Nvidia shares rebound as House chairs seek Huang briefing

Nvidia ↗ 2.78% shares rose on Friday, Nov. 6, and won back part of Thursday's 9.3% drop. That fall was the chipmaker's worst day since January 2025, Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↘ 4.69% reported. The bounce came as the company faced a second source of pressure. Three House Republican committee chairs have asked CEO Jensen Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18 about his ties to an executive reportedly identified as a Chinese intelligence asset.reuters.com

Lawmakers Press Huang

The letter, dated Nov. 4, was signed by Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast and Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford. It asks Huang to discuss his interactions with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang and Nvidia's "security protocols against foreign adversary espionage," according to the House China committee. Huang has until Nov. 11 to accept or offer another date. The request is an invitation, not a subpoena, IANS noted.chinaselectcommittee.house.gov+1

"It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which U.S. national security has been placed at risk," the chairs wrote, CNBC Comcast Corporation ↘ 2.24% reported. The request follows a report from The New York Times ↗ 4.26%. It said U.S. intelligence found that Alice Huang had been passing information to Beijing and had "developed a close relationship" with Jensen Huang. Nvidia did not say whether Huang would attend. A spokesperson said regional cloud customers receive "ordinary business information — not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets," CNBC reported. The proposed briefing date is one day after Nvidia's third-quarter earnings report on Nov. 17.cnbc.com

Chip Stocks Recover

The rebound followed a sector-wide rout. Democrats won the midterm elections, including in key data-center states, and that raised concerns that tougher AI regulation could slow the data-center buildout, according to Reuters. The Nasdaq Composite had its steepest one-day decline in 19 months on Thursday. On Friday, AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ↗ 11.04%, Intel ↗ 7.71% and Micron Technology ↗ 5.12% gained between 6% and 10% in morning trading.reuters.com

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index PHLX Semiconductor Index ↗ 3.91% fell 12.3% on Thursday, its worst session since March 2020, Investor's Business Daily reported. The same outlet said Nvidia's Thursday drop erased its gains for the year.investors.com

Investors Weigh Risks

Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said the decline "reflects uncertainty about the cost and pace of the data center buildout rather than a sudden deterioration in the outlook," Investor's Business Daily reported. BofA Securities analyst Vivek Arya called the selloff transitory and said "Congressional policy clarity and (stock) buybacks could help restore confidence."investors.com

Rate worries remain. October payrolls grew more than expected, and traders raised their bets on a December Federal Reserve rate hike, Reuters reported. "Will the Fed want to raise interest rates in the face of a market which is teetering?" asked Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading.reuters.com