(Bloomberg) — Super Micro Computer Inc. shares whipsawed in volatile trading Friday, threatening to derail what had been set to be the server maker’s best week on record.
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Shares rose as much as 7.4% before turning sharply lower, tumbling nearly 14%. The stock had risen more than 35% this week before Friday’s decline. Should it end the session in the red, that would come in the wake of a nine-session run of gains, its longest such streak since 2016.
The weekly jump shows how investors have gravitated toward Super Micro, which has become one of the hottest names in artificial intelligence. The stock has risen in 18 of the past 20 sessions, through Thursday, and has more than tripled this year. That follows a gain of 246% over 2023.
“When things are really ripping like this, it isn’t institutions wanting to hold something as a long-term investment, it is a casino mentality for people playing momentum and taking shots,” said Michael Matousek, head trader at US Global Investors Inc. “I’m sure some people are getting run over trying to short this thing, and while others have probably done well, catching something like this really comes down to luck.”
Along with the rally, Chief Executive Officer Charles Liang has seen his wealth quadruple this year to $7.8 billion, making him the biggest percentage gainer on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world’s 500 richest people.
Ten minutes into Friday’s session, some 50,000 options had already traded on the stock — led by contracts expiring Friday. The most active option was a call that requires an added 13% rally by the end of the day to be worth something. Earlier this week, one-month call skew hit its highest in more than a year — signaling added premiums for upside exposure relative to downside protection. Skew dropped somewhat on Thursday.
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The rally had pushed Super Micro’s market valuation to more than than $56 billion at one point, making it larger than long-time semiconductor mainstays like Microchip Technology Inc. It’s weighting of 1.8% in the…
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