Nvidia Loses Jensen Huang as CEO Days Before Q3 Earnings

Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's CEO and left the board with immediate effect on 12 November, after weeks of reports about his personal relationships that raised national security questions. CFO Colette Kress is now interim CEO and keeps the CFO job. Former Synopsys CEO Harvey Jones becomes the company's first ever board chair.

The stock had already paid the price before the announcement. The leadership saga pushed NVDA to eight-month lows, and lawmakers say their questions about China chip sales are not going away. That political pressure remains an open overhang regardless of who runs the company.

What does the business look like under new leadership?

The fundamentals answer arrives in four days. Nvidia reports Q3 FY27 on Tuesday, 17 November, after the close. Guidance was $108bn in revenue, plus or minus 2%, with a 74% gross margin. Consensus sits around $108.8bn in revenue and $2.47 in EPS, according to the analysis from TradingView contributor Dillon_dunn.

The bigger risk is the outlook, not the quarter itself. Nvidia has already warned that Q4 gross margin will dip on higher memory costs. Working in the board's favor: it added $150bn to the buyback in September, leaving $235bn authorised through fiscal 2028.

What did the chart do on the news?

The technical picture is bruised but showing fight. NVDA has fallen from 243 in October. On the day of the shake-up news, it flushed as low as 148.80, then closed at 166.19 — back above the 162-to-168 area that held the March and April lows.

"A long lower wick like that, on news this bad, tells me buyers stepped in hard," Dillon_dunn wrote. Overhead, the 190-to-195 zone was support all summer and now acts as resistance, with an open gap inside it.

The takeaway in plain words: the selling climaxed intraday, but the stock has to reclaim 190 before anyone can call the downtrend broken.

What's the trading plan?

The analyst's rules are strict, and earnings is the gate.

• No buying before earnings with a brand new CEO.
• Entry trigger: price holds above 160 through the report, then closes a day above 180.
• Buy zone on dips: 172 to 175.
• Invalidation: a daily close below 160.
• Targets: 192 first, then 205.

What would flip the thesis bearish?

"A post earnings close below 160 means yesterday's wick failed," the analyst wrote. In that case, the expectation is a retest of 148.80, and the plan is to stay out entirely.

That sets up a binary week for the stock. Tuesday's $108bn-revenue report, the first under interim CEO Kress, either validates the buyers who defended 162-168 or sends NVDA back toward the 148.80 flush low. The author notes this is their own analysis and not financial advice, and that single stocks can gap hard on earnings — so manage risk accordingly.