Nvidia Options Price 6.7% Stock Move Ahead of November 17 Results
Key Facts
Markets are awaiting Nvidia’s results for the third quarter of fiscal 2027, due on November 17, while options are pricing in a potential 6.7% move in the stock around the announcement. Investing.com, citing Bloomberg, said the estimate is based on options data recorded on November 12. The results follow the transfer of leadership to Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who was appointed interim chief executive after Jensen Huang’s resignation. Investors will watch the quarterly figures and the company’s outlook for the period ahead in the first major financial test since the leadership change. The fiscal quarter ended on October 25, according to Nvidia’s announcement.
The company set a third-quarter revenue forecast of $108 billion, plus or minus 2%, according to its prior results. Nvidia said the estimate assumes no revenue from data center computing in China. That follows revenue of $96.2 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, up 18% from the previous quarter and 106% from the same period a year earlier. Data center revenue alone totaled $89 billion in that quarter. The figures put the new guidance in the context of strong revenue growth, while data center sales remain a key part of the company’s results.
The options-implied estimate of 6.7% reflects the move traders expect around the November announcement, but differs from the stock’s actual moves after previous reports. Ahead of the August report, options pointed to a 4.9% move, while the stock actually rose 3.7%, Investing.com reported, citing Bloomberg. In another comparison for the second-quarter report, the options-implied move was estimated at 5.4%, below the average historical actual move of 7.4% over the last 12 quarters and below the 6.5% estimate ahead of the May report. Matt Amberson, founder of ORATS, said August’s pricing “showed some comfort with Nvidia, and means the stock has become more predictable.” A Susquehanna expert said the stock’s actual moves had often been smaller than what options priced in over the previous two years.
Nvidia shares closed at $162.85 on November 13, after a run of declining and volatile closes that week. The stock closed at $178.67 on November 9, then at $168.89 on November 10 and $173.73 on November 11. On November 12, it closed at $166.19 before ending the next session at $162.85. The Associated Press reported that the stock fell 14% early in trading on November 12 after Huang’s resignation, then pared its losses to close down 4.3%. By November 11, the stock had fallen 27% from its record level set the previous month, the news agency reported.
Nvidia said its board accepted Huang’s resignation on November 11 and appointed Kress interim chief executive while it searches for a permanent successor; she has served as chief financial officer since 2013. The board chair said he had “complete confidence in Colette and the leadership team” and expected operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption. Kress said the company would remain focused on serving customers, partners, developers and shareholders, and on advancing accelerated computing and artificial intelligence. The Associated Press reported that the company’s ability to manage its future without Huang remained in question, despite continued rapid sales of AI chips. The agency also reported that the stock had risen 1,722% over four years through October, compared with about 109% for the S&P 500 over the same period.
Nvidia is scheduled to hold a call to discuss its results on November 17 at 2 p.m. Pacific time, and publish written commentary from the CFO after the results announcement, expected at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time. Disney is set to begin streaming its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results that day at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Palo Alto Networks will report first-quarter fiscal 2027 results after the U.S. market closes on November 18 and hold a webcast to discuss them at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time. The dates place Nvidia’s results in a busy week of major corporate announcements, with attention on its figures and guidance under its new interim leadership.