Nvidia Live Updates: Jensen Huang Resigns as CEO as Third Affair Allegation Emerges, Risking Wider Fallout

Wall Street analysts reacted with temporary relief Thursday when Nvidia (NVDA) announced that CFO Colette Kress would serve as interim CEO after Jensen Huang resigned following reports of affairs with an alleged Chinese spy and an Nvidia executive.

Kress, who served as Nvidia’s chief financial officer, is seen as a steady hand amid the turmoil at the company.

Wall Street observers say that in the near future, Nvidia will be the revenue behemoth it has been since the start of the AI ​​race, thanks to its existing product roadmap.

KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst John Vinh wrote in a note to investors that Kress’s appointment as interim CEO is constructive “given her tenure as CFO since 2013 and her deep institutional knowledge of Nvidia’s business and strategy.”

But Huang, who led the company as a single figure with dozens of direct reports, leaves a void that darkens Nvidia’s long-term prospects.

As a result, several analysts have lowered their price targets and ratings on the company’s stock.

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, who cut her price target from $400 to $200 and lowered her rating from outperform to market perform, wrote in a note to investors that Kress’ appointment is positive for the company.

“We’re not really worried about the near-term impacts to the business from the events of last week and, of course, the shares are extremely cheap,” he said.

But Rasgon raised concerns about the new CEO’s ability to manage Nvidia’s product portfolio, customer relationships and more.

“We see considerable uncertainty about the news that is likely to come, as well as the ability of any new CEO to truly replace Jensen given the rigor with which he has handled the company’s direction and its relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and the broader industry ecosystem,” he wrote. Learn more.