US chip maker Nvidia’s shares drop after report of cancelled China orders

Shares of Nvidia dropped by about 5 per cent to a near five-month low on Tuesday following a Wall Street Journal report that the artificial intelligence (AI) giant may be forced to cancel up to US$5 billion worth of advanced chip orders to China in compliance with new US government restrictions.

Nvidia was notified last week that AI chip orders scheduled for delivery next year to major Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba Group Holding, TikTok owner-ByteDance and Baidu, are subject to the latest export restrictions announced by the US Commerce Department, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post).

Nvidia’s stock fell to as low as US$392.30, down 4.7 per cent, to the lowest level since mid-June. The stock, which has been one of the major drivers of this year’s 22 per cent gain in the Nasdaq index, is now down nearly 20 per cent from its record high close of US$493.55 reached on August 31. It was last down 2.09 per cent.

“The stock is getting oversold,” said Tom Plumb, chief executive and lead portfolio manager at Plumb Funds, which has Nvidia as one of its largest holdings.

“Previously, Nvidia has said this is not going to have a short-term impact but it’s more in the long term. We still expect a pretty strong quarter and think it’s a great long-term holding, although we are not adding any new positions because of the volatility,” Plumb added.

A Nvidia spokesman said there is “high demand” for its advanced chips, which often require significant lead time to build, and that it is working to allocate orders to its “wide range of customers” in the US and elsewhere.

“These new export controls will not have a meaningful impact in the near term,” the Nvidia spokesman said in a statement.