Supermicro Faces Major Stock Drop Amid Export Violation Charges
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) saw its stock plunge over 33% on March 20, 2023, following the indictment of three individuals connected to the company for allegedly smuggling banned Nvidia chips to China. The U.S. Department of Justice charged co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, sales manager Ruei-Tsan “Steven” Chang, and contractor Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun with conspiracy to unlawfully divert U.S. artificial intelligence technology. Although Supermicro itself has not been charged with any wrongdoing, the allegations raised significant concerns and resulted in a 29.7% stock decline for March amidst an overall decline of 5.1% in the S&P 500.
From 2024 to 2025, servers containing approximately $2.5 billion worth of these banned chips were reportedly misclassified and sold to a Southeast Asian firm, which then rerouted them to China, including sales to four Chinese universities with military ties. Following the charges, Supermicro’s stock price has fallen about 61.5% from its 52-week high. The company has initiated an independent investigation into the matter while maintaining its commitment to U.S. export laws, leaving its future business operations and revenue streams in a state of uncertainty.
