Oppenheimer removed its price target on Nvidia and cut its view on NVDA after reports that the company’s board is meeting to decide whether to oust Jensen Huang as chief executive. The move came after the stock fell 6.5% in premarket trading, a sharp reaction to a leadership question Wall Street rarely sees at a company this large.
The reports landed late Wednesday and immediately changed the way analysts were talking about Nvidia. Citi’s Atif Malik lowered his target to $225 and kept a Buy rating, while Stifel’s Ruben Roy said he now treats a leadership transition as the base case, cutting his target to $205 from $315 and reiterating Buy. Roy also said supply remains the binding constraint, with F3Q27 expected to deliver a modest beat on 11/17 and FY28 estimates skewing higher.
That is why the search around NVDA stock ticker turned so quickly from AI momentum to governance risk. Nvidia has long been treated as a central AI name, and Huang’s role has sat at the center of that story, from strategy and product vision to customer relationships and investor confidence. One report from added another layer, saying Huang had a relationship with Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell, while the broader market fixated on whether the board was preparing a clean break or simply weighing its options.
What makes the analyst reaction stand out is how unusual Oppenheimer’s step was. Removing a price target is typically something firms do to sub-$10 names after a major shock, not to a company of Nvidia’s size, and Rich Schafer said the firm was downgrading shares of NVDA and removing its target after reports of Huang’s imminent departure amid allegations of a second extramarital affair. In plain terms, the issue is no longer just valuation. It is whether the person most closely tied to Nvidia’s rise can still be the face of the company if the board decides that a transition is necessary.
Ruben Roy’s view points to the split now defining the stock. He says nothing has been announced, but he still treats a leadership transition as the base case, which means the market is being asked to price Nvidia both as a business with strong demand and as one whose multiple could change if the chief executive changes. The next move belongs to the board, and the key question is whether it acts on the reports or leaves Huang in place while Wall Street keeps testing the stock’s valuation anyway.
