfax has sold 900 shares on three separate days so far this year.
According to VerityData and the filing, the sale of both Liang and Fairfax was part of formal stock sale plans. But other transactions, including the sale of 5,000 shares by director Sherman Toan, did not appear to be part of such plans.
Director Shiu Leung Chan bought 2,000 shares on February 1, although he resigned as a director on March 11. Super Microcomputer said the resignation was to focus on family-owned business ventures and had nothing to do with any disagreements with the company.