(Bloomberg) — Super Micro Computer Inc. fell the most in a month after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the server maker in light of a short-seller report that questioned the company’s accounting practices.
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A prosecutor from the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco recently contacted people who may have relevant information, the report said. The prosecutor was seeking information that appeared to be related to a former employee who accused Super Micro of accounting violations and previously filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company and its CEO, the report said.
Shares fell 12% to $402.40 at Thursday’s close in New York, marking the biggest drop since Aug. 28, a day after short-seller Hindenburg Research published its report. The stock is up 42% this year.
Super Micro declined to comment. A representative for the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
In August, Hindenburg Research wrote that the company had “glaring accounting red flags, evidence of undisclosed related party transactions, sanctions and export control failures, and customer issues.”
–With help from Chris Strohm and Ian King.
(Updates with closing share price in third paragraph.)
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