Nvidia’s stock has seen a remarkable rise, surging by 156% in 2024. This significant increase in the company’s market value has prompted founder, President, and CEO Jensen Huang to engage in substantial stock selling through a pre-planned trading strategy. This move positions Huang as the most notable seller among semiconductor CEOs whose companies have seen their stock prices outperform the S&P 500. Executives from other prominent semiconductor firms, such as Micron Technology, Qualcomm, and Coherent, have also capitalized on their companies’ robust stock performance by selling shares.
Last week, Nvidia reached a notable milestone, becoming the world’s most valuable public company. During this period, Jensen Huang disclosed that he sold 720,000 Nvidia shares between June 13 and June 21, netting $94.6 million at an average price of $131.44 per share. These transactions were executed under a rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which Huang adopted on March 14. Following these sales, Huang still holds 80.7 million Nvidia shares in a personal account. Additionally, he owns another 605 million shares through a trust, 49 million shares through a partnership, and 132 million shares through other trusts.
Huang had initially planned to sell up to 600,000 Nvidia shares, a decision made before the company’s 10-for-one stock split that took effect after market close on June 7. On a post-split basis, the trading plan covers six million shares, meaning Huang has another 5,280,000 shares left to sell under this plan, which extends through March 2025. These pre-planned transactions help executives like Huang avoid the appearance of insider trading by automatically executing trades based on preset conditions such as price and volume.
In the previous year, all of Huang’s stock sales occurred in September, totaling 237,500 pre-split Nvidia shares for $110 million at an average price of $463.95 each. These transactions also involved acquiring stock through options.
Executives from other semiconductor companies have similarly taken advantage of their firms’ soaring stock prices. Micron Technology’s President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra has sold 457,280 shares for $52 million at an average price of $113.65 each from January through June. These sales, which involved acquiring stock through options, have already exceeded Mehrotra’s total sales from the previous year. In 2023, Mehrotra sold 342,000 Micron shares for $25.5 million at an average price of $74.57 each.
Qualcomm’s stock has risen by 47% in 2024, prompting President and CEO Cristiano Amon to sell 40,500 shares for $6.9 million in planned transactions from January through May, at an average price of $169.92 each. This year marked Amon’s first stock sales since he sold 5,400 shares in December 2021 for $1.02 million at an average price of $189.50 each.
Meanwhile, Coherent’s Vincent “Chuck” D. Mattera Jr., who announced his intention to retire after 20 years with the company, sold 15,000 Coherent shares from March through May for $846,700 at an average price of $56.45 each. Mattera’s trading plan, adopted on December 7, anticipates selling up to 65,000 shares and using stock options to acquire and sell up to another 128,620 shares through the end of 2024. Last year, Mattera sold 61,000 shares in June for $3.3 million at $54 each.
Coherent stock has increased by 65% so far in 2024. The company appointed Jim Anderson as the new CEO, effective June 3, succeeding Mattera, who retired and left the board. Since he is no longer a company insider, Mattera is not required to disclose trades in Coherent stock.
The activities of these executives are covered in Barron’s Inside Scoop feature, which tracks stock transactions by corporate executives, board members, and other prominent figures who must disclose trades due to their insider status. These disclosures provide valuable insights into the actions of those with significant influence over their companies.