Nvidia shares fell more than two per cent as Wall Street opened on Friday, extending a bruising week for the chip giant after Jensen Huang’s resignation and pushing its market value below $4 trillion.
The AI heavyweight slipped 2.5 per cent to around $162 in early trading, having initially risen in pre-market dealings, as investors continued to assess the fallout from the departure of its founder and chief executive after 33 years. He stepped down following reports of multiple extramarital affairs, including a relationship with a woman suspected by US intelligence officials of spying for China.
The decline followed Thursday’s volatile session, when Nvidia shares plunged more than 13 per cent at the opening bell before recovering to close just over four per cent lower.
The scandal has raised questions over Nvidia’s leadership and corporate governance, with chief financial officer Colette Kress taking over as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent successor.
Tech stocks retreat as Wall Street opens mixed
The wider US market opened mixed on Friday, with the S&P 500 edging up 0.15 per cent to 7,603.78 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.27 per cent to 52,438.13.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.07 per cent to 25,347.59 as selling pressure continued across semiconductor stocks.
Nvidia’s rivals also lost ground, with AMD, Broadcom and Intel falling around two per cent, reversing some of Thursday’s gains as investors reassessed the sector’s outlook.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which produces Nvidia’s chips, slipped less than one per cent, while Dutch chip equipment maker ASML was little changed.
Memory chipmakers Micron Technology and SK Hynix also declined, alongside storage manufacturer SanDisk.
The losses followed a difficult session for Wall Street on Thursday, when the S&P 500 fell 0.35 per cent, and the Dow shed 189 points as Nvidia’s leadership crisis weighed on sentiment.
Despite the sell-off, some analysts believe the chipmaker’s falling valuation could present an opportunity for investors. James Demmert, chief investment officer at Main Street Research, said sentiment towards Nvidia had become “extremely negative”, but suggested the shares could find support around $165.
“We think the stock has support at $165 per share, and sentiment is extremely negative,” he said on Friday morning.
Nvidia is trading at around 13 times forward earnings, according to market estimates, despite revenue growing approximately 60 per cent year on year.
However, GF Securities downgraded Nvidia on Friday, following a separate downgrade by Oppenheimer to Perform, as investors weighed the potential consequences of losing one of the technology industry’s most influential executives.
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