AMD, Broadcom gain as Nvidia slides after Huang exit

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices ↘ 8.75% and Broadcom ↘ 4.76% rose Thursday, November 12, as investors moved money out of Nvidia ↘ 2.01% after co-founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive. Nvidia's board said Huang stepped down as president, CEO and director effective immediately, and it named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO while it searches for a permanent successor, according to the company's filing. Analysts see an opening for Nvidia's closest rivals, but some caution that the rally rests on sentiment rather than any change in market share.sec.gov

A rotation within chips

The selling started before the announcement. Nvidia shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading Wednesday as AMD and Broadcom gained, Benzinga reported. Those moves followed a Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 2.45% report that the board was preparing to remove Huang. Nvidia fell sharply again at Thursday's open, while AMD and Broadcom extended their gains, Investing.com reported. AMD's Instinct GPUs compete directly with Nvidia's data center chips, and Broadcom designs custom AI accelerators and networking chips for large cloud customers. That makes the two the main large-cap alternatives for investors who want AI exposure without the uncertainty over Nvidia's leadership, Benzinga noted.uk.finance.yahoo.com+1

William Blair upgraded AMD to Outperform. Its analysts said they "see a runway for shares to work from here" while Nvidia "contends with a growing leadership and regulatory imbroglio," Investing.com reported.uk.finance.yahoo.com

Why the gains may not last

An Investing.com analysis called the rally "real but fragile" and described it as "a trade on sentiment, not yet a change in market share." It noted that AMD had risen about 40% over the past week. The analysis said the gains could hold only if Nvidia stumbles in its operations and customers visibly shift to other suppliers. Nvidia is set to report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, as scheduled, the company said.investing.com+1

How Huang's exit unfolded

Huang resigned after reports of two extramarital affairs. One involved a woman U.S. officials suspect of spying for China, the AP reported. The board had opened an independent investigation on November 8, and in a regulatory filing Nvidia said the board accepted Huang's resignation on Wednesday, TechCrunch reported. Before Thursday's drop, Nvidia's stock had already lost 27% since its peak a little over a month earlier, the AP reported.apnews.com+2

The board also named former Synopsys ↘ 1.62% CEO Harvey Jones as its first-ever chair. Jones said the board expects Nvidia's "operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption," according to the company.sec.gov