SMCI vs NTAP Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Super Micro Computer and NetApp both serve data center infrastructure markets, but Super Micro Computer designs and manufactures high-performance AI-optimized server systems, while NetApp focuses on enterprise data storage systems and cloud storage services.
SMCI offers direct exposure to AI server infrastructure demand alongside accounting resolution risk, while NTAP offers a more established, diversified enterprise storage and cloud services business. The decision depends on whether you want concentrated AI server growth exposure or diversified storage infrastructure stability.
SMCI holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. NTAP has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+56.29% vs -2.03%), though SMCI has the better forward P/E setup (6.95x vs 18.62x for NTAP). On fundamentals, SMCI is growing revenue faster (93.20%), while NTAP maintains the higher operating margin (27.26%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for SMCI (+14.53%) than for NTAP (+0.29%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want direct exposure to demand for AI-optimized server infrastructure
- Believe close partnerships with leading AI chip suppliers will continue driving design wins
- Are comfortable monitoring resolution of past accounting and reporting concerns
- Accept concentration risk tied to a small number of large AI chip and cloud customers
- Want exposure to a more established enterprise storage and cloud services business
- Value diversification between on-premises hardware and growing cloud storage services
- Believe enterprise storage refresh cycles will continue supporting recurring revenue
- Prefer a data infrastructure company without recent accounting controversy
| Metric | SMCI | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 74.6 | 59.2 |
| AI ranki | #25 | #189 |
| Latest closei | $39.59 | $185.59 |
| 1M returni | +27.18% | -2.07% |
| 6M returni | +23.80% | +84.46% |
| 1Y returni | -2.03% | +56.29% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SMCI | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.89K (-1.1%) started 2025-09-08 | $15.32K (+53.2%) started 2025-09-08 |
| 5Y ago | $108.53K (+985.3%) started 2021-09-09 | $24.3K (+143.0%) started 2021-09-09 |
| 10Y ago | $187.72K (+1777.2%) started 2016-09-09 | $86.98K (+769.8%) started 2016-09-09 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SMCI | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $24.31B | $36.7B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 11.35 | 29.50 |
| Forward P/Ei | 6.95 | 18.62 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 0.77 | 5.17 |
| Analyst targeti | $42.38 | $187.56 |
| Target upsidei | +14.53% | +0.29% |
| Metric | SMCI | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 93.20% | 12.50% |
| Earnings growthi | 434.70% | 23.40% |
| EPS growthi | +434.70% | +23.40% |
| FCF margini | -21.12% | +18.70% |
| Operating margini | 13.38% | 27.26% |
| Profit margini | 5.71% | 18.43% |
| ROIC proxyi | 21.47% | 106.73% |
| Return on equityi | 21.47% | 106.73% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 1.11% |
| Betai | 1.97 | 1.43 |
| Debt/equityi | 63.95 | 202.29 |
| Current ratioi | 3.87 | 1.44 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.93 | 1.21 |
Over the past year, SMCI and NTAP have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.33), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SMCI | NTAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -1.12% | +53.16% |
| CAGRi | -1.13% | +53.28% | |
| Volatilityi | 91.23% | 43.03% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.41 | 1.10 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.59 | 1.93 | |
| Max drawdowni | 65.01% | 25.52% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.53% | 10.38% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 39.17% | 11.31% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 42.81% | 13.25% | |
| Max daily dropi | 33.32% | 9.37% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 38.27% | 12.07% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +985.25% | +120.86% |
| CAGRi | +61.15% | +17.18% | |
| Volatilityi | 88.77% | 34.66% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.93 | 0.50 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.46 | 0.77 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.84% | 42.61% | |
| Current drawdowni | 66.68% | 10.38% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 36.38% | 15.68% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 46.17% | 18.87% | |
| Max daily dropi | 33.32% | 15.57% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 45.45% | 23.79% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1777.19% | +577.68% |
| CAGRi | +34.09% | +21.10% | |
| Volatilityi | 71.98% | 35.77% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.71 | 0.59 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.08 | 0.86 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.84% | 58.08% | |
| Current drawdowni | 66.68% | 10.38% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 28.45% | 16.77% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 37.06% | 21.98% | |
| Max daily dropi | 41.12% | 20.22% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 45.45% | 23.79% |
| Category | SMCI | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Super Micro Computer, Inc. | NetApp, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Computer Hardware | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | A designer and manufacturer of high-performance server and storage systems, including systems optimized for artificial intelligence and accelerated computing workloads sold to enterprise and cloud data center customers. | A data storage and infrastructure company that provides enterprise storage systems and cloud data services, helping organizations manage, store, and protect data across on-premises and cloud environments. |
| Investor focus | AI server demand growth and design win momentum with major chip suppliers, gross margin trends amid intense server market competition, and resolution of past accounting and reporting concerns that affected investor confidence. | Cloud storage services growth as a diversification beyond traditional on-premises hardware, enterprise storage refresh cycle demand, and integration partnerships with major public cloud vendors. |
- Early and close partnerships with leading AI accelerator chip suppliers have positioned the company to capture strong demand for AI-optimized server systems
- Rapid product development and manufacturing flexibility allow the company to bring new server designs to market relatively quickly
- Growing data center buildout trends tied to artificial intelligence provide a substantial long-term addressable market for server infrastructure
- Established enterprise storage relationships provide a recurring base of hardware refresh and software subscription revenue
- Growing cloud storage services business, including integrations with major public cloud providers, diversifies revenue beyond traditional on-premises hardware
- Long operating history in data storage has built deep technical expertise and customer trust in mission-critical data management
- Past accounting and reporting concerns created uncertainty that investors should monitor as the company works to rebuild confidence in its financial reporting
- Server manufacturing is a highly competitive, relatively low-margin business that requires continued scale and cost discipline
- Revenue growth is closely tied to a small number of large AI chip suppliers and cloud customers, creating concentration risk
- Traditional on-premises storage hardware faces long-term competitive pressure from cloud-native storage alternatives
- Enterprise IT spending cycles can affect the timing of storage hardware refresh purchases
- Cloud storage services growth, while a positive diversification trend, still represents a smaller portion of overall revenue than traditional storage hardware
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