Huang’s Resignation Puts Colette Kress at Nvidia’s Helm Temporarily; Shares Fall 14%
Key Facts
Nvidia announced on Thursday that Chief Executive Jensen Huang had resigned and appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive, putting the company into a succession period for which it had no ready plan. The stock fell 14% at Thursday’s open before trimming its losses to 4.2% by midmorning, as the Nasdaq turned higher, according to the Associated Press. Broadcom shares, meanwhile, rose 5.6% and AMD shares gained 5.8% in trading, amid hopes that Nvidia’s rivals would gain a competitive edge. The company said its board would consider internal and external candidates to choose its next leader. Kress’s appointment is temporary as the board searches for a permanent successor to Huang.
Kress has been Nvidia’s chief financial officer since 2013, overseeing the company’s global finance operations, according to the Associated Press. Before joining Nvidia, she worked for three years at Cisco and 13 years at Microsoft. Her long tenure at the company gives her knowledge of its financial operations, while Nvidia has not announced a timetable for choosing a permanent chief executive in the information available. The board also appointed Harvey C. Jones as the company’s first chairman, a separate change in the leadership arrangements announced on Thursday. The company said the board would seek candidates from inside and outside Nvidia, leaving both options open.
The market reaction followed a period of declines for the stock: it fell 27% from its record high the previous month through Wednesday, November 11, amid investor concerns about whether Huang would remain in his role and how the company would be run in his absence, according to the Associated Press. Even so, Nvidia shares rose about 1,722% over the four years through October 2026, compared with gains of nearly 109% for the S&P 500 over the same period. In Wednesday’s session, November 11, EL7 data showed Nvidia closing at $173.73, Broadcom at $345.22 and AMD at $552.9. These were closing prices from the session before Thursday’s announcement, not Thursday trading levels after news of the resignation. Broadcom and AMD’s gains on Thursday came amid market expectations that rivals would benefit from the change in Nvidia’s leadership landscape.
Investor concerns go beyond the choice of a new chief executive. Reuters quoted investors as saying they feared Huang’s absence could reduce Nvidia’s willingness to fund the artificial-intelligence boom and that uncertainty could extend to companies in which it invests or which it backs. A portfolio manager at Ten Cap said Huang “is the face of Nvidia, and the company has been at the heart of the AI expansion.” The company said it saw no reason to believe national security or its secrets had been compromised, but said its investigation would examine the available information. This adds another dimension to the leadership transition, as the market links Nvidia’s role in the AI expansion to its investments and relationships with other companies. The company’s statement did not specify how these matters would affect the process of selecting a permanent chief executive.
Markets are awaiting Nvidia’s results on Tuesday, November 17, the Associated Press confirmed, in the company’s first near-term financial update after Huang’s resignation was announced. The company reported revenue of $96.2 billion in the second quarter ended July 26, 2026, up 18% from the previous quarter and 106% from a year earlier. Huang said at the time that AI “has reached an inflection point; it is doing useful work, its tokens are productive and profitable, and computing has become revenue.” For its fiscal 2027 third quarter, Nvidia forecast revenue of $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, and said it was assuming no data-center computing revenue from China. Investors will view the November 17 results as the first anticipated financial update after the leadership transition, while the board searches for candidates from inside and outside the company.