Nvidia's P/E ratio is 22.6x, the lowest of its weekly readings in the last five years. That is the reading for the November 9 close of $178.67, the first trading day after the company said its board had opened an investigation tied to chief executive Jensen Huang. It is a statement about price against earnings so far. It says nothing about how the investigation ends.
What has been reported
The facts below are as reported. The allegations are not established.
- CNBC reported on November 8 that Huang told Nvidia staff he had an affair with a businesswoman, and that the board had opened an independent investigation into allegations that she is a Chinese spy. CNBC said U.S. intelligence agencies have expressed concerns that she passed information to Beijing, citing reports in The New York Times and the Financial Times. (CNBC)
- In its statement, quoted by CNBC, the board said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised" and that its inquiry will examine all available information. An Nvidia spokesperson said Huang is committed to continuing as CEO.
- Bloomberg described the matter as a focus of internal and government investigations. (Bloomberg)
- A shareholder filed a lawsuit against Nvidia late Monday, according to Fast Company. (Fast Company)
- The story lands on an existing trade fight. The U.S. restricts exports of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips to China and has approved certain older, slower models, CNBC noted. The Information reported a new push for tighter export controls in the wake of the case.
- On Tuesday Nvidia shares were down about 5.5% at midday, according to Yahoo Finance, and The Motley Fool put them about 30% below their high. (Yahoo Finance, The Motley Fool)
What Nvidia's own history shows
We rank each stock's current multiple against its own weekly readings from the last five years. As of the November 9 close:
| Measure | Nvidia now | Five-year median | Five-year low | Rank in own range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 22.6x | 55.9x | 22.6x | Lowest reading |
| EV/Sales | 14.2x | 25.1x | 9.3x | 8th percentile |
| EV/EBITDA | 21.4x | 47.9x | 21.4x | Lowest reading |
Four weeks earlier, on the October 12 reading, the P/E was 27.1x with the shares at $214.13. On October 5 it was 29.0x at $229.28. The shares are down about 22% from that October 5 close, and the P/E has fallen by about the same proportion.
One more piece of arithmetic, and it is ours, not a reported figure. If the shares finish Tuesday 5.5% below Monday's close, as they were at midday, the same trailing earnings of $7.91 a share would put the P/E near 21.3x. Tuesday's move is not in the table above, because our readings are weekly.
Cheaper than its peers, and than the index
The multiple is low in three comparisons, and the comparisons differ in how much they tell you.
- Against semiconductor peers. Nvidia's P/E is lower than 6 of the 8 peers we compare, whose median is 46.9x. Broadcom is at 40.8x, AMD at 110.6x. Intel has no meaningful P/E, and Qualcomm's carries a one-time gain.
- Against the market. The whole S&P 500's P/E is 24.8x this week and the typical S&P 500 stock's is 23.2x. Nvidia is below both. At the end of 2024 its P/E was 56.9x.
- Against its own past. The five-year window is what the rank uses, so the 22.6x is the lowest of roughly 260 weekly readings. Our year-end readings show a P/E of 18.2x at the end of 2018, so a lower multiple is not unprecedented over a longer view. A rank describes where the price sits, not where it goes next.
Part of the compression is earnings, not price. Over the last twelve months Nvidia's revenue grew 83.4% and its diluted EPS grew 124.7%, so the denominator of the P/E has risen fast. A multiple that falls because earnings grew is a different situation from one that falls because the price collapsed. Here both happened: price down about 22% since October 5, earnings far above a year ago. Our guide to P/E, P/S, EV/Sales and EV/EBITDA covers how to tell which one moved.
What the numbers cannot tell you
A low rank is what a market that expects growth to slow, or expects a new risk, looks like. It is also what a temporary sell-off looks like. The valuation history cannot separate the two. Three things sit outside it:
1. The investigation. The board has said it sees no sign that national security or company secrets were compromised. The inquiry is ongoing, and nothing in a multiple tells you its outcome or how long it takes. 2. Export rules. China-related revenue depends on U.S. licensing decisions. A tighter rule would reduce earnings that the trailing P/E still counts. 3. The next report. Our trailing multiples use the quarter that ended July 26, 2026, filed August 26. The next quarterly report adds a newer quarter and moves every ratio above. Analyst estimates put the forward P/E near 13.3x, but that is a single snapshot figure from Yahoo Finance, not ranked against any history and not our calculation.
How to use this today
The question behind most searches this week is whether to change a position. We do not make buy or sell calls, and nothing here is a recommendation or a price prediction. What a valuation history can do is show the starting point honestly: Nvidia is cheaper against its own record than it has been in five years, and cheaper than the market's average multiple, with open questions about earnings risk that the multiple does not price in a way we can measure.
If you hold it, check how much of your portfolio it is and whether that share still matches what you intended before the news. If you are comparing it with other AI stocks, the AI infrastructure theme page ranks the group against each member's own range, and our earlier Nvidia vs AMD comparison shows how far apart two chip makers can sit in their own ranges. For how a percentile is built, read what a valuation percentile is.
You can check the live reading on Nvidia's page and its P/E history. Both update weekly as new readings arrive.
Data: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings and weekly closing prices, computed by StockResearch on November 10, 2026 for the week ending with the November 9 close. Tuesday's prices are not in the readings. News items are attributed to the outlets named, with the dates shown. The allegations in the reports are unproven and the board's investigation is not complete. This article is for information only and is not investment advice.