NVIDIA Faces Congressional Scrutiny After Huang's Immediate Exit

NVIDIA's fiscal third-quarter revenue guide is $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, and Colette Kress will present results on November 17, 2026.

NVIDIA said Jensen Huang resigned as president, CEO and director, effective immediately. Kress, the chief financial officer, now serves as interim CEO, turning the leadership shock into a multiweek political and legal process that reaches the earnings report.

NVIDIA shares closed at $166.19 on November 12, down $7.54, or 4.34%, after touching a 52-week low of $148.80. They recovered to $167.82 after hours, leaving a market value of about $4.01 trillion. The stock had fallen 27.28% over the month and 8.49% over the week through November 12.

House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said Huang agreed to appear before Congress by Thanksgiving, November 26. Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott wrote on X on November 12: "The American people deserve answers."

China represented less than 1% of NVIDIA's data-center revenue in fiscal Q2 2027, and shipments to the country went under U.S. licenses. The third-quarter guide already excludes China data-center compute revenue, so stricter licensing would mostly remove sales outside the forecast.

The larger commercial risk comes from broader chip limits reaching sovereign customers; that business more than tripled year over year in the second quarter. Direct China exposure is small, but the broader policy exposure is larger.

How will Huang testify before Congress?

Mast said the session would likely proceed under oath and with a transcript. He also said he told Huang that he would subpoena him if needed. The committee said no date had been set, and neither Huang, his lawyers nor NVIDIA had issued a statement supporting Mast's account.

Later on November 12, Mast, China Select Committee Chair John Moolenaar and Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford asked Huang for a closed-door, transcribed interview on December 1. Huang reportedly had until Friday evening, November 13, to accept or face a subpoena.

• Scott requested public testimony on December 3; no hearing was scheduled.
• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick asked Huang to appear on December 10; the request remained unscheduled.
• NVIDIA General Counsel Tim Teter received a December 2 request.
• Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler received a December 3 request.

Those requests did not set hearings, but the testimony sought from Teter and Kessler extends the inquiry into export approvals.

What is the inquiry examining?\n

Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrats on their respective tax committees, separately opened investigations into approvals of NVIDIA chip exports to China-linked companies. The moves followed reports that Huang was the target of a suspected Chinese intelligence effort, which China denies.

The testimony requests broaden the congressional inquiry from Huang alone to company counsel and Commerce Department officials. That matters because NVIDIA depends on U.S. export licenses for China-linked sales. Other U.S. AI-chip suppliers face the same rules, so the policy risk extends beyond one company.

A subpoena fight would carry a worse commercial signal than a voluntary appearance because the company needs government approval to serve the affected market. The direct data-center exposure to China is already below the forecast base, but broader limits could reach faster-growing sovereign-customer demand.

What will investors watch on November 17?

NVIDIA reported fiscal Q2 2027 revenue of $96.221 billion, up 105.85% year over year. Kress said in August that supply would remain a constraint at least through the end of fiscal 2028. Leadership and policy commentary now carry more weight because Kress will lead the presentation.

The analyst snapshot showed 59 buy ratings, two holds and one sell, with a target price of $319.99. Investors must still decide whether the political and legal concern is already priced into a company guiding to $108.0 billion without China data-center compute revenue.

Two markers could weaken the argument that the risk is contained: Huang refusing and receiving a subpoena, or the stock closing below the $148.80 52-week intraday low after the November 17 report. The deadline for Huang arrives first, on Friday evening, November 13.

The next commercial test arrives November 17, when NVIDIA must defend its $108.0 billion guide and fiscal 2028 supply outlook as investors judge whether political risk is already priced.