Nvidia shares fall 7.6% after Huang resigns, reviving AI funding concerns

Key Facts

Nvidia announced on November 12 that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board, effective immediately, and appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim chief executive. The company’s shares fell 7.6% in that day’s session, according to data cited by Reuters via Investing.com. Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said Huang’s departure “leaves the company without a hand at the helm; he was central to its strategy, and this highlights the scale of the vacuum.” The resignation came as investor sentiment toward AI stocks faced questions over cash spending, debt and returns from the boom. The leadership change puts the company’s ability to execute its plans and the durability of demand at the center of market scrutiny.

Broader technology-linked stocks fell during the November 12 session, with the S&P 500 down 0.29% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.56% at 09:45 a.m. Eastern time, while the Dow Jones rose 0.07% to 52,522.02 points, according to Reuters. The Associated Press reported that Nvidia fell 14% during the session and that the S&P 500 ended Thursday down 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.5%, while the Dow Jones added 127 points. In cloud infrastructure, Nebius cut its 2026 revenue outlook to the lower end of its previous range, sending its shares down 17%, while CoreWeave fell about 7%, Reuters reported. A U.S. Bank analysis said Nvidia shares closed down 4.3% on the day of the resignation after falling as much as 14% during the session. The moves show that pressure extended to stocks linked to the AI ecosystem as well as Nvidia itself.

The concerns are also tied to how the expansion of AI infrastructure is being financed. A U.S. Bank analysis said the financial links between Nvidia, its customers and other participants in the expansion have drawn scrutiny to the “circular financing” model. The analysis explained that suppliers, including Nvidia, may invest in customers that use the capital to buy their products or services. Reuters also reported that investors were tracking rising cash spending and debt, and questioning whether the AI boom would generate returns to justify them. These questions remain tied to companies’ ability to turn capital spending into sustained demand and revenue, as execution and continued customer relationships take on greater importance.

Intel’s results offer a more detailed picture than describing them as negative: the company reported revenue of $16.5 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 21% year over year, while revenue from its Data Center and AI segment was $7.3 billion, up 78% from the third quarter of 2025, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Net income attributable to Intel for the quarter was $3.320 billion, compared with $4.063 billion in the same period of 2025. The net loss of $11.441 billion applies to the first nine months of 2026, not the third quarter alone. The company said industry-wide supply constraints limited its ability to fully meet demand for some products during the quarter, and expected the constraints to continue into the following year. Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan added that demand for Intel processors remained strong despite near-term headwinds in the PC market, and that the priority was to increase supply to meet exceptional demand for the Xeon family.

Assessing the impact of the leadership change, a Forrester analyst said the market would be testing the resilience of the AI infrastructure boom; if Nvidia shares stabilize quickly under new leadership, that would be evidence of the boom’s ability to endure, according to comments reported by the Associated Press. The U.S. Bank analysis focuses on the company’s ability to maintain its pace of product launches, software platform and customer relationships, while Reuters quoted a portfolio manager at ClearBridge Investments as saying the risk is less about the known product roadmap for years than about execution. NVDA closed at $162.85 on November 13, after closing at $178.67 on November 9, $168.89 on November 10, $173.73 on November 11 and $166.19 on November 12, according to EL7 data. The board is searching for a permanent chief executive and will consider candidates from inside and outside the company. Nvidia is scheduled to report results for fiscal third quarter 2027 on November 17 at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time, followed by an earnings call at 2:00 p.m.; U.S. Bank said the results and call will provide the next update on demand, earnings and the AI market.