Nvidia shares fall 14% at Thursday’s open after Jensen Huang resigns

Key Facts

Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive on Thursday, and the company named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim CEO, according to the Associated Press. The announcement came after the stock fell in Thursday trading, in a session that saw pressure spread to technology shares and companies tied to the AI ecosystem. The Associated Press said Nvidia shares fell 14% at the opening bell, while the Nasdaq declined 1.5%. In a later report, the agency said the stock was down 5.3% by 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. The news thus shifted from reports of a board meeting to discuss Huang’s future to a confirmed resignation the same day.

Nvidia shares had fallen more than 30% since setting a record in the previous month, according to the Associated Press, while Reuters said market value losses had exceeded 550 billion dollars since the board announced on Sunday that it was opening an investigation into Huang’s relationship with businesswoman Alice Huang. Reuters added that the stock fell 8.2% in early trading to its lowest level in more than 16 months, with its market value at risk of closing below 4 trillion dollars for the first time since July 2025. In early trading data cited by the Associated Press, the price stood at 160.85 dollars, down more than 7%. The company’s shares had risen 1,722% in the four years before the record set in October, the agency said. On the day before the session, the stock closed at 173.73 dollars, according to EL7 data.

Pressure on Nvidia coincided with a sharp split within the chip sector, as AMD shares rose 3.7% and Broadcom gained 5.6% in Thursday trading at the time of Reuters’ report. The agency attributed their gains to expectations that turmoil at Nvidia could create an opportunity for competitors. By contrast, shares of companies tied to AI infrastructure fell: CoreWeave dropped 9.1% after rising more than 27% in the previous session, and Nebius fell 16.2%. Reuters said Nebius declined after it forecast 2026 revenue at the low end of its previous outlook. The Philadelphia semiconductor index also fell 1.3%, while Oracle declined 2.6% and Micron fell 2.5%.

Investors are also watching the impact of Huang’s departure on Nvidia’s role in financing the infrastructure built around its chips, a strategy Reuters said has faced scrutiny over circular financing deals. Against the backdrop of reports about Huang’s relationship with a Chinese businesswoman alleged to have worked for Beijing, followed by reports of another relationship with a company employee who reported to him, Nvidia said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised. The company added that its investigation would examine the available information. The Associated Press quoted an eMarketer analyst as saying the company “now has to prove it can maintain its AI dominance without the leader who contributed so much to building it.” By contrast, an analyst at Yorkville Ives said he still recommends buying the stock, and that Nvidia is two to three years ahead of its closest competitor.

The developments come amid broader concern that an AI bubble may be forming; the Associated Press noted that the Nasdaq fell 7% during the previous month. Reuters said Nvidia shares were trading at about 12 times estimated earnings for the next twelve months, the lowest level for that multiple since November 2012, according to LSEG data cited in its report. In Thursday morning trading, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq declined 0.7%, according to the Associated Press. Reuters also said short sellers in Nvidia had recorded paper profits of 9.6 billion dollars during the week through the time of its report. The board had named Harvey C. Jones as the company’s first chairman, according to the Associated Press.

Nvidia said its board would consider candidates from inside and outside the company to select a permanent CEO, while the Associated Press reported that the company had no succession plan. The move leaves Kress in the role on an interim basis during the selection process, following Huang’s resignation on Thursday. Nvidia is scheduled to report earnings on the Tuesday after Thursday’s report, according to the agency. The results will come as attention turns to the company’s performance and the course of its new leadership. The company reported revenue of 81.6 billion dollars in the first quarter of its fiscal 2027, up 85% year over year, including 75.2 billion dollars from data centers. For the second quarter, it forecast revenue of 91 billion dollars, plus or minus 2%, assuming no revenue from data-center computing in China.