Dan Ives Says Jensen Huang Was Worth $1 Trillion To Nvidia’s Valuation — His Exit ‘Evens The Playing Field’ For Rivals

• Dan Ives said Nvidia remains two to three years ahead of its competitors and China.
• He remains bullish on Nvidia's long-term prospects, citing its AI chip leadership, attractive valuation, and confidence in Kress.
• The tech analyst called Microsoft's global outage a “disaster moment” and warned of “more scrutiny in DC” for Big Tech.

Jensen Huang was worth $1 trillion to Nvidia's (NVDA) valuation, technology analyst Dan Ives said on Friday, adding that the chipmaker faces a critical leadership challenge following its founder's abrupt resignation.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Ives described Huang as the “heart and lungs” of Nvidia, arguing that his departure changes the company's competitive position despite its technological leadership.

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“The valuation without Jensen is $225 per share. With him, it's $300,” Ives said, reiterating his assessment of the stock's value. The tech bull’s firm, Yorkville Ives, maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on Nvidia shares on Thursday.

The firm said Nvidia's appointment of CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO reinforces its earlier view that the company should be valued without Huang at the helm. While expecting near-term pressure on the stock, it remains bullish on Nvidia's long-term prospects, citing its AI chip leadership, attractive valuation and confidence in Kress.

Who Could Replace Jensen Huang?

Ives said Nvidia remains two to three years ahead of China and its U.S. competitors, but Huang’s departure “clearly evens the playing field.” He nevertheless expects Nvidia to capture a significant share of the trillions of dollars being invested in AI infrastructure.

Nvidia appointed longtime Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO following Huang's resignation. Ives described Kress as the “pure natural one” for the interim position and said she could instill confidence internally and externally through a firmer leadership approach.

However, he stated that an external candidate could ultimately lead the company, naming former Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian as possibilities.

Huang's resignation followed reports of extramarital relationships, including one involving a woman suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence. Nvidia's board subsequently launched an independent investigation into the reported national security concerns, although it said it had no reason to believe company secrets or national security had been compromised.

Ives Says Microsoft Outage A ‘Disaster Moment’

When asked about Microsoft (MSFT), Ives criticized the technology giant after a global outage disrupted Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 services. “It's a disaster moment for Microsoft,” he said, asking how a company at the forefront of AI adoption could face such widespread service disruptions.

The outage, which began Thursday, affected businesses and government agencies internationally. Microsoft said it was working to restore services and was unaware of any malicious activity behind the incident.

Ives said prolonged disruptions could raise questions about Microsoft's operational reliability and intensify regulatory scrutiny of major technology companies. “You're gonna have more scrutiny in DC,” he warned, adding that stronger oversight would not necessarily derail AI adoption.

“I don't think it slows down the AI revolution,” Ives said.

At the time of this writing, the Dan IVES Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (IVES), which tracks the Solactive Dan IVES Wedbush AI Revolution Index, was up around 2%. Retail Investors’ sentiment around the ETF remained ‘bearish’.

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