Super Micro Shares Slide 11% on Report of DOJ China-Smuggling Probe

Super Micro Computer Inc. (SMCI) shares fell 11.3% to $26.99 on Thursday after reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether the company's products were smuggled into China, according to Yahoo Finance.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan is probing whether Alice Huang — described by reports as an alleged mistress of former Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang and tagged by U.S. officials as a Chinese spy — helped route Super Micro products into China, Yahoo Finance reported, citing other news outlets. Super Micro said it is cooperating with authorities, according to Yahoo Finance.

The probe is one of three separate Justice Department inquiries described by Semafor, per Yahoo Finance and Benzinga: an antitrust investigation of Nvidia, and probes of Super Micro and Megaspeed International. The inquiries are reportedly linked to Alice Huang, according to Benzinga.

Super Micro shares were already under pressure. The company's stock has fallen alongside Nvidia, which dropped to a new 52-week low following Jensen Huang's resignation on Thursday after admitting to extramarital affairs, Yahoo Finance reported. Nvidia and Super Micro share a decades-long partnership, with Super Micro acting as a premier integration partner for Nvidia's GPUs and AI platforms, according to Yahoo Finance.

The decline also comes after federal authorities in March indicted two Super Micro employees, including executive Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw, over an alleged scheme to divert Nvidia-powered servers to Chinese customers through a Southeast Asian company, Yahoo Finance reported. Liaw pleaded not guilty and is no longer with the company; an independent investigation later found no evidence that current senior management knew of the scheme, according to Yahoo Finance.

Nvidia shares closed down 4.34% at $166.19 on Thursday, according to delayed quotes.