Cathie Wood Says Nvidia ‘Cannot Be Just The Jensen Show’ After Huang’s Exit, Warns NVDA’s Five-Year CAGR Could Be Cut in Half

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) "cannot be just the Jensen show," arguing that its engineering talent could sustain the chipmaker after Jensen Huang’s departure, even as tougher competition could cut ARK’s projected five-year annualized returns from above 50% to 25%.

Wood Sees Nvidia Facing Intensifying Competition

Speaking to Yahoo Finance Invest on Thursday, before Nvidia announced Huang’s resignation, Wood called the co-founder "a force and a power behind Nvidia," but insisted the company had "a very strong group of engineers behind him."

Wood estimated Nvidia controls approximately 83% of the GPU market. ARK previously modeled a decline to 49%, before raising its five-year market-share assumption to roughly 53%, partly reflecting Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s (NASDAQ:SPCX) orbital-computing ambitions.

"If we drop that to 38%, our compound annual rate of return would drop from in the 50s somewhere to 25% over the next five years," Wood said, calling the scenario "highly conservative."

Wood identified Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Cerebras Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRS) as potential competitors, while arguing that OpenAI and Anthropic would continue driving demand.

Nvidia Faces Leadership And Cultural Questions

Nvidia announced on Thursday that Huang had resigned as CEO and director, appointing longtime CFO Colette Kress interim chief while launching a successor search.

Wood said ARK prioritizes "people, management, and culture" when evaluating investments.

"There might be something about the culture we did not know before," she cautioned, adding Nvidia must be "holier than thou under the new leader."

Wood Remains Confident In Nvidia’s Talent

According to November 12 portfolio data, Nvidia represented approximately 3.44% of ARK Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKK), 5.02% of ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (BATS:ARKQ), 3.91% of ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (BATS:ARKW), 4.44% of ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKX) and 2.74% of ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKF). Wood said ARK had recently purchased Nvidia shares following a SpaceX deal.

"My sense is there is a very strong group of talent; otherwise, Nvidia would not be where it is today," Wood said, expressing confidence in the chipmaker’s engineering capabilities despite leadership uncertainty.

Price Action: NVDA shares were up 1.85% at $169.26 in pre-market trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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