Why is NVIDIA stock climbing today?

NVIDIA stock is up 1.8% in pre-open trading to reach $181.94, as investors attempt to reclaim some ground lost in Monday’s steep sell-off, which was driven by the escalating controversy surrounding CEO Jensen Huang’s alleged affair with Alice Huang — a former executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed whom U.S. intelligence officials concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset.

Nvidia’s board has launched an independent investigation into whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort, and the FBI has separately confirmed it is also examining the matter, while a proposed shareholder class action accuses the company of failing to disclose material information about the relationship.

Despite the governance cloud, several factors are lending support to the pre-market bounce. An autonomous-driving partnership announced by the company has provided a positive signal on the business front, and with quarterly earnings due on November 17, a growing number of analysts argue the recent sell-off has pushed the stock’s valuation to unusually attractive levels — with fiscal 2028 consensus estimates implying roughly 12x earnings at current prices.

Aletheia Capital did issue a downgrade from "buy" to "hold" today, though the broader analyst community remains firmly constructive, with 53 out of 55 covering analysts maintaining Buy or Strong Buy ratings and a consensus price target well above current levels.

The broader market backdrop is mixed but broadly supportive. The S&P 500 is edging fractionally higher while the Nasdaq is slightly negative ahead of a closely watched Consumer Price Index report due today.

Monday’s session saw a powerful rally across the semiconductor sector, with NVIDIA uniquely lagging its peers due to the company-specific scandal; Asian chip stocks extended gains into Tuesday, helping set a constructive tone for the pre-market session.

Taken together, the pre-market recovery reflects a market recalibrating the CEO controversy against NVIDIA’s intact earnings power and the imminent November 17 results, even as governance and export-control concerns continue to weigh on sentiment and keep the stock more than 25% below its 52-week high of $243.37.