Super Micro Computer, Inc., one of the top beneficiaries of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on Wall Street, plummeted by over 12% following news that it is under investigation by U.S. authorities for alleged accounting fraud.
On Thursday, Super Micro’s stock closed at $402.40 on the New York Stock Exchange, a 12.17% drop from the previous trading day.
This sharp decline followed the announcement that the U.S. Department of Justice had officially launched an investigation into Super Micro’s accounting fraud allegations.
On August 28, Hindenburg Research, a well-known activist short-selling firm on Wall Street, announced that it had taken a short position on Super Micro, citing accounting fraud. This news had already caused a sharp drop in Super Micro’s stock price at the time.
Following Hindenburg’s accusations, the Department of Justice initiated a formal investigation.
Meanwhile, Super Micro specializes in AI servers and is a key player in Wall Street’s AI sector. The company maintains a particularly close relationship with Nvidia, often using its chips ahead of others.
Both companies’ CEOs are Taiwanese-American. Nvidia’s CEO is Jensen Huang, while Super Micro’s CEO is Charles Liang, leading some to refer to Super Micro as a “sister company” of Nvidia.