Nvidia Names Kress Interim CEO as Huang Resigns; NVDA Drops 10%
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia president, CEO and director effective Nov. 11. CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO, Harvey C. Jones became the first board chair, NVDA fell about 10% premarket, and Citi, Bernstein and KeyBanc turned cautious ahead of Nov. 17 earnings.
Update: November 12, 14:44 UTC
A trader identified as 0x7368 was fully liquidated for $1.54 million on Hyperliquid after Jensen Huang's resignation, according to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain. Crypto.news reported that the move came amid heavy selling across leveraged positions tied to Nvidia shares.
The liquidation shows how the leadership shock spread to crypto-based markets that offer leveraged exposure to the chipmaker's stock.
Original report: November 12, 14:22 UTC
Jensen Huang is out. Nvidia's founder resigned as president, CEO and director effective Nov. 11, and CFO Colette Kress takes over as interim chief executive, according to a Nov. 12 8-K filing. NVDA fell about 10% premarket Thursday.
Quotes sat near $158.58, with a low of $153.50, against Wednesday's close of $173.73. An AP figure showed a drop of more than 7% to $160.85. The readings came at different times.
The exit caps days of pressure detailed in our earlier coverage, including the NYT report and the WSJ account that the board was weighing his removal.
Kress keeps her CFO duties while the board searches internal and external candidates. Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993, was appointed Nvidia's first board chair on Nov. 11. He said the board expects:
"operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption"
Harvey Jones, Nvidia board chair
No reason given. Neither the 8-K nor the company press release explains the departure or mentions the independent investigation the board announced on Nov. 8. Huang has not commented publicly. Polymarket bettors favored Arm CEO Rene Haas as the top outside candidate.
That investigation followed reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. On Nov. 10 the independent directors retained former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. No findings have been provided. The board has said it had no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, and the allegations have not been established as proven facts.
Analysts turn cautious
Three desks moved:
- Citi: Atif Malik cut his target to $225 from $285.
- Bernstein: Stacy Rasgon downgraded to Market Perform and cut his target to $200 from $400. He said he does not expect big operating problems during the search.
- KeyBanc: John Vinh moved to Sector Weight.
On X, @TheLongInvest said the chart called for declines, pointing to the 200-day moving average aligned with $202 wedge support.
What comes next
Nvidia still reports fiscal third-quarter results on Nov. 17 at about 4:20 p.m. ET, with the call at 5 p.m. ET. Prior guidance: $108 billion in revenue, plus or minus 2%. It is the first report since Huang's exit.
The valuation case cuts the other way. On after-hours prices, Nvidia trades under 11 times forward earnings against a five-year average of 33.7.
Crypto felt the same session: Bitcoin fell below $73,000 as the scandal rattled tech stocks.
