This study uses the semi-analytical finite strip method to examine the buckling and postbuckling behavior of laminated composite plates embedded with shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers under uniform thermal loading, with a focus on how SMA fiber placement affects the plate’s structural response. The finite strip method leverages trigonometric functions to evaluate the energy integral analytically. The zig-zag displacement deformation theory, grounded in Reddy’s layerwise approach, is applied alongside nonlinear von Kármán compatibility relations. The solution strategy minimizes the total potential energy and solves either an eigenvalue problem or a nonlinear system via the incremental-iterative Newton–Raphson method. A simplified one-dimensional Brinson model is used to analyze the effects of SMA fibers, including pre-strain, at various volume fractions on buckling and postbuckling behavior. Building on prior research, the finite strip method is implemented with accuracy, yielding significant findings. The principal results are as follows: (1) The ASET method proves more effective than the APT method in increasing the critical buckling load of reinforced SMA-fiber composite plates, (2) Increasing the SMA fiber volume fraction and the activation temperature can lead to larger recovery forces, thereby markedly raising the critical buckling load, and (3) The out-of-plane displacement increment is smaller during the transition from the onset to completion of the austenite phase due to generated recovery stress, whereas in the fully austenitic region, out-of-plane displacement increases more.