Nvidia Shares Drop More Than 8% After Hours on Report Board Weighing Huang’s Future
Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, November 11, after a report that the board was preparing to consider the future of CEO Jensen Huang. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1% as the news rattled the AI chip leader.
Nvidia shares plunge in after-hours trading on Wednesday, November 11, falling more than 8% after a report that the chipmaker's board was preparing to consider the future of Chief Executive Jensen Huang. The report said a board meeting could take place as soon as Wednesday.
The drop hit the wider tech market. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1% to 28,205.75 points by 19:25 ET (00:25 GMT). S&P 500 futures slipped 0.4% to 7,608.75, while Dow Jones futures traded flat at 52,577.0.
What prompted the sell-off
Nvidia has not been quoted in the reports on its board's plans. The company sits at the centre of the AI boom as the world's dominant supplier of artificial intelligence processors. Huang co-founded it in 1993 and has led its rise.
A separate report said Huang had an extramarital relationship with a company executive who reports to him. Over the weekend, Huang admitted to an affair with a Chinese businesswoman who has been alleged to be a spy.
Huang has publicly apologized to his family and admitted infidelity. Beijing has rejected the spy claims. The US President has said he believes Huang genuinely did not know the woman was a Chinese spy.
Washington's concerns
Figures within the US intelligence community have leaked allegations to media for weeks, according to a BBC podcast discussion. The allegations concern Huang's closeness to a Singapore-based data center executive whom the US deemed a Chinese intelligence asset.
Analysts quoted in that discussion believe the leaks reflect concern in Washington that Huang is too close to the President. They also see him as too influential over whether the US should restrict sales of Nvidia's most powerful AI chips to China.
A strong day before the drop
The after-hours slide contrasted with the regular session. US stocks rallied as improving sentiment about AI infrastructure spending lifted tech shares. The S&P 500 gained 1.3%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%.
Nvidia itself climbed 2.9% during regular trading. CoreWeave, an AI cloud infrastructure provider, surged 24.7% after forecasting profitability in 2028.
Investors were also watching Washington after the US midterm elections, where Democratic gains added uncertainty to the political and regulatory outlook. Brent crude settled 1.4% higher at $92.76 a barrel amid renewed doubt over US-Iran negotiations.
Separately, shares of Alibaba and Tencent fell on a report that the US is weighing curbs on remote access to AI chips.
