Nvidia Shares Plunge, Shaking Up Tech Stocks

Nvidia’s shares continued to slide on Thursday, sending tremors through global markets, as the company’s board considered the future of the chip-maker’s chief executive, Jensen Huang.

Shares in Nvidia dropped more than 7 percent in premarket trading, extending a drop that is set to wipe roughly $1 trillion from the company’s market value this month alone.

With the leadership of Nvidia in turmoil, investors faced uncertainty about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade and how the problems inside one of the technology industry’s most important companies could affect the broader economy.

The fallout could be seen in markets around the world, although the effects appeared limited. Major market indexes in Asia, where many of Nvidia’s partners and rivals in the artificial intelligence industry are based, mostly declined. Taiwan’s TSMC, which produces chips designed by Nvidia, fell more than 2 percent. But South Korea’s Samsung, which competes with Nvidia on some business lines, gained 1 percent.

European stock indexes, which have less heavy exposure to A.I., mostly rose on Thursday. But shares in the region’s largest tech company, ASML of the Netherlands, fell more than 2 percent.

In the United States, futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped less than 1 percent in premarket trading. The stocks of Nvidia’s fellow tech giants, members of an exclusive club known as the “Magnificent Seven,” were little changed.