Meet the New Stock-Split Stock That Outperformed Nvidia in the First Half and Wall Street Thinks Could Almost Double

Nvidia has been a tough act to follow in recent years. The artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant has delivered triple-digit increases in earnings quarter after quarter, and the share price has followed. Nvidia stock has soared more than 2,400% over the past five years, and considering the company's focus on innovation, this stellar performance may continue.

Though Nvidia has garnered the greatest share of investor attention in recent times, another tech player actually outperformed this AI powerhouse in the first half of the year. And this company followed in Nvidia's footsteps recently by announcing a stock split, a move to bring a high-flying share price down to earth -- and make the stock more accessible for a broader range of investors.

Now, Wall Street predicts this player's gains may be far from over. Let's meet the new stock-split stock that analysts think could nearly double within the coming 12 months...

A triple-digit first-half gain

And this stock is Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI), a company that saw its stock price soar 188% in the first half, surpassing Nvidia's 149% increase. Though individual forecasts vary, the average Wall Street estimate calls for the stock to climb 90% from today's level.

It's important to note that this once high-flying stock has been wading through difficult waters in recent weeks. A short report released by Hindenburg Research, alleging troubles at the company, has weighed on the shares. In an unrelated move, Supermicro delayed the filing of its 10-K annual report, and this has represented an additional headwind.

I see these as short-term pressures, but they don't change Supermicro's long-term story. And considering the 20% decline in the stock since the short report, it looks dirt cheap right now -- it trades for only 13 times forward earnings estimates, down from more than 45 times earlier in the year.

In recent days, some analysts have highlighted the potential of Supermicro. For example, Needham rated Supermicro a buy in new coverage of the stock -- and Needham expects a gain of 37% in the months to come.

Why should we be so optimistic about Supermicro? First, the company has proven its ability to dominate in the area of full rack scale solutions for data centers. Supermicro's servers and other products share many common parts so the company can more quickly build a particular item to suit a customer's needs. The equipment maker also works very closely with all of the top chipmakers -- including Nvidia -- so that it can immediately include their innovations in its products. This has helped revenue in one single quarter surpass annual revenue as recently as 2021.