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SMCI
FY2026 Q1
Raised
Super Micro Computer, Inc. earnings call
Buzzberg read
Record $13B+ in orders, including largest in history
SMCI reported a weak Q1 (revenue of $5B, below guidance) due to shipment delays but guided to a massive ramp in Q2 (>= $10.5B) and raised FY26 revenue to >= $36B. The company is pushing into a new strategic low-margin 'mega-scale' deal, likely for a neocloud customer, and is expanding capacity aggressively. Revenue of $5B missed guidance of $6-7B due to last-minute customer upgrades and logistics delays; $1.5B pushed to December quarter.
Buzzberg read Record $13B+ in orders, including largest in history SMCI reported a weak Q1 (revenue of $5B, below guidance) due to shipment delays but guided to a massive ramp in Q2 (>= $10.5B) and raised FY26 revenue to >= $36B. The company is pushing into a new strategic low-margin 'mega-scale' deal, likely for a neocloud customer, and is expanding capacity aggressively. Revenue of $5B missed guidance of $6-7B due to last-minute customer upgrades and logistics delays; $1.5B pushed to December quarter. Read full analysisCollapse analysis
SMCI reported a weak Q1 (revenue of $5B, below guidance) due to shipment delays but guided to a massive ramp in Q2 (>= $10.5B) and raised FY26 revenue to >= $36B. The company is pushing into a new strategic low-margin 'mega-scale' deal, likely for a neocloud customer, and is expanding capacity aggressively. Revenue of $5B missed guidance of $6-7B due to last-minute customer upgrades and logistics delays; $1.5B pushed to December quarter.
- Record new orders of >$13B, primarily for NVIDIA GB300 platforms, including the largest single deal in company history.
- Gross margin guidance for December quarter implies ~6.5%, down 300 bps sequentially due to costs of ramping a new mega-scale platform.
- Management raised full-year revenue guidance to at least $36B, calling it 'very conservative'.
Revenue$5.0178BReported
EPS$0.35Reported
Gross margin9.31%Reported
Operating margin3.63%Reported
6 grounded callouts
What matters now
The highest-signal changes from the call.
Guidance
Fiscal 2026 revenue guidance raised to at least $36B
Margins
DCPBS to drive higher margins, on track for data center solutions
Show 3 more callouts
AI
Preparing for NVIDIA Vera Rubin and AMD Helios launches
Capex
Expanding capacity to support $100B+ potential revenue
Margins
Gross margins expected to trough in December quarter
Reported period
Actuals
| Metric | Reported | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.0178B | Reported |
| EPS | $0.35 | Reported |
| Gross margin | 9.31% | Reported |
| Operating margin | 3.63% | Reported |
| Free cash flow | $-0.9498B | Reported |
| Capex | $0.0323B | Reported |
Forward-looking
Forward guidance
| Metric | Period | Range | Midpoint | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | FY2026 Q2 | $0.46–$0.54 | $0.50 | Guided |
| Gross margin | FY2026 Q2 | 6.5% | 6.5% | Guided |
| Revenue | FY2026 | $36B | $36B | Raised |
| Revenue | FY2026 Q2 | $10B–$11B | $10.5B | Guided |
AI, capex & demand read
Management read
Upbeat
Management expressed strong confidence in growth, highlighted record orders and revenue guidance raise, and emphasized their unique positioning in AI infrastructure, despite acknowledging margin pressures.
Management AI read
Management highlighted strong demand for AI compute, with NVIDIA GB300 (Blackwell) products contributing over $13B in back orders, and expects continued growth from AI GPU platforms, including B300, B200, MI350/355X, and upcoming NVIDIA Vera Rubin and AMD Helios launches. They also see rapid growth in edge AI, agentic AI, and industry-specific models, and are positioning themselves as a leading AI
Investment and capacity
Management is aggressively expanding global production capacity, with new facilities in Taiwan, Netherlands, Malaysia, and Middle East, targeting 6,000 racks per month (including 3,000 liquid-cooled racks) within the fiscal year. They are investing upfront in capacity, which pressures near-term margins, but expect cost efficiencies and economies of scale to improve profitability over time.
all 6 named companies below
Companiesreturns since call
Customers
XAI.PVT
Customers
Charles Liang
Confirmed ongoing strategic partnership with xAI, indicating long-term customer relationship beyond the initial Colossus deployment.
Evidence
“XAI, for sure, are very good partners. And whenever we have a chance, we try to work with them to learn something from them and to offer our best service. So, yes, XAI will continue to be our important partner for long term.”
Suppliers
Suppliers
Charles Liang
SMCI received over $13 billion in new orders, largely for GB300-based racks, including its largest deal ever, indicating a significant demand spike for next-gen AI platforms from 'high-profile' customers. — The scale of these orders validates that the AI infrastructure buildout is in an early, accelerating phase and points to significant complexity and cost in the supply chain.
Evidence
“We are shipping RTX Pro 6000, B200, MVL4, and AMD MI350, 355X platforms in volume to power generative AI, large language model, inference, and HPC workloads.”
Suppliers
Charles Liang
SMCI's guidance implies ~6.5% gross margin for the December quarter, down from 9.5%, with management explicitly citing a 'strategic large design win' with 'higher costs and lower margin' as a major factor, likely referring to a hyperscaler or neocloud customer. — This indicates SMCI is taking a low-margin, high-volume strategic deal to secure market share, which signals intense price competition and immense pricing power among the leading AI chip customers.
Evidence
“NVIDIA is getting available. we are receiving more and more allocation from them and preparing for a huge volume to ramp up, start from this quarter.”
Supply chain
Supply chain
Charles Liang
SMCI received over $13 billion in new orders, largely for GB300-based racks, including its largest deal ever, indicating a significant demand spike for next-gen AI platforms from 'high-profile' customers. — The scale of these orders validates that the AI infrastructure buildout is in an early, accelerating phase and points to significant complexity and cost in the supply chain.
Evidence
“Our NVIDIA BlackWare Hotspot-based GB300 product line now at more than $13 billion in back orders, including the largest deal in our 32-year history.”
Supply chain
David Wiegand
SMCI's guidance implies ~6.5% gross margin for the December quarter, down from 9.5%, with management explicitly citing a 'strategic large design win' with 'higher costs and lower margin' as a major factor, likely referring to a hyperscaler or neocloud customer. — This indicates SMCI is taking a low-margin, high-volume strategic deal to secure market share, which signals intense price competition and immense pricing power among the leading AI chip customers.
Evidence
“...we are ramping a new product line at mega scale, and so, therefore, We're being a little conservative on the margin because we will have higher costs as we ramp production and shipment.”
External signals
Supply-chain alpha · 4returns since call
SMCI received over $13 billion in new orders, largely for GB300-based racks, including its largest deal ever, indicating a significant demand spike for next-gen AI platforms from 'high-profile' customers.
SMCI is ramping capacity to ~6,000 racks per month (including ~3,000 liquid cooled), suggesting a production capacity potentially exceeding $100 billion annually, indicating a major logistics and supply chain scale-up.
Evidence
“If you time 3,000 liquid cooling tower per month, and you time 12 months a year, and each rack, for example, $3 million, so the number is more than $100 billion.”
SMCI's cash conversion cycle ballooned to 123 days with inventory at 105 days as it pre-builds for the December quarter, implying a cash-intensive ramp that could pressure suppliers' ability to keep pace.
Evidence
“Q1 operating cash flow was impacted by lower net income and higher accounts receivable and higher inventory levels as we prepared for a strong Q2 with higher working capital needs.”
SMCI's guidance implies ~6.5% gross margin for the December quarter, down from 9.5%, with management explicitly citing a 'strategic large design win' with 'higher costs and lower margin' as a major factor, likely referring to a hyperscaler or neocloud customer.
Methodology & coverage
Management-only analysis. All 6 validated company mentions are shown. Reported actuals and forward guidance are kept separate. Public evidence is limited to eight short attributed quotes. AI-generated analysis can be incomplete or wrong; verify important claims against the original source.