- U.S. equity futures opened lower Wednesday night after The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang. Nasdaq-100 futures slid 0.9% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, while Dow futures inched higher, according to CNBC. By our calculation, Nasdaq-100 futures were falling three times as fast as S&P 500 futures.
- Nvidia’s U.S. shares fell 8.6% in after-hours trading Wednesday, CNBC reported, with later updates on the same live blog citing a drop of more than 9%. The company’s Frankfurt-listed shares were down 7.1% in Thursday premarket trading as the board gathered to decide Huang’s fate following reports of two extramarital affairs.
- Including the after-hours drop, Nvidia is down 20% in the past week and about 30% from its Oct. 6 high, CNBC said. The stock had been up almost 3% in Wednesday’s regular session before the Journal and New York Times reports hit, after falling nearly 10% over the first two trading days of the week.
- Asia-Pacific markets were mixed early Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi, which is dominated by Nvidia suppliers Samsung and SK Hynix, slipped 0.35%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.31%, and Japan’s Topix gained 0.62%, with the Nikkei 225 slightly higher in choppy trade.
What Happened?
The news landed minutes after The New York Times reported that Huang had an extramarital relationship with an Nvidia executive, and it followed his weekend admission of an affair with a woman U.S. intelligence officials believe was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security. U.S. stock cash trading was open Wednesday, a session in which Nvidia had been rebounding, while the Treasury market was shut for Veterans Day. Overnight, other Asian movers included Nissan, which fell 5.22% in Tokyo after a 96% drop in quarterly operating profit, and Naver, which slid 5.89% after profit fell 20.9% on heavier AI-infrastructure spending. On Thursday’s calendar, CNBC flagged pre-bell results from Nebius, which jumped 15% Wednesday and is down 50% from its June high, and after-the-bell reports from Cisco, Applied Materials and Cerebras. Apple shares hit a new high Wednesday and are up 46% from their January 52-week low, trading at 39 times earnings.
Why It Matters?
Thursday is the first session in which U.S. investors can fully price a possible Huang exit in cash trading after a volatile after-hours move. The Nasdaq-100’s outsized futures decline shows the shock is still concentrated in AI-linked megacaps rather than the broad market, but Nvidia is the center of the AI trade, and a sustained slide would pressure suppliers, cloud borrowers and the indexes themselves. The 30% drawdown from the Oct. 6 high already marks a sharp reset in the stock that led last year’s AI rally. Apple’s record high underscores how uneven the tape has become: some megacaps are still making highs even as the chip leader lurches lower.
What’s Next?
The first test will be whether Nvidia can stabilize at the cash open and whether the Nasdaq can hold Wednesday’s rebound in other names. Watch after-hours results from Cisco and Applied Materials for any read-through on AI infrastructure demand, and whether Frankfurt’s 7.1% premarket drop in Nvidia carries into U.S. trading. Bond trading has also resumed after the Veterans Day closure, so equity futures will be trading against a Treasury market that is again open.
