Nvidia has lost roughly $1.7 trillion in market capitalisation over a six-week period, the longest weekly losing streak since 2012, CNBC reported on Friday. The chipmaker's shares have fallen 30 per cent during the run, pushing the company's valuation below Apple.
Jensen Huang, who co-founded Nvidia and led it for 33 years, resigned on Thursday after two separate extramarital affairs were made public, one with an alleged Chinese spy and the other with an employee. The board named finance chief Colette Kress as interim chief executive whilst it conducts a search for a full-time successor. Nvidia shares fell 13 per cent this week, the most since April 2025.
The company had spent most of the year as the world's most valuable company. News of the first reported affair hit the front pages over the weekend, when Huang sent a letter to employees apologising for being unfaithful to his wife. The board convened late Wednesday after The New York Times reported on the other affair, this one with the company's vice president of health care. By early Thursday morning, Huang was out, capping a stunning fall for the Nvidia co-founder, who had emerged as one of President Donald Trump's top allies in the corporate world.
Last week, prior to Huang's departure, Nvidia shares dropped about 9 per cent. Much of the decline came after the midterm elections, which resulted in sweeping victories for Democrats and the passage of dozens of ballot measures that could slow the artificial intelligence buildout.
In the weeks before the election, Nvidia's stock was sliding alongside the rest of the AI trade on concerns that rising interest rates would punish debt-heavy companies. Whilst Nvidia is wildly profitable, big customers like neoclouds are reliant on the debt markets.
Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, lowered his price target to $200 from $300 but maintained his buy rating. Luria wrote that the market has appropriately adjusted for this transition. Analysts at Oppenheimer wrote in a report on Thursday that, even though they see the company reporting solid earnings, they expect fundamentals to take a backseat near term. The departure of Huang could translate to a lingering share overhang, they wrote.
Why it matters for wealth
Nvidia's fall represents a seismic shift in AI sector valuations, affecting portfolios with exposure to technology stocks. The company's performance has been a bellwether for the artificial intelligence buildout, and the leadership transition could signal broader volatility in the sector.
Heading into next week, the pressure is on Kress. Nvidia is scheduled to report quarterly results on Tuesday. Analysts are projecting 91 per cent year-over-year revenue growth to $108.9 billion, according to LSEG. That is up 18-fold from the same quarter in 2022, just before OpenAI launched ChatGPT and kicked off the generative AI era.
Source: CNBC
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