European chip stocks fell on Thursday after Nvidia shares slid 8.6% in after-hours trading on Wednesday. The drop followed a report in The Wall Street Journal that Nvidia’s board was preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang.
The board met late on Wednesday US time to decide whether to remove Huang, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Nvidia shares were down 7.2% in US pre-market trading shortly after 10:00 CET on Thursday.
European chip stocks pared their early losses as investors awaited news about Nvidia’s future. ASML was down 1.9% at 11:26 CET, while ASM International and STMicroelectronics were both down less than 0.3% in late-morning trading.
The broader European market rose. Germany’s DAX gained more than 1% to 27,001 in morning trading, crossing 27,000 for the first time. Industrial group Siemens gained more than 4% after reporting record profits, helped by demand from data centres. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, and Paris’s CAC 40 gained 0.7% in early trading.
Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993, has become synonymous with the company. Its dominance in chips used to train AI models has made Nvidia the poster child for the AI boom.
On Sunday, Nvidia’s board announced an independent investigation following reports that Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. Huang has acknowledged an extramarital affair. Reuters reported that the woman involved was suspected of spying for China.
Separately, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing five people who had worked at Nvidia, that Huang had a second extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice-president of healthcare.
Who could lead Nvidia if Huang leaves?
With no obvious successor, Huang’s potential departure would leave a leadership vacuum at the roughly $4 trillion chipmaker.
Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot, said, “Clearly Nvidia's board is taking the allegations of another affair by Jensen Huang incredibly seriously given they have gone as far as hiring an external search firm to look for potential successors.”
Barringer added that “there is no natural successor at Nvidia, although CFO Colette Kress would be the most obvious choice”. He also said Huang could stay on: “there is every possibility he stays on as president in a much reduced role, but retaining some level of influence”.
Barringer said a change in leadership could also have repercussions across the industry. “Huang is hugely influential in the debates around AI regulation and financing, and if his voice is diminished then Nvidia may not carry the sway it once did,” he said.
He does not expect any short-term impact on the company, provided its order book remains strong, and it continues to deliver on its performance targets.
Asian shares slip after Wall Street rally
Asian shares mostly fell on Thursday. Taiwan’s Taiex lost 2.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.7%, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.6% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down nearly 0.1%.
US stock futures were mixed in late-morning trading in Europe, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.7% at around 11:45 CET.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.6% on Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%. CoreWeave, which rents access to AI chips through its cloud platform, jumped 24.7% after reporting a smaller quarterly loss than analysts had expected. The US bond market was closed for Veterans Day.
The rally extended a rebound in AI stocks after last week’s sell-off, when the Democratic sweep of Congress raised concerns about tighter regulation. Investors are also weighing whether demand for AI will generate enough profit to justify the industry’s heavy spending.
Oil prices were down shortly after 11:30 CET. Benchmark US crude fell more than 0.7% to $85.87 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell nearly 0.8% to $92 a barrel. Brent has traded between $72 and $120 a barrel since the Iran war pushed prices higher.
Gold futures fell more than 1%, with the continuous contract trading at around $3,956 an ounce in late-morning European trading.
In currency trading, the dollar edged down to ¥159.78 from ¥159.79, while the euro edged up to $1.1101.
