Super Micro board member buys over $1 million in stock after 600% yearly surge

United States

Super Micro Computer Inc. shares have surged more than 600% over the past year, but one board member just sent a signal of confidence by buying up stock.

Fred Chan, who’s spent just over three years on the storage and server company’s board, scooped up 2,000 Super Micro shares SMCI, +14.44% Thursday at $ 568 apiece, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made public Monday. He spent $ 1.14 million on the open-market transaction.

Chan, who carries an engineering and real-estate background, now owns 42,917 shares of Super Micro, worth more than $ 28 million based on Monday’s closing levels.

Chan’s purchase comes as shares of Super Micro, which is an Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +4.79% partner, have exploded recently upon signs of strong momentum in the business. The company saw sales double in the latest quarter, and analysts project that they will triple in the current quarter thanks to the artificial-intelligence frenzy.

See more: Super Micro’s monster earnings forecast sends stock soaring yet again

“Finally, we are entering an accelerating demand phase now from many more customer wins,” Chief Executive Charles Liang said on the company’s earnings call last week. He said that he was “very confident that this AI boom will continue for another many quarters, if not many years.”

Opinion: Supermicro is heading toward an Nvidia-like second half — but is it sustainable?

While Chan was a buyer after the latest results, fellow board member Daniel Fairfax unloaded some stock. He sold 300 shares at $ 540 apiece Thursday, in a transaction valued at $ 162,000.

His current position of 20,087 Super Micro shares is worth about $ 13 million based on Monday’s closing prices.

Super Micro declined to comment on either stock transaction.