Nvidia shares fell 8.1% in after-hours trading after a report that the company’s board is preparing to remove Chief Executive Jensen Huang, adding pressure to an already fragile AI trade. Asian stocks were mixed Thursday as investors balanced the company-specific risk against strong technology earnings.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s board was planning to meet as soon as Wednesday to discuss Huang’s future, following reports of two extramarital affairs, one involving a suspected Chinese spy and another an employee. Nasdaq e-mini futures fell 1.0% after the report.
“Investors now need to take the possibility of a leadership change much more seriously,” said Charu Chanana, chief market strategist at Saxo Markets. Analysts said Huang’s role in Nvidia’s strategy, customer relationships and dealings with governments makes his possible departure an investment risk and raises succession concerns. But investors so far appear to be distinguishing Nvidia’s governance issue from the wider AI trade, Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said.
The Kospi slipped 0.1%, the Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.3% and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.8%, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.2%. Among Nvidia’s Asian suppliers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 1.0%; SK Hynix rose 0.4% and Samsung Electronics gained 2.3%.
Oil prices also declined as traders assessed diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East conflict. The Wall Street Journal reported that Vice President JD Vance was considering face-to-face talks with a senior Iranian security official. OCBC analysts said diplomatic efforts and reduced fears of fresh large-scale strikes were eroding oil’s geopolitical premium. The bank kept its end-2026 Brent forecast at $100 a barrel but cut its end-2027 estimate to $75.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.9% to $85.77 a barrel, while Brent futures dropped 0.8% to $91.98. The dollar index was flat at 102.88 after reaching a 19-month high Wednesday, amid increased bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. The dollar fell 0.1% to 159.63 yen, leaving the yen near the 160 level widely viewed as a threshold for Japanese authorities. The dollar gained 0.3% to 63.43 Philippine pesos and 0.15% to 4.08 Malaysian ringgit.
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