Suspected accounting violations investigated by the US Department of Justice, Super Micro Computer fell by 12%

Zhitong
2024.09.27 01:02

Super Micro Computer is under investigation by the US Department of Justice due to allegations of accounting irregularities made by former employees. The stock price fell nearly 17% on Thursday, ultimately closing down 12% at $402.40, marking the largest decline since August 28. The company had previously paid a $17.5 million fine in 2020 for accounting issues. The CEO of Super Micro Computer stated that the report by Extenburg Research contained false statements

According to VESYNC Finance APP, there are reports that a former employee of Super Micro Computer (SMCI.US) has accused the company of accounting irregularities. The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into this, causing the stock to plummet nearly 17% on Thursday. Due to the significant drop, trading was halted multiple times, and it ultimately closed down 12% at $402.40, marking the largest decline since the report released by the short-selling agency Hindenburg Research on August 28. This incident occurred just a few years after the company's last accounting case settlement with major financial regulatory agencies.

An informed source revealed that a prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco recently contacted individuals who may have information related to these allegations. Earlier on Thursday, foreign media reported on this investigation and cited a lawsuit filed against the company by a former Super Micro Computer employee, Bob Luong.

Since earlier this year when Luong accused Super Micro of attempting to inflate its revenue in federal court, regulatory scrutiny over the company has intensified. Following this, Hindenburg Research cited Luong's allegations in a research report on Super Micro, highlighting "obvious accounting red flags, undisclosed related-party transaction evidence, sanctions and export control failures, and customer issues."

Super Micro Computer declined to comment on the prosecutor's investigation, and the Department of Justice also declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Super Micro Computer's CEO, Charles Liang, stated in a letter to customers that Hindenburg's report contained "false or misleading statements about our company, including misleading statements about information we previously shared publicly."

Super Micro Computer primarily sells high-performance servers for data centers, and with the growth of artificial intelligence, the company's demand has seen explosive growth in recent quarters. The soaring stock price has become a symbol of enthusiasm for this emerging technology. The stock has risen by 42% year-to-date.

In 2020, Super Micro paid a $17.5 million fine to settle an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into its accounting practices. As part of the settlement agreement, Super Micro neither admitted nor denied the regulator's allegations

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