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AMD gained about 3% to 4% and Broadcom 5% to 6% on Nov. 12 as investors shifted out of Nvidia after CEO Jensen Huang resigned, and William Blair upgraded AMD to outperform.
- AMD rose roughly 3% to 4% and Broadcom 5% to 6%; Nvidia fell about 4% to 5% after dropping as much as 12% at the open.
- Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia CEO and director; CFO Colette Kress is interim chief executive.
- William Blair raised AMD to outperform, projecting revenue growth above 80% next year.
Lead
AMD (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) climbed on Thursday, Nov. 12, as capital moved out of Nvidia (NVDA) into rival suppliers of AI accelerators. The move followed the abrupt resignation of Nvidia's founder and chief executive. AMD traded near $565, and Broadcom near $362 to $364. Nvidia changed hands around $164 to $166, below Wednesday's close of $173.73. The rotation among AI stocks came on the same day William Blair lifted AMD from market perform to outperform.What Happened to Nvidia?
Nvidia announced that Huang had stepped down as chief executive, president and board member, effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress took the interim chief executive role while keeping her finance duties. The board said it was reviewing internal and external candidates for the permanent post. It also said operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap would continue without interruption.
Nvidia shares fell as much as 12% to 13% at the open and pared most of that loss during the session. The decline weighed on the Philadelphia semiconductor index and on memory-chip suppliers. The three major U.S. equity indexes traded choppily and recovered from early weakness.
The timing adds pressure. Nvidia is due to report fiscal third-quarter results on Tuesday, Nov. 17, with no named successor yet in place.
Why Did Investors Rotate Into AMD and Broadcom?
Investors favored AMD and Broadcom because both sell directly competing AI compute, and a leadership vacuum at the market leader invites customers to widen their supplier base. The consensus view separates a governance problem at one company from a problem for AI spending as a whole. Capital therefore moved sideways within the sector rather than out of it.
Broadcom drew the largest inflows. It designs custom AI accelerators for hyperscalers, including the tensor processing units used by Alphabet (GOOG). Those programs are a direct alternative to Nvidia's merchant GPUs. AMD, up well over 100% year to date, has secured large commitments for its MI450 generation. They include a multi-gigawatt agreement with OpenAI and a deployment of 50,000 MI450 GPUs at Oracle (ORCL) on its Helios rack-scale systems.The rotation has limits. Nvidia remains far larger by market value, and its product roadmap and supply commitments are largely set through next year. No major customer has announced a switch away from Nvidia. Buyers are adding second sources rather than replacing the incumbent.
How Did William Blair Change Its View on AMD?
William Blair upgraded AMD to outperform from market perform, saying that all four factors behind its July neutral stance had moved in the company's favor. The firm cited three developments:
- Delays to Intel's (INTC) Xeon server roadmap, which improve AMD's position in server processors.
- A less disruptive industry shift toward Arm-based processors than previously feared.
- Greater opportunity in custom AI programs, as Nvidia faces leadership and regulatory scrutiny.
The firm projects AMD revenue growth above 80% next year. It expects data-center AI revenue to surpass the server CPU business in the fourth quarter, with Helios systems ramping through 2027. AMD shares were up about 2% in premarket trading on the upgrade and extended gains through the session.
Market Reaction and Strategic Context
The session shows how concentrated AI equity exposure has become. Nvidia's weight in major indexes and in sector funds means a single-company event moves broad benchmarks. It also pulls money toward the next-largest names in the supply chain. A drop of roughly $500 billion in Nvidia's market value at the lows, and the partial recovery that followed, show how quickly positioning shifted and then steadied.
For AMD, the upgrade reinforces a narrative that had already built through the autumn. The company has moved from a challenger in data-center GPUs to a supplier whose rack-scale systems are running customer workloads. For Broadcom, the rotation highlights the growing share of AI spending that goes to custom silicon rather than off-the-shelf accelerators.
What Comes Next for the AI Chip Trade?
The next catalyst is Nvidia's Nov. 17 earnings report. Results and guidance will show whether demand, order books and data-center revenue are intact despite the leadership change. Any commentary on succession timing or the CEO search will also matter. Strong guidance would likely narrow the gap that opened between Nvidia and its rivals. Cautious commentary on customers or supply would extend the rotation.
AMD and Broadcom face their own tests. AMD must convert announced commitments into shipments as Helios ramps. Broadcom's custom accelerator revenue depends on a small group of hyperscale customers whose capital spending plans remain the main variable for the whole sector.
Outlook
Thursday's trading reflected a repricing of risk inside AI hardware rather than a retreat from it. AMD gained 3% to 4% and Broadcom 5% to 6% as Nvidia absorbed the loss of its founding chief executive. The William Blair upgrade added a fundamental argument to the rotation. Nvidia's report on Nov. 17 and the board's choice of a permanent CEO will determine whether the shift persists or fades.
Mentioned tickers: AMD, AVGO, NVDA, INTC, GOOG, ORCL
