Oppenheimer cut Nvidia to Perform from Outperform and removed its price target on Thursday as the Nvidia Stock Price fell nearly 7% in early premarket trading. The call added to pressure on a stock that had already been moving sharply before the opening bell.
Bernstein had already trimmed its view earlier in the week, cutting Nvidia to Market Perform from Outperform and lowering its price target to $200, which implied 15% upside. That sequence gave investors two separate rating changes within days, both pointing to a cooler near-term view of the shares.
Jensen Huang and the board
The stock has also been weighed down by the fallout around Jensen Huang. He admitted to an affair on Sunday, and Nvidia launched an investigation after that admission.
Earlier this week, Nvidia's board said it had “no reason to believe” U.S. national security or company secrets were compromised. At the same time, reports said the board was considering removing Huang as CEO, which leaves the governance question open even as the company tries to steady the business side of the story.
Mao Ning in Beijing
China also pushed back on Thursday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing that “China's scientific progress relies on independent innovation and open cooperation,” and added, “The US should stop fabricating the so-called Chinese spy narrative as a pretext for imposing technology restrictions.”
She said China should not be used as a pretext for U.S. technology restrictions, a message that landed alongside reports that the U.S. Commerce Department was finalizing a semiconductor control update. The reported update would prevent remote access and chip smuggling into China via data centers, raising the stakes for Nvidia's China-linked business outlook.
For investors, the immediate focus is on whether the pressure on Nvidia shares extends beyond one trading session. The bigger unresolved issue is whether the board keeps Huang in place while the company faces a downgrade, a separate rating cut, and new policy risk tied to China.
