Nvidia Stock Falls 6.5% as Oppenheimer Drops Price Target on Huang
Nvidia's NVDA ticker fell 6.5% in premarket trading on November 12, 2026, after reports its board is meeting on whether to remove CEO Jensen Huang. Oppenheimer downgraded the stock and withdrew its price target, while Citi and Stifel cut theirs.
Nvidia's NVDA ticker fell 6.5% in premarket trading on Thursday, November 12, 2026, after reports that the company's board is meeting to decide whether to remove founder and chief executive Jensen Huang.
The reports surfaced late Wednesday. Nothing has been announced, according to Stifel analyst Ruben Roy.
Oppenheimer went furthest. It downgraded the shares and removed its price target entirely. That step is usually taken on sub-$10 stocks that are highly volatile after a major negative event, not on one of the world's largest companies.
The turmoil follows a scandal this week over Huang's relationship with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy. A newspaper report now alleges he also had a relationship with Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell, one of his 60 or so direct reports.
What analysts said
Oppenheimer's Rich Schafer wrote that the "one-two" punch "appears to have forced the board's hand." He said Huang's role as the "face of AI" "cannot be overstated."
Schafer said he sees "massive shoes to fill and no obvious successor." He also flagged the risk of a 'brain drain' at the AI giant if Huang leaves, which he said would threaten Nvidia's pace of innovation.
Citi analyst Atif Malik kept his Buy rating but lowered his price target to $225. That is a 20% discount to the prior 19x price-to-earnings multiple, which he cut "on increased uncertainty." He noted the stock is trading at about 11x, in line with its prior trough.
"If Jensen were forced out, it would mark the end of an era," Malik wrote. He said Nvidia's CFO could serve as interim CEO while the board evaluates external candidates.
Stifel's Roy reiterated Buy but cut his target to $205 from $315. The new target values the shares at 13x estimated earnings per share of $15.65, down from 20x.
Roy said fundamentals are not the issue. He expects a modest beat in the company's next quarterly results, and he said supply remains the binding constraint.
Stifel now treats a leadership transition as its base case. With no successor publicly identified, Roy said he would focus on who leads and on what timeline, on retention of senior leadership, and on the company's channel and export-compliance posture.
Even after five downgrades, the average analyst target price is almost double Nvidia's current value.
