Aslan Terminal ← The industry paper

Aslan Research · Hardware & networking

Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI)

Data as of 2026-08-21 · 27 quarters · filed in USD

Revenue reached $33.7 billion over the trailing year, while expenses grew 70% per year against 49% annual revenue growth. Committed money also grew 64% per year, showing that obligations expanded faster than sales.

Revenue, last 12 mo $34B to 2026-03-31
Spend, last 12 mo $27B cost + R&D + admin + tax
Debt they report balance-sheet borrowings
Money promised $10B debt + leases + purchases
Unrealized revenue $2.1B + $2.1B signed backlog
Due in next 5 years $9.5B the obligation wall

Earned, collected early, and merely signed

revenue (qtr)deferredsigned backlogQ3 '19Q2 '21Q4 '22Q3 '24Q1 '26$6.7B$13B

Reports — of debt; has promised $10B

Leases account for $378 million of committed money, while purchases account for $10.1 billion. Purchases therefore make up nearly all of the $10.5 billion total committed amount.

promisedreported debtQ3 '19Q2 '21Q4 '22Q3 '24Q1 '26$6.3B$13B

What the promised total is made of, latest quarter

debtleasespurchase deals
today
96%

Spending, by reported line

Cost of revenueR&DSelling & adminTax
2020
86%
2021
88%
2022
89%
2023
90%
2024
93%
2025
94%

When the promises come due

The next five years carry $9.5 billion of obligations against $362 million of revenue promised for that period. The due amount is 26.3x the revenue promised next five years. Backlog is $2.1 billion, equal to 0.1x one year of revenue.

$9.5Bnext 5 years$0years 5–10$0beyond 10$0after yr 5, undated$362Mrevenue promised to them

The rates that matter

Revenue growth /yr 49% 2020-Q2 → 2026-Q1
Expense growth /yr 70%
Promised money /yr 64%
Reported debt /yr 35%
Deferred revenue /yr 44%
Quarters re-stated 21 of 27 by cited reconciliation

Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation

$1.6Bfiled2019$1.0Breality2019$2.3Bfiled2020$1.5Breality2020$4.0Bfiled2021$1.8Breality2021$6.1Bfiled2022$3.9Breality2022$8.5Bfiled2023$4.3Breality2023$19Bfiled2024$9.3Breality2024$27Bfiled2025$20Breality2025$9.7Bfiled2026$9.7Breality2026

10 patterns worth a second look

The filings describe financing to related-party customers through trade credit and receivables from a corporate venture. Conditional revenue balances grew 7.6x while quarterly revenue grew 2.8x over the last 8 periods. The 10-K for the period ended 2024-06-30 was filed 240 days after period end, and the 10-Q for the period ended 2024-09-30 was filed 148 days after period end.

circular financing · 1

The filings report financing to related-party customers through trade credit and receivables from a corporate venture.

conditional ratio · 1

Over the last 8 periods, conditional revenue balances grew 7.6x while quarterly revenue grew 2.8x.

filing cadence · 3

The 10-K for the period ended 2024-06-30 was filed 240 days after the period end.

The 10-Q for the period ended 2024-09-30 was filed 148 days after the period end.

3 periodic filings (10-K, 10-Q, 10-Q) were filed on the same day, 2025-02-25.

off balance sheet · 1

The FY2024 filing reports a not-yet-commenced data-center lease with approximately $411.8 million of fixed payments and approximately $436.5 million of sublicense receipts.

related party exposure · 1

The filings repeatedly report substantial purchase commitments and trade credit extended to related-party suppliers Ablecom and Compuware.

subsequent event · 1

The FY2025 filing reports a July 2025 receivables purchase facility with an initial limit of $1.79 billion, recontextualizing liquidity after the period end.

tagging quality · 1

7 XBRL facts were reported at inconsistent scales across filings (e.g. us-gaap:WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding).

value revision · 1

The June 30, 2020 loss-contingency accrual revision is substantive rather than clerical.

← Back to the industry paper