Retail investors make record Nvidia buy after Huang exit

Individual investors bought Nvidia ↘ 5.19% shares in record amounts on Thursday, November 12, 2026, hours after co-founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive. Retail traders bought a net $111 million of the stock in the first 30 minutes of the regular session, according to Vanda Research data reported by CNBC Comcast Corporation ↘ 0.76%. That was the largest opening-half-hour net purchase of Nvidia that Vanda has recorded, and more than 40 times the size of a normal open, CNN reported.edition.cnn.com+1

The board said Huang had resigned as president, CEO and director effective immediately, and named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO while it searches for a permanent successor, according to the company's announcement. His exit followed reports of two extramarital affairs, one of them with a woman U.S. intelligence officials suspect of spying for China, AFP reported.sec.gov+1

A one-way flow

Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% at the open, reaching their lowest level since June 2025, then recovered more than half of that drop, Yahoo Finance reported. Retail buying helped put a floor under the stock, Reuters reported Thomson Reuters Corporation ↗ 0.52%. Nvidia made up 61% of all retail net buying in U.S. stocks and ETFs this week, and it was the most-bought security in Vanda's data on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, CNBC noted. "This is very much a one-way flow story for retail," Vanda wrote, per Yahoo Finance.finance.yahoo.com+2

Several investors told Business Insider they plan to keep buying. "I am planning to buy more," said UK-based investor Prashant Mishra. "The product is strong and has a strong demand in the AI market." Kiana Danial, CEO of Invest Diva, said, "Today will be ugly," and pointed to Nvidia's recovery after it lost about two-thirds of its value in 2022.businessinsider.com

Caution ahead of earnings

Others are holding back. Neil Rozenbaum told Business Insider he is holding his shares but waiting for the company's third-quarter results, adding, "I want to see what management says." Shade Gotau said she is taking a "wait and see" approach while the board chooses a new CEO. Tech investor Bilaal Dhalech said he would not buy now that Huang is gone, calling the decision to remove him a "MASSIVE mistake."businessinsider.com

Nvidia still plans to report results on Tuesday, November 17, the company said. Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider kept a Buy rating and called Huang's exit a "meaningful, but measured negative for the stock," Yahoo Finance reported. DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach was more cautious, saying he "wouldn't really be interested until we got into an environment that's really kind of abject fear."finance.yahoo.com+1