[ANALYSIS] Nvidia (NVDA), where things stand, and the potential path ahead

LATEST UPDATES: The last major update overnight in the latest Nvidia scandal was the WSJ reporting that the board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang, and is preparing to meet on Thursday to determine Huang's future. The fallout for the tech behemoth has been sizeable. Initial reports alleged that Huang had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy, which reportedly facilitated the sale of at least USD 7.5bln in chips to China, before the NYT reported on Wednesday night that he had another relationship with an Nvidia executive. SELL-SIDE BEARISH ON SHARES: Since the news broke, the sell-side and participants have been bearish on shares, and many have illustrated the importance of CEO Huang to the firm. Given this, Nvidia has been downgraded by numerous Wall St. firms, with many others lowering PTs over the course of this week. Citi lowers PT to USD 225 (prev. 285) on the potential to be without Jensen, and said it would mark the end of an era. JPMorgan lowers PT to USD 215 (prev. 320); cites uncertainty on leadership and regulatory risks around China for the target cut. Notes Nvidia’s chip, system and software roadmaps are already laid out for the next three years, but who will lead the company through them is now an open question. Still expects Nvidia to maintain its AI leadership. Stifel lowers PT to USD 205 (prev. 315); sees a leadership transition as its base case, and says Nvidia's fundamentals are not the issue but the stock's multiple is. Baird slashes PT to USD 200 (prev. 500) and downgrades shares to 'Neutral' from 'Outperform'. Bernstein slashes PT to USD 200 (prev. 400). Evercore lowers PT to USD 186 (prev. 465) and downgrades shares to 'In Line' from 'Outperform'. Oppenheimer downgrades shares to 'Perform' from 'Outperform'; says Huang's departure would present a material, potentially thesis-changing event, and sees risk that his departure creates a “brain drain” situation, threatening NVDA's pace of innovation, a critical competitive advantage. Adds that Huang's role as the “face of AI” cannot be overstated, and has been critical to NVDA's success in becoming the undisputed AI leader. William Blair downgrades shares to 'Market Perform' from 'Outperform'; notes it will be a significant overhang, and the potential for a slower AI buildout and more intense competition from other chipmakers will only add to Nvidia's execution risk. Melius Research downgrades shares to 'Hold' from 'Buy'. KeyBanc downgrades shares to 'Sector Weight' from 'Overweight'. PARTNERSHIPS: Given the uncertainty in the name, other companies will be keen to quell any investor, or market fears, and so far CoreWeave (CRWV) CEO Intrator said he sees "no reason" the company's partnership with Nvidia will change, while Siemens (SIE GY) CEO remarked that cooperation with Nvidia will not be affected by leadership uncertainty. AHEAD: If Huang is removed, which appears likely, what is already clear is that the departure and heightened scrutiny of the Co. will be a significant overhang on NVDA shares in the near term. On top of this, the potential for a slower AI buildout and more intense competition from other chipmakers will only add to execution risk, and will likely see increased volatility in shares. In the wake of the original reports (the alleged Chinese spy), Bernstein's belief was that it was in no one's best interest (shareholders, the BoD, or even the US government) to see him gone, but with the new allegations Bernstein said it feels impossible for the board to keep him in the role. And, despite how unlikely it seems, Bernstein writes that if it turns out the board doesn't remove him now it would bring further risk as more allegations seem likely to surface from here. SUCCESSION PLAN: Semafor reports some Nvidia board members favour current CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO, while sources add Apple (AAPL) hardware chief Johny Srouji is among those considered for the top job. Oppenheimer sees "massive shoes to fill and no obvious successor." CHIP EXPORTS: One of the areas of contention is whether the alleged Chinese spy, who worked at Megaspeed, has been privy to AI information from Nvidia. On Thursday, Axios, citing sources, said that US President Trump authorised a crackdown on companies suspected of diverting Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China. Separate reports said that US Treasury Secretary Bessent confronted Commerce Secretary Lutnick over a failure to have Megaspeed on a list of firms which pose a national security concern. UBS has said the US government could enforce even tighter restrictions that could impact Nvidia's ability to ship products into China, but also into other regions like Singapore or Malaysia. POTENTIAL WINNERS: AMD (AMD) - Nvidia's closest major GPU rival could garner more orders as customers look to diversify their chip suppliers. Alphabet (GOOG) - Google's TPU chips offer a different computing platform, possibly attracting more demand to Google Cloud. Broadcom (AVGO), Marvell (MRVL) - Both build custom AI chips and could gain if hyperscalers accelerate in-house silicon to reduce dependence on a company in leadership turmoil.