• Stocks: Dip-buyers rushed back to Wall Street after last week’s rout, sending all three major indexes rising as tech stocks rebounded. Nvidia bucked the rally, tumbling amid scrutiny of CEO Jensen Huang.
• Bonds: Long-term Treasury yields remained relatively stable as investors weighed Friday’s strong jobs report ahead of tomorrow’s inflation data.
• Commodities: Oil prices plunged after President Trump signaled his reluctance to launch fresh strikes on Iran, easing supply fears. Gold futures climbed as the dollar weakened.

CE-Whoa

Illustration: Shannon May, Photos: Getty Images, Adobe Stock

Wall Street doesn’t usually open on Sundays. But when Jensen Huang became the center of a national security controversy, traders weren’t waiting until after the weekend.

On Sunday, the Nvidia CEO admitted in a message to his company that he had engaged in an extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese spy. By that afternoon, investors were selling Nvidia perpetual futures, leveraged derivatives that trade around the clock. Hyperliquid recorded $200 million in volume within half an hour, while prediction markets saw bets on when Huang might leave.

Nvidia shares plunged 4.27% today, erasing over $300 billion in market value. Its board is investigating whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation amid reports of the relationship with a woman suspected of passing information to China. Nvidia says it has no reason to believe company secrets or national security were compromised.

The selloff also raised a multitrillion-dollar question: How much of Nvidia’s value depends on one man in a black leather jacket?

The price of being indispensable

Jensen Huang isn’t just Nvidia’s co-founder and CEO. He’s also spent years promoting AI worldwide, attracting rock-star crowds and becoming nearly synonymous with the industry’s boom. That celebrity comes with a Wall Street downside: key-person risk, when a company’s fortunes depend disproportionately on one individual.

CEO scandals don’t always hurt stocks. Kroger shares fell after chief executive Rodney McMullen resigned amid a personal-conduct investigation last year, as did Nestlé stock after Laurent Freixe was fired over an undisclosed workplace relationship. Kohl’s, meanwhile, rallied after ousting Ashley Buchanan over conflicts of interest, helped by upbeat earnings.

Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk offers another wrinkle. His controversies—like an alleged penchant for party drugs, fathering over a dozen children, and political command with the Department of Government Efficiency—haven’t stopped investors from betting on his vision, though his behavior has sometimes weighed on the stocks.

Investors aren’t simply judging executives’ behavior. They’re calculating what their absence would cost.

For Nvidia, the stakes extend well beyond its shareholders. Worth roughly $4.5 trillion and representing about 6.25% of the S&P 500, the company’s chips underpin AI infrastructure at Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. A leadership disruption that delays products or investment decisions could reverberate across chip suppliers, cloud providers, and the already-shaky AI trade at large.

What the Street is pricing in

On the news, Bernstein highlighted Huang’s roughly 60 direct reports, power in setting both public image and internal strategy, and lack of an obvious successor. Its blunt assessment: “He IS NVIDIA.”

Analysts disagree over what that means for the stock. Dan Ives warned there’s no seamless replacement for Huang, while Citi’s Atif Malik flagged the firm’s governance risks, including scrutiny of chip exports to China. Yet Bernstein maintained its rating and price target, and eToro’s Josh Gilbert suggested that long-term fundamentals could hold unless Huang leaves.

For now, Nvidia’s struggles haven’t dragged the whole market down. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied Monday, while chipmakers including Broadcom and Marvell gained ground. That divergence suggests investors are distinguishing Nvidia’s leadership problems from the broader AI investment opportunity.

Nvidia’s next earnings report, set for November 17, will provide another test of fundamentals. But investors now have another variable to consider alongside revenue growth, chip demand, and profit margins. The market loves a superstar CEO. It just doesn’t love learning how much it needs one.—HC

      

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Stocks

🟢 What’s up

• AMD surged 13.26% on an Oppenheimer upgrade to Outperform, with analysts predicting its data center revenue will soar 135% in 2027.
• CoreWeave gained 5.56% as its CEO sought clarity from Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa over a proposed pause on data center construction that could threaten already-approved projects.
• The Trade Desk rallied 15.47% ahead of its upcoming earnings report, fueled by anticipation surrounding the return of one of its founders to an executive role.
• Coherent jumped 16.59% thanks to stronger-than-expected quarterly results and a wave of analyst upgrades.
• QXO climbed 19.20% following upbeat preliminary quarterly results and news that Brad Jacobs will remain CEO despite launching a new venture.

🔴 What’s down

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals plunged 21.36% after slashing its full-year sales forecast for Tryngolza by 50% amid slowing demand.
• First Solar dropped 4.74% following a Piper Sandler price-target cut that highlighted uncertainty surrounding federal clean-energy tax credits.
• Monday.com sank 9.10% as its fourth-quarter outlook pointed to a continued slump in revenue growth.
• ImmunityBio tumbled 17.66% after quarterly revenue of $48.8 million fell well short of Wall Street’s $59.2 million estimate, marking its first sales miss in six quarters.

Stock of the day

KKR’s record run

Illustration: Shannon May, Photo: Adobe Stock

KKR just clocked a new personal best. The $750+ billion private equity giant reported a record-smashing quarterly profit today, announcing that it expects to return over $40 billion to clients this year—more than a 50% jump from its previous annual record.

Adjusted earnings were $1.78 per share, beating estimates of approximately $1.58. KKR stock closed up 1.67%.

Slump, then sprint

After years of sluggish exits, perhaps KKR’s blockbuster quarter signals that private equity could finally be finding buyers again. Could the Barbarians at the Gate make a broader comeback?

Co-CEO Scott Nuttall wants you to rethink that. “We’ve been able to invest and learn over the course of many cycles over the last five decades,” he said on a call with investors. “And most of the firms operating in our space have not.” Translated: KKR’s ahead of the pack.

Once known as an architect of the modern buyout, KKR has since expanded beyond traditional private equity into zones like credit and real assets, with a goal of holding more than $1 trillion in assets by 2030. And that may point the way for PE’s future: Infrastructure and alternative credit posted this quarter’s best returns, beyond traditional private equity. As it turns out, PE’s next sprint may involve switching lanes.—GR

Energy

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photo: Adobe Stock

The AI boom has an insatiable appetite for electricity, and Constellation Energy is more than happy to keep it fed.

The country’s largest nuclear power producer delivered a blowout third-quarter earnings report today, with revenue soaring 45% to $9.55 billion and adjusted earnings jumping 66% to $5.06 per share, comfortably beating Wall Street’s expectations. The company also raised its full-year profit outlook for the second time this year, thanks partly to favorable electricity-market conditions and its acquisition of natural-gas power producer Calpine in January.

The company has also been locking in nuclear power agreements with tech giants looking to secure electricity for their growing AI operations:

• Amazon: Signed a 20-year agreement for 690 megawatts of nuclear power in September, supporting more than $3 billion in investments at Constellation’s Maryland facility, including an expansion expected by 2032.
• Google: Struck a 20-year deal in October supporting more than $4.3 billion in nuclear investments across 11 reactors, which are expected to add roughly 890 megawatts of capacity to the grid.

“The new megawatts, which are the equivalent of a new large-scale nuclear plant, are coming online with no costs being borne by existing customers,” CEO Joe Dominguez said in a press release. Shares gained 10.44% today.

A power struggle

But Wall Street hasn’t been nearly as enthusiastic about power stocks lately. Constellation shares are down more than 21% this year, and its sector took another beating last week after Democratic victories in the midterm elections raised concerns about restrictions on data center construction. In fact, lawmakers are already weighing a bipartisan bill that would require large data centers to shoulder more of the costs of upgrading the power grid.

According to Goldman Sachs, states where data center development could face new restrictions account for about 45% of planned US capacity, with Texas alone representing roughly 25%.

Still, some analysts think investors are overreacting. Morgan Stanley called the selloff overdone, arguing that restrictions could delay individual projects without derailing the broader investment boom. Evercore also pointed out that Constellation’s long-term contracts are expected to cover 45% of its clean baseload generation by 2032, giving it more predictable revenue even if new data center construction slows.

For investors, that’s another bright spot amid all the political uncertainty and market jitters—and a reason to think twice before pulling the plug.—SY

      

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News

• Read Jensen Huang’s letter to Nvidia employees after his honeypot affair came to light.
• Americans are increasingly nervous about unemployment, with expectations for joblessness hitting a level not seen since the pandemic’s early days.
• Thanks to Skydance, there’s a new plot twist in the DC universe, and it doesn’t involve Batman.
• Eli Lilly’s weight loss pill Foundayo may have another trick up its sleeve, after a trial found that it could help patients breathe easier at night.
• The Children’s Place has filed for bankruptcy, putting a familiar kids’ clothing retailer on the auction block.
• Amazon is giving thousands of delivery drivers a new pair of eyes, complete with directions, delivery instructions, and even warnings about dogs.

Calendar

All eyes will be on October’s consumer price index reading—plus, we’ll get the small-business optimism index and the New York Fed’s household debt report. Honda, CoreWeave, and Vodafone release earnings.

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