Retail investors moved into Nvidia shares during the sharp selloff following Jensen Huang’s departure, rather than pulling back. Vanda Research data put their net purchases at a record $111 million in the first 30 minutes of trading on Nov. 12, 2026. But Nvidia shares still closed down 4.34% that day.
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A record buying burst during a leadership shock
Nvidia announced that Huang had resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately, and that CFO Colette Kress would serve as interim CEO.
15 The departure came amid news reports about allegations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a woman described in reporting as suspected of spying for China; that suspicion should not be treated as an established finding.
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Against that backdrop, individual investors bought a net $111 million of Nvidia shares during the opening half-hour. “Net” refers to purchases minus sales, and Vanda Research identified the amount as a record for that trading window.
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Why the stock still fell
Nvidia shares dropped more than 14% intraday, reaching $148.80, before recovering to close at $166.19—still down 4.34% for the session.
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22 The intraday rebound and the negative close are not contradictory: a burst of net buying can help absorb selling without being large enough to offset all of it.
The buying figure also covers only one short period. It shows how individual investors traded during the first 30 minutes; it does not, by itself, establish the scale of retail buying for the full day or week, explain what institutional investors did, or show that buyers expected the stock to rise over the long term.
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The weekly losses put the buying in perspective
The subsequent price action showed why one record buying window is not the same as a market bottom. By Friday, Nov. 13, Nvidia had lost 13% over five trading sessions, its worst week since April 2025, and recorded a sixth consecutive weekly decline, according to Bloomberg.
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The clearest conclusion is limited but useful: retail investors were willing to buy aggressively into Nvidia’s Nov. 12 drop, even as the leadership change and scandal-related reports unsettled investors. The record flow captured that willingness; the falling close and further weekly losses showed that it did not resolve the market’s concerns.
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