Three major semiconductor companies closed higher on August 12 following the release of earnings results from Super Micro Computer Inc., a key supplier in the AI server infrastructure space. Advanced Micro Devices closed up 1.8% at $483, Intel rose 3.3% to $101, and NVIDIA gained 3% to $224.
Super Micro released its fiscal fourth-quarter report on August 11, delivering results that impressed investors on multiple fronts. Non-GAAP earnings per share reached $1.70, significantly exceeding analyst projections of approximately $0.71. While revenue of $11.12 billion came slightly short of expectations, the company’s order book emerged as the dominant narrative. Super Micro reported more than $60 billion in new orders received during the quarter, representing a gain of more than 50% compared to the $39 billion reported just six weeks earlier.
Gross margin expansion accompanied the order growth. Super Micro’s non-GAAP gross margin increased to 17.6%, more than doubling the previously forecasted range of 8.2%-8.4%. Management attributed the margin improvement to a favorable mix of customers and products.
The rally’s reach extended across semiconductor firms for distinct reasons. For NVIDIA, whose graphics processing units power the servers Super Micro assembles, the order surge provided independent confirmation that demand for its chips remained robust heading into its upcoming fiscal second-quarter earnings report, which projects revenue of approximately $91 billion excluding China data-center compute. Advanced Micro Devices gained particular relevance given its positioning as NVIDIA’s primary competitor in AI data center silicon, having secured major deployment orders including contracts for up to 2 gigawatts of MI450 accelerators for Anthropic. Intel benefited through a different mechanism, as its Xeon server CPUs function as host processors integrated within the GPU systems that companies like Super Micro design, meaning an expansion in Super Micro’s order book would increase Intel’s CPU attach volume.
Institutional interest in Super Micro had been climbing prior to the earnings release, with hedge fund ownership rising from 39 funds in Q4 to 49 funds in Q1, according to filing data. However, investors acknowledged that the gains could face pressure if NVIDIA’s upcoming results suggest weakening demand or a slower ramp for its Blackwell generation products.
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