Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) said temporary customer delays tied to power, cooling and networking readiness held back fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, even as AI server demand remained strong.
CEO Blames Power And Cooling, Not Demand
The company disclosed more than $60 billion in new orders during its fiscal fourth quarter, pushing its backlog to a record heading into fiscal 2027.
CEO Charles Liang told analysts during the earnings call that the quarter’s revenue reflected delayed deliveries rather than weaker demand.
“Q4 revenue came in at $11.1 billion due to some short-term customer delay in power shortage, cooling, and networking,” Liang said.
“We know this is purely a timing story.”
Liquid Cooling Push Targets the Lag
Pressed on whether large data center and cloud customers were changing their buying patterns, Liang again pointed to infrastructure readiness on the customer side.
“Large data center always have power readiness, data center readiness concern, especially liquid cooling,” he said.
Liang cited the company’s bundled Data Center Building Block Solutions (DCBBS) offering as its answer to the lag, and said liquid cooling capacity is on track to top 3,000 racks per month.
DCBBS is Supermicro’s bundled offering combining servers, storage, cooling, networking, software, and services.
Expects Cash Conversion to Normalize
CFO David Weigand said the company’s cash conversion cycle stretched from 106 days in Q3 to 149 days in Q4, a 43-day jump in a single quarter.
Weigand said he expects the cash conversion cycle to normalize as more favorable terms embedded in the current backlog take effect.
Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates on Record Backlog
Super Micro reported $11.12 billion in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, falling short of Wall Street expectations of $11.45 billion, while adjusted earnings reached $1.70 per share compared to analysts’ estimate of $0.88, according to Benzinga Pro.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Super Micro expects revenue between $14.5 billion and $15.5 billion, with GAAP diluted earnings of $0.89 to $0.98 per share and non-GAAP diluted earnings in the range of $1.01 to $1.10 per share.
Price Action: The shares climbed 0.45% on Tuesday to close at $31.60 and jumped 7.56% in extended trading on the quarterly results.
Benzinga Edge rankings indicate Super Micro stock has a Momentum score in the 10th percentile and a Growth score in the 77th percentile.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: PJ McDonnell / Shutterstock
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