Can SMCI's Edge AI Infrastructure Enable Its Entry in the Retail Space?

By Zacks Equity Research | January 15, 2026, 10:41 AM

Super Micro Computer SMCI, a leading provider of rack-scale compute architecture for large-scale AI training and enterprise AI inference, has expanded its portfolio to provide infrastructure to upgrade traditional retail stores to intelligent ones with its AI-powered intelligent in-store retail solutions.

SMCI’s retail-centric AI infrastructure integrates NVIDIA-accelerated computing, including RTX PRO GPUs and leverages its ecosystem partners like Everseen, Wobot AI, LiveX AI, Kinetic Vision & ALLSIDES, Superb AI and Aible to provide brick and mortar retail stores the ability to compete with modern ecommerce platforms.

The partnership with Everseen targets computer-vision use cases focused on shrink reduction and checkout efficiency. Wobot AI contributes video-based analytics that convert existing CCTV feeds into operational insights. LiveX AI enables the deployment of in-store AI agents designed to support customer interaction in physical retail environments.

Superb AI adds video analytics capabilities aimed at interpreting shopper behavior, while Aible provides automated analytics to help explain movements in key retail performance metrics. These products will improve operational efficiency, shrink management, and customer experience by optimizing in-store and supply chain operations.

SMCI’s retail AI infrastructure will provide sub-second, edge-based processing at scale in harsh, space-constrained, and GPU-intensive environments, maintaining performance, flexibility, and ROI. As SMCI’s newer solutions gain traction among the customers for focused use cases, SMCI’s projection to reach $36 billion in revenues in fiscal 2026 seems achievable.

How Competitors Fare Against SMCI

Super Micro Computer competes with Dell Technologies DELL and Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE in the Edge AI space. Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both major suppliers of servers and storage systems, with a broad customer base across enterprises and cloud providers.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has its Proliant series dedicated for retail, manufacturing, defence and telecommunications, while Dell Technologies provides solutions like PowerEdge XR7620 Edge Server and PowerEdge T360 Tower Server, to name a few.

SMCI’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Super Micro Computer have plunged 46.8% in the past six months against the Zacks Computer – Storage Devices industry’s growth of 91.7%.

SMCI 6-Month Performance Chart

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From a valuation standpoint, SMCI trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 0.41, lower than the industry’s average of 2.15.

SMCI Forward 12-Month (P/S) Valuation Chart

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Super Micro Computer’s fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year increase of approximately 2.43% and 41.78%, respectively. Estimates for fiscal 2026 earnings have been revised downward in the past 60 days, while 2027 earnings have been revised upward in the past 60 days.

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Super Micro Computer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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