Jim Cramer Nvidia stock advice landed in a week when Nvidia moved hard in both directions. The stock fell 9.26% on Thursday, then bounced 2.78% on Friday, leaving a 64-year-old retiree’s 1,000-share position worth $186,640 after the rebound.
Nvidia and the Thursday selloff
Thursday was the worst chip-stock day since March 2020. Nvidia closed at $181.60 after dropping 9.26%, while The PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 12.25%, the iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped 12.15%, and The VanEck Semiconductor ETF slid 11.21%.
Micron fell 17.46% and Lam Research lost 16.36% on the same session. The move was not just an Nvidia story; it hit the group as a whole, with investor concern centered on what the new Congress could mean for data center construction spending.
Fisher Investments and the retiree stake
For the retiree, the numbers are easier to measure. On June 10, 2024, the investor bought 1,000 Nvidia shares at $121.79 each, putting $121,790 to work. By Oct. 6, that stake had climbed to $239,240 at Nvidia’s record close of $239.24.
By Friday, the same 1,000 shares were worth $186,640. That left the position $64,850 above the original purchase price, but $52,600 below the Oct. 6 peak. Thursday alone took $18,530 from the top value, and Friday returned $5,040 of that loss.
Social Security and the portfolio math
The retiree’s Nvidia stake made up 23.7% of a $786,640 portfolio, with $600,000 in other retirement savings and $2,500 a month from Social Security. Selling 300 shares would reduce Nvidia’s share of the portfolio to 16.6% and would trigger about $2,918 in federal tax.
Nvidia also raised its quarterly dividend to 25 cents a share this year from 1 cent. On 1,000 shares, that works out to $1,000 a year, though the yield at Friday’s price was only 0.54%.
The stock ended the week 8.8% lower and still sat 22% below its record close of $239.24 on Oct. 6. For the retiree, the choice is not whether the position has value — it does — but how much concentration is too much after a swing that erased and then partially restored tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of days.
