London (AFP) – Technology shares came under pressure Thursday as Jensen Huang resigned as chief of AI giant Nvidia in the face of a board revolt following revelations he had two extramarital affairs, including with a woman accused of spying for China. The company’s board said Huang had stepped down as president, chief executive, and board member, effective immediately. Chief financial officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while keeping her finance role, and the board will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent replacement.
Shares in Nvidia, which is due to report quarterly earnings next Tuesday, plunged 13 percent at the start of trading in New York. “A leadership scandal at one of the world’s biggest companies is enough to bring the tech stock rally to a halt,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB. Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.5 percent as trading got underway. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the major firms in the AI chip sector, fell 1.8 percent.
Companies linked to the AI sector had enjoyed a healthy bounce in recent days after last week’s sell-off sparked by regulatory concerns following the Democratic sweep of the US Congress, as well as worries about whether the massive investments being made in the sector will ever prove profitable. “The scandal surrounding Mr. Huang and Nvidia has come at a bad time for investors, particularly those with a large exposure to the AI infrastructure buildout trade,” said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison. XTB’s Brooks said that the Nvidia fallout was “helping to spur a rotation into European markets that are traditionally low-tech.” London, Paris, and Frankfurt all climbed in afternoon deals.
Frankfurt’s blue-chip DAX reached earlier in the session a record high above 27,000 points thanks to healthy corporate earnings and recent optimism about the artificial intelligence boom. Investors will now be looking ahead to Nvidia’s results call next week. “The integrity of the $1 trillion (revenue) forecast, in the wake of this scandal, is likely to be a key question on Nvidia’s earnings call next week,” Brooks said. The stock has shed over a third of its value since setting a record high last month, wiping around $1.7 trillion off its market capitalization.
Huang, who co-founded Nvidia, built it into one of the world’s biggest and most important companies, designing advanced chips crucial to the AI buildout that has helped drive stock markets to record highs and boosted economies around the world. But analysts say the crisis has exposed an alarming lack of a succession plan for Huang, the only CEO Nvidia has ever had. “Nvidia has spent years convincing investors that it is one of the most important companies in the AI revolution,” wrote Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. “An abrupt exit without a credible succession plan could force investors to reassess how much of Nvidia’s future depends on Huang personally,” she said.
Elsewhere, Burberry shares jumped more than six percent after the British luxury group returned to profit in the first half of the year. Oil prices were mixed as a report showed production in the Gulf had increased despite the US-Iran war. The dollar steadied after gains seen amid growing expectations the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates next month.
– Key figures at around 1430 GMT –
New York – DOW: UP 0.1 percent at 52,536.38 points
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.8 percent at 7,560.16
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.5 percent at 25,093.72
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,847.05
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,369.18
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 26,778.66
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 60,819.36 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: DOWN 0.6 percent at 5,342.73 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 24,008.55 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,655.83 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.4 percent at $93.11 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $86.29 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1096 from $1.1092 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3269 from $1.3278
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.62 from 159.86 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 83.64 from 83.54 pence
dan-ajb/bcp/js
© 2024 AFP
