A group of Super Micro Computer investors has filed a proposed class action in California, alleging the server maker failed to disclose material breaches of U.S. export controls tied to sales involving China.
The complaint, lodged Wednesday, contends the company boosted its stock price by omitting that a substantial share of its server shipments were directed to companies in China and by failing to disclose material weaknesses in its compliance with U.S. export control laws. The suit identifies Super Micro and two of its executives as defendants.
The named corporate officers in the complaint are Chief Executive Charles Liang and Chief Financial Officer David Weigand. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of shareholders who held Super Micro stock between April 30, 2024 and March 19, 2026.
The shareholder action comes after a criminal enforcement development announced by the Department of Justice that prompted a sharp market reaction. On March 20, Super Micro shares plunged 33% following the DOJ's disclosure of criminal smuggling charges tied to individuals connected to the company.
DOJ prosecutors charged co-founder and director Yih-Shyan Liaw, Taiwan sales manager Ruei-Tsang Chang, and a contractor named Ting-Wei Sun in the criminal case. Prosecutors said the alleged scheme involved servers equipped with Nvidia chips.
According to the allegations made public by prosecutors, Liaw and Chang used an unnamed company in Southeast Asia to acquire servers containing Nvidia chips, a sequence of transactions that prosecutors say produced $2.5 billion in server sales in 2024 and 2025.
The investor suit focuses on the period noted above and contends that disclosures to the market were deficient regarding the company's export compliance and the destination of server sales. The complaint claims these omissions inflated the company's stock price during the class period.
Details in the complaint mirror the criminal allegations in several respects, though the shareholder action seeks monetary relief rather than criminal penalties. The amount sought for investor losses was not specified in the filing.
At this stage, the complaint represents a civil claim brought by shareholders; the underlying criminal case remains a separate matter under DOJ prosecution. The filing names the company and two senior executives as defendants and identifies the time window for investor claims as April 30, 2024 through March 19, 2026.