By Super Micro Computer’s stock spiked on Monday after the company said a special committee found no evidence of accounting misconduct.
The stock surged as much as 31% to trade at $42.73 per share Monday afternoon.
The jump comes after the company announced an investigation into its accounting procedures found “no evidence of misconduct,” according to a Monday press release.
The review was conducted by a special committee including Cooley LLP, forensic accounting firm Secretariat Advisors, and a member of the company’s board, and was started after its prior auditor, Ernst & Young, voiced worries back in July, the release says.
EY resigned in October over concerns about the board’s governance and independence, which the special committee found to be false.
“Among its findings, the independent Special Committee determined that the resignation of the Company’s former registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) and the conclusions EY stated in its resignation letter were not supported by the facts examined in the Review,” the release says.
The committee’s report caps off a volatile year for the company. The artificial intelligence darling’s stock soared to a record closing high of around $119 per share in March, and went on to fall 84% to an annual closing low of around $18 last month.
The decline followed a series of stumbles for the company related to its accounting procedures, which were highlighted by short-seller Hindenburg Research. The firm said it had a short position on Super Micro after finding evidence of manipulation, and after the Wall Street Journal reported a probe into the company by the Department of Justice in September.
That was followed by mounting fears that the stock could be delisted from the Nasdaq after the company ran afoul of the exchange’s rules by not filing its annual report to the SEC on time, giving it 60 days to file its report or submit a plan to regain compliance.
The company submitted a plan and hired BDO as its new auditor just before the period ended last month, allowing it to narrowly avoid a delisting while it waits for the exchange’s review.
The special committee’s report appears to be boosting investors’ confidence that the company will be able to meet the Nasdaq’s compliance requirements. If Super Micro’s plan is approved, it will likely get a new deadline to file its report in February.
