Nvidia is going to struggle until it gets a new CEO to permanently replace Jensen Huang and take over from CFO-turned-interim-CEO Colette Kress, according to HSBC. Analyst Frank Lee downgraded the chipmaker to hold from buy. His price target of $170, down from $365, implies upside of just 2.3% from Thursday’s close. “We believe the uncertainties will prevail until a permanent succession plan is laid out and the new CEO is able to demonstrate execution capabilities,” Lee said in a Friday note to clients. Lee thinks tightened export restrictions on the company’s products are serious possibility, which could dent Nvidia’s fiscal year 2028 earnings-per-share by 13%. “During the past six quarters, 11% of total revenue was from countries excluding the US and Taiwan, which we believe could be the focus of restrictions,” he said. “Our sensitivity implies that if NVIDIA loses 11% of FY28e revenue, its EPS downside could be 13% compared with our base case EPS of USD15.65. The bear case EPS of USD13.57 is 14% below current consensus of USD15.77.”
