It's like Apple without Steve Jobs! Jen-Hsun Huang stepped down at the speed of light, analysts blocked Huida’s target price

First published 11-12 23:37

Update time 11-13 05:52

Huang Renxun resigned as CEO and director of Huida five days after admitting his extramarital affair. (Bloomberg)

[Compiled by Wei Guojin/Taipei Report] After Huang Renxun resigned as CEO and board director of Huida on the 12th, Huida’s share price plummeted by nearly 10%, and its market value fell below US$4 trillion. Huang Renxun founded Huida in 1993. During the turbulent artificial intelligence (AI) craze, he led Huida's stock price to increase by more than 700,000%. Huang Renxun was like a rock star in the field of AI. However, after he confessed to his extramarital affair on the 8th, his rapid collapse in less than 5 days was shocking.

U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Huang Le, the partner in Huang's affair, was a Chinese spy. Huida launched an independent investigation into this to clarify whether Huang had become the target of Chinese intelligence operations. However, when the New York Times disclosed on the 11th that he had also had an extramarital affair with his subordinate, Kimberly Powell, Vice President of Healthcare, his resignation crisis escalated rapidly.

CNBC reported that between the evening of the 11th and the morning of the 12th, six brokerage firms downgraded Huida's stock rating, which was called "a dark day for Huida." Several Wall Street analysts pointed out that due to his key position in Huida's success, his departure may cause Huida to fall by 20%. In the past month, Huida's stock price has fallen by more than 20%.

Bernstein cut Huida's target price in half from $400 to $200 on the 12th. Stacy Rasgon, a senior analyst at Bernstein, said on the 12th that the extramarital affair with his subordinate "made it more difficult for the board of directors to keep him in office."

She said, "Huida is Huida, he is a visionary. The reason why Huida is what it is today is because of the decisions he made 10 years ago. Now, who will be the CEO who makes decisions for the next 10 years? I intuitively can't think of a suitable candidate."

Well-known journalist Reed Albergotti wrote in "SEMAFOR" that "Huida without Jen-Hsun Huang is like Apple without Steve Jobs." The article said that in the short term, Huang Renxun’s departure will not have a big impact on Huida. Huida may become a more profitable company because any new CEO will make profits the primary goal, as Apple did under Cook. However, innovators often invest heavily in the hope of long-term development. Huida's innovation capabilities may never reach the level of Huang Renxun's era.