Skip to content

Nvidia CEO Huang resigns, Kress steps in as AMD rises

Nvidia said Jensen Huang has resigned as chief executive with immediate effect, naming finance chief Colette Kress interim CEO, while AMD shares were higher on Thursday as analysts framed it as a bet on rivals.

Nvidia said on Thursday that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive and director with immediate effect. Colette Kress, its chief financial officer since September 2013, has agreed to be interim CEO, a temporary chief executive until a permanent successor is named, and keeps the CFO role. The board is searching for a permanent chief executive and will consider internal and external candidates. The release gave no reason for the resignation.

Harvey Jones, a former CEO of chip-design software company Synopsys, becomes the board’s first-ever Chair. He said the board “has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team”, and expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption.

Nvidia (NVDA), which designs the GPUs and AI computing systems used in data centres, was down 4.13% at $166.56 at about 4.13pm in London, against a previous close of $173.73. It opened near $151 and hit a low of $148.80 before recovering.

Line chart of AMD's daily close over the past month with today's jump highlighted.
AMD’s daily close over the past month, with today’s move marked (latest level a delayed quote).
AMD.US

Rival chipmaker AMD (AMD) was up 5.88% at $585.43 at 4.01pm in London, with the US session open on Nasdaq. Yahoo Finance reported AMD and Broadcom rising on Thursday morning as Nvidia fell.

Charu Chanana of Saxo Markets told AFP that rivals could benefit as customers look to diversify suppliers, saying “AI leadership could broaden, rather than the boom ending”. She said AMD, Broadcom, Alphabet and Samsung could all gain. Investing.com was more cautious, calling the move “a trade on sentiment, not yet a change in market share” and noting that neither AMD nor Broadcom was moving on a change at its own company. The link to Nvidia is the commentators’ reading, not anything AMD has said. AMD also rose on Wednesday on reports about Nvidia’s board, so today extends a run rather than starting one.

The next test is Nvidia’s results next Tuesday, 17 November, at about 1:20pm Pacific time. Lisa Su, AMD’s chief executive, was reportedly named as a possible successor to Huang by The Information’s Martin Peers, according to AFP, though no source says Nvidia’s board is considering her.

Asktraders News Team
Asktraders News Team
Team Member

The AskTraders Analyst Team features experts in technical and fundamental analysis, as well as traders specializing in stocks, forex, and cryptocurrency.

Stay ahead of the markets

Sign up to our free Morning Markets email, every weekday before the open.