Nvidia Shares Fall 9.3%, Leading Broad Wall Street Losses Amid Data Center Concerns
Key Facts
Nvidia shares fell 9.3% in Thursday's session on November 5, 2026, making the stock the biggest drag on the S&P 500, according to the Associated Press. The decline came amid a broader selloff in technology stocks and AI-related infrastructure shares. The S&P 500 ended the session down 4.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 5.5% and the Dow fell 3.4%. The Nasdaq 100 declined 6.4%, shedding $2.5 trillion in market value, according to Reuters via Investing.com. Nvidia closed at $181.6, compared with $200.13 in the previous session, according to EL7 data.
Pressure spread to other companies that benefit from data center spending, reflecting the selloff's reach beyond Nvidia. Advanced Micro Devices shares fell 17.3% during the session, while CoreWeave dropped 9.8%. GE Vernova shares fell 7.5%, according to Associated Press data. The agency has linked volatility in the sector's stocks in recent months to concerns about a slowdown in construction of new data centers. Some of those concerns center on rising borrowing costs and what they could mean for expansion plans that depend on large investments.
The U.S. midterm election results added a political dimension to investors' concerns about the pace of expansion. The Associated Press said Democrats' nationwide victories raised the possibility that governments could impose a pause on building additional data centers. Those possibilities remain tied to concerns about measures that could emerge later, not to an enacted decision cited in the coverage. Before the election, a Reuters/Ipsos poll published in October found that 69% of registered Democratic voters supported restrictions on data center construction, compared with 43% of Republicans. Reuters cited analysts who were skeptical that national legislation would significantly impede construction, while expecting Democratic control of Congress to bring more hearings and investigations that could fuel market volatility.
Estimates cited by Reuters show how sensitive industry plans are to any potential construction halt. UBS analysts estimated that about 30% of expected U.S. data center capacity additions in 2028 could be at risk if construction pauses occurred. The estimate puts infrastructure expansion plans at the center of debate over the political climate's impact on chipmakers and related service providers. The figure is not a confirmed outcome, but an estimate of the share of planned capacity additions that could be affected by the possibility of a construction pause. At the same time, financing concerns remain a separate source of pressure, with the Associated Press linking the possibility of slower data center projects to higher borrowing costs.
The selloff followed strong gains by Nvidia in previous years, although the stock is down year to date in 2026. The Associated Press reported that the stock had fallen 2.6% year to date through the November 5 session, after annual gains of about 39%, 171% and 239% in the previous three years. That trajectory reflects the scale of the rally preceding the session, as AI-related stocks grew more sensitive to infrastructure spending expectations. The company reported revenue of $96.2 billion in the second quarter of its fiscal 2027, up 106% year over year. Data center revenue was $89.0 billion, up 117% from the same period a year earlier, according to Nvidia's results.
Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes fell to 4.84% on November 5, from 4.90% late Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Yields stood at 4.95% on election night. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell to 11.9% below the record high it set the previous month, crossing the 10% threshold for a technical correction under the agency's definition. Nvidia is set to discuss results for the third quarter of its fiscal 2027 on November 17, 2026, after that quarter ended on October 25. When the company reported its second-quarter results, CEO Jensen Huang said, "Demand is accelerating," referring to the company's assessment of demand at the time.