On Thursday, less than 24 hours after Nvidia reported yet another record-breaking quarter and announced it has “visibility” into nearly half a trillion dollars in revenue for 2025 and 2026, CEO Jensen Huang expressed frustration that the market failed to appreciate their success. Despite beating expectations, shares initially rose but then fell, pulling down the broader AI sector by the day’s end. Huang highlighted the extreme and precarious Wall Street expectations surrounding Nvidia, saying, “If we delivered a bad quarter, it’s proof there’s an AI bubble. If we delivered a great quarter, we’re fueling the AI bubble. ” He pointed out that even a slight misstep would have caused the market to collapse. His remarks provide rare insight into how Nvidia’s leader perceives the growing skepticism toward the AI boom and the volatile market reactions. A Nvidia spokesperson emphasized Huang’s message to employees to remain focused and trust the market to balance itself after their strong performance and surging demand. On paper, Nvidia did everything investors wanted: sales of its data-center processors, crucial to powering large AI models and its revenue base, soared, and the company raised its guidance for the upcoming quarter. Investors expected this to spark another rally. Instead, shares, which gained as much as 5% early Thursday, ended down about 3% as traders pulled back from major tech stocks tied to AI. This decline extends a difficult period for the AI trade. After months of exuberant gains, concerns have grown over whether tech giants are overspending on data centers, GPUs, and networking equipment without guaranteed returns.

Additionally, the complex, debt-heavy financing behind AI infrastructure has raised red flags in credit markets signaling caution. Complicating matters, a delayed U. S. jobs report released Thursday showed conflicting data—stronger hiring alongside higher unemployment—leaving investors unsure if the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December. While some watch Fed officials’ comments closely, many appear to be using recent volatility to secure profits from earlier gains and reduce exposure amid uncertain catalysts before the next Fed decision. Mark Hackett of Nationwide noted this period is more of a “release valve” than a shift in the broader AI narrative, describing it as a test rather than a reversal. Inside Nvidia, Huang acknowledged investor jitters are unsurprising given the vast importance placed on the company as a symbol of the AI boom. He referenced viral memes jokingly portraying Nvidia as “basically holding the planet together” and the linchpin preventing a U. S. recession. While this mythos has propelled Nvidia to be the world’s most valuable public company, Huang stressed it makes every earnings report a delicate balancing act, with expectations so high that even slight deviations can unravel confidence. Huang rejected the notion that Nvidia bears responsibility for speculative excess in the AI sector, asserting instead that the company’s role is to create the computing infrastructure others rely on, not to control market demand or pricing. Despite the pressures, Huang injected humor into internal discussions by exaggerating Nvidia’s valuation swings—joking about a “good old days” $5 trillion market cap (far above its actual peak) and marveling that “nobody in history has ever lost $500 billion in a few weeks, ” highlighting both Nvidia’s enormous scale and recent dramatic value fluctuations.