Nvidia falls 14% at the open after Huang resigns; US indexes erase losses

Key Facts

Nvidia announced on November 12, 2026, that Jensen Huang was resigning as chief executive, a leadership shift that jolted the stock at the start of trading before shares pared losses during the session. The company said CFO Colette Kress would take over the role temporarily while it searches for a permanent successor. Nvidia shares fell 14% at the start of trading after the resignation announcement, then were down 5.3% in the latest update reported by the Associated Press. At the open, the S&P 500 fell 0.90% to 7,550.84 points, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.47% to 25,092.109 points, according to Reuters. But the broader market quickly reversed course as trading progressed, making Huang’s resignation a test of the market’s ability to absorb a blow to a company that carries significant weight in it.

The change was not limited to the chief executive role; Reuters said Huang would also leave the company’s board. Nvidia appointed Harvey Jones as chairman, the former chief executive of Synopsys and a Nvidia board member. Reuters described the appointment as the first chairman role in Nvidia’s history. Kress will lead the company on an interim basis while it searches for a permanent successor to Huang, according to the same report. The arrangement puts day-to-day leadership responsibility on the CFO, while Jones takes the chairmanship during a transition. The announcement means the change extends to both the company’s leadership and its board, as investors monitor its impact on Nvidia’s position in the artificial intelligence market.

The S&P 500 recovered its early losses and rose 0.1% at 11:45 a.m. New York time, after falling nearly 1% at the start of the session, according to an Associated Press update. In a separate update reported by Reuters, major US indexes were higher despite Nvidia’s decline: the Dow Jones rose 0.40%, the S&P 500 gained 0.29%, and the Nasdaq Composite added about 0.31%. These readings show how the indexes’ direction shifted during the day, from a sharp drop at the open to gains in later updates. Gains in Broadcom and AMD had nearly offset Nvidia’s decline, the Associated Press reported, describing the stock as the single largest weight in the S&P 500. Investor Peter Tuz said the market had absorbed the development reasonably well and that gains by rivals had offset some of Nvidia’s losses, according to Reuters. Broadcom rose 5.6% and AMD gained 5.8% in the Associated Press update, while CoreWeave fell 7.2% and Micron dropped 3%.

The resignation announcement came after Nvidia shares had already fallen from a record level set the previous month. The Associated Press reported that the stock had dropped 27% from that level through Wednesday, November 11, amid investor concern about Huang remaining in his role and the company’s future without him. The stock had risen 1,722% over four years before reaching that record level in October, according to the agency. These moves place the November 12 session’s decline within a broader trend that began before the resignation announcement, rather than on a single day alone. According to EL7 data, the stock closed at $173.73 on November 11, its last close before the announcement session. Reuters said Huang, who co-founded the company, owns about 3.61% of it and is its fourth-largest shareholder.

Against the backdrop of the broader market, Reuters reported that the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes rose 7.73 basis points to 5.066% on November 12, while the dollar index reached its highest level in 19 months. The report linked market moves to traders’ anticipation of a possible interest-rate increase in December. Kress told employees the company would hold a meeting on November 18 at 9 a.m. Pacific time. The call to discuss results for the third quarter of fiscal 2027 was scheduled for November 17, according to Nvidia’s investor relations website. That puts the results discussion one day before the announced employee meeting. The company’s near-term agenda now centers on presenting results, followed by its internal meeting, while the search for a permanent successor to Huang continues.