FILE PHOTO: Logos of Super Micro Computer are pictured at COMPUTEX Taipei, one of the world's largest computer and technology trade shows, in Taipei, Taiwan May 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang/ File Photo
(Reuters) -AI server maker Super Micro Computer on Tuesday cut its third-quarter revenue and profit expectations due to delays in customer spending, amplifying worries of a pullback in AI-linked investments and pushing its shares down 16%.
The dour projections come after months of accounting issues had prompted a potential delisting, damaging customer and investor confidence in a company that had emerged as one of the biggest winners of the AI trade.
Investor jitters around AI spending have also heightened as U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on trading partners have sparked fears of a global slowdown.
Nvidia shares fell close to 2% in after-hours trading while AMD's stock slipped about 1% following the cuts by a key partner.
Delayed "customer platform decisions" moved sales into the fourth quarter, Super Micro said, trimming its preliminary revenue expectation for the three months ended March 31 to a range of $4.5 billion to $4.6 billion, from $5 billion to $6 billion earlier.
Wall Street has highlighted a potential slowdown in investments in AI infrastructure even as Alphabet and Amazon.com have reaffirmed their ambitious plans.
TD Cowen analysts last month said Microsoft had abandoned projects set to use 2 gigawatts of electricity in the last six months due to oversupply.
"It is possible that some of the large hyperscaler customers are adjusting their data center plans based on several factors - a weakening economy, tariffs on equipment and delays in the delivery of Nvidia's Blackwell products" said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria.
Super Micro had said in February its products featuring Nvidia's latest line of Blackwell chips were in full production.
Analysts widely believe that demand for older generation AI chips would persist despite new semiconductor launches given the tight supply of advanced processors.
Some analysts pinned the cut from Super Micro to its litany of internal issues.
"Super Micro's stumble looks more like self-inflicted wounds than a signal of broader trouble," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer of Running Point Capital.
"Tariffs may have nudged sentiment, but it's internal missteps — customer spending delays and missed expectations — that kicked the stock down the stairs."
Super Micro cut its expectations for adjusted quarterly profit to a range of 29 cents to 31 cents per share, from between 46 cents and 62 cents earlier.
It blamed the grim profit figures to higher inventory levels of older products.
Shares of rival server maker Dell Technologies were down 4.6% while Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell more than 1.5%.
Still, some customers may have chosen to move their business rather than deal with Super Micro's internal problems, potentially helping Dell and HPE win orders, said Blake Anderson, associate portfolio manager at Carson Group.
Super Micro will host a conference call on May 6.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa and Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Sriraj Kalluvila)
