Nvidia still plans to report earnings on November 17, in the first results presentation without Jensen Huang at the helm, and the market will judge the new leadership by the numbers. The company guided to 108 billion dollars of revenue, plus or minus 2 percent, with commentary at about 4:20 p.m. Eastern Time and a call at 5:00 p.m.
Why it matters
Chief financial officer Colette Kress is interim chief executive, and she will present the results that Huang used to own. The shares fell as much as 14 percent at the open on Thursday before closing down 4.34 percent at 166.19 dollars, and the stock is on track to wipe more than half a trillion dollars of market value since the board opened its investigation.
The earnings will be read for more than the revenue line. Investors will want to know whether the circular financing deals, in which Nvidia pumps cash into its customers to fuel more chip sales, are still intact. The company has committed 30 billion dollars to an OpenAI financing round and said it would cover 105 billion dollars of OpenAI rent payments in a 4.3 gigawatt Ohio data centre deal with SoftBank.
What happens next
The other test comes the same week. Anthropic initial public offering will be the next big test for the AI trade, and the listing will show whether investors still believe in the AI story when the company at the centre of it has lost its founder. A strong debut would calm the market, while a weak one would confirm that the fear has spread.
For now, Tuesday is the date that matters. If Kress presents cleanly and the guidance holds, the interim will gain authority and the board will gain time. If the numbers disappoint, the search for a permanent successor will become more urgent, and the stock will have further to fall.
The earnings will be read for more than the revenue line. Investors will want to know whether the data centre demand that drove the boom is still growing, and whether the circular financing deals are still intact. The guidance will show whether the bet on OpenAI is still paying off, and whether the interim leadership can hold the story together.
