Super Micro Computer shares surged by 15% following the server company’s announcement that it is shipping over 100,000 graphics processing units used for artificial intelligence each quarter.
TakeAway Points:
- Super Micro’s stock price surged by 15%, as the computer server manufacturer said that it is shipping over 100,000 GPUs for artificial intelligence per quarter.
- Creating computers that businesses employ as servers for data storage, websites, AI training models, and other purposes, Super Micro is one of the major winners from the AI boom.
- But the annual report for the corporation, which was supposed to be released in August, is nearly nine weeks overdue.
- Meanwhile Alphabet’s Waymo will add electric vehicles from South Korea’s Hyundai Motor to its robotaxi fleet, the companies as Waymo expands in the United States.
Super Micro shares increase
Shares of Super Micro Computer surged by 15% following the company’s announcement that it ships over 100,000 GPUs for artificial intelligence every quarter.
That could translate into several billions of dollars of orders if the average price of a GPU is around the cost of Nvidia’s $30,000 chip. The GPU figure was revealed in an announcement about a new cooling product unveiled by Super Micro on Monday.
As one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, Super Micro makes computers that companies use as servers for data storage, websites, AI training models, and more. The company said its new cooling product will allow data centers to spend less on hardware costs and cooling infrastructure for servers that typically need to be running constantly.
Super Micro also said it recently deployed more than 100,000 GPUs with liquid cooling solutions “for some of the largest AI factories ever built,” as well as other cloud service providers.
While the announcement was cheered by Wall Street, Super Micro is about nine weeks behind in reporting its annual report, which was expected in August. The company said late that month that management needed additional time “to complete its assessment of the design and operating effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting as of June 30, 2024.”
Even after Monday’s rally, the stock is down by well over 50% since peaking in March. The company’s shares fell 12% on Sept. 26, after The Wall Street Journal reported the Department of Justice opened a probe into the company following a report from short seller Hindenburg Research in which the firm alleged it identified “fresh evidence of accounting manipulation.”
Waymo sets to expand robotaxi fleet with Hyundai EVs
Alphabet’s Waymo will add electric vehicles from South Korea’s Hyundai Motor to its robotaxi fleet, the companies said on Friday, as Waymo expands in the United States.
On-road testing for IONIQ 5 SUVs – assembled at Hyundai’s Georgia facility and equipped with Waymo’s autonomous technology – will begin by late 2025, they said.
Waymo has about 700 vehicles in its fleet and is the only U.S. firm operating uncrewed robotaxis that collect fares.
The partnership with Hyundai comes days before Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set to unveil plans for a robotaxi product that is expected to use a custom-built vehicle. Musk may also discuss plans for his company to run a ride-hailing platform that will allow Tesla owners to list their vehicles when not in use.
Waymo now uses I-PACE vehicles from Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India’s Tata Motors. Waymo is also testing its technology using vehicles from Zeekr, the EV brand of China’s Geely. A spokesperson for Waymo said the Hyundai partnership will not directly replace any of its current vehicle platforms.
This year, Waymo opened its service to everyone in San Francisco without the need to join a waitlist, while expanding its operations in metro Phoenix. It also extended services to the San Francisco Peninsula and to certain parts of Los Angeles.
“The team at our new manufacturing facility is ready to allocate a significant number of vehicles for the Waymo One fleet as it continues to expand,” Jose Munoz, global COO of Hyundai Motor, said in a statement. “We are actively exploring additional opportunities for collaboration.”
Despite widespread scepticism, tight regulatory scrutiny, and federal investigations on AV technology, Alphabet said this year it was planning a multi-year $5 billion investment in Waymo.
In August, Waymo said it had doubled its paid rides to 100,000 per week in just over three months as it expanded its areas of service and allowed more people to ride its robotaxis.
Others in the race include General Motors’ Cruise, which is testing cars with human safety drivers after an accident last year led it to pull all vehicles from the road, and Amazon’s Zoox, which is expanding testing for its vehicles built without steering wheels and pedals.
