Judge allows fraud lawsuit against Nvidia investors to proceed as class action
The federal judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. from the Northern District of California has certified the class action in the case In re Nvidia Corporation Securities Litigation (case number 4:18-cv-07669-HSG), paving the way for a collective action on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired Nvidia common stock between August 10, 2017, and November 15, 2018.
The plaintiffs allege that Nvidia and its CEO, Jensen Huang, made materially misleading statements to investors during this period, including downplaying the portion of the company’s Gaming segment revenues coming from cryptocurrency miners rather than consumers. The company allegedly referred to cryptocurrency-related sales as “insignificant” or “modest” in its public communications, while internally tracking large-scale purchases of GeForce GPUs by miners.
According to the court order, the plaintiffs claim that Nvidia concealed over a billion dollars in cryptocurrency-related revenues throughout the period covered by the class action. When corrective information was disclosed in late 2018, Nvidia’s stock price drastically dropped – a result that the plaintiffs directly attribute to the company’s prior omissions.
Judge Gilliam granted the request under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3), finding that common questions of law and fact predominated within the group. He dismissed Nvidia’s attempts to refute the “stock price impact” presumption and exclude the plaintiffs’ damages expert. This decision is procedural and does not determine whether Nvidia committed fraud or if the plaintiffs will prevail in the lawsuit.
A long saga and a revival
This case has a long history. Initially filed in late 2018, it was consolidated, partially dismissed, then reinstated after a successful appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Nvidia sought review from the Supreme Court of the United States, which denied the petition for certiorari in December 2024, deeming it unworthy. The case was sent back to the district court for class certification proceedings.
A separate but related enforcement action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2022 concluded that Nvidia had not provided adequate information about the impact of cryptocurrency mining on its revenue during the same period. This case resulted in a $5.5 million civil penalty.
The certified group includes all individuals or entities who purchased or acquired Nvidia common stock during the period covered by the class action, excluding defendants, their immediate family members, and certain affiliated companies. The full record, including the consolidated complaint and prior rulings, is publicly available on Court Listener. The court order granting certification bears docket number 288 and was filed on March 25, 2026.
As of the publication date, Nvidia has not issued a public statement regarding this decision. The company, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, remains one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies in terms of market capitalization. The progression of the legal proceedings will depend on pre-trial steps, including potential motions for summary judgment, expert challenges, and ultimately, the trial itself, a process that could span years given the complexity of the case and the size of the certified group.
FAQ ⚞
- What is the lawsuit regarding Nvidia’s securities about? Investors claim that Nvidia and its CEO, Jensen Huang, misled shareholders by concealing over a billion dollars in revenue from GPUs targeted by cryptocurrency miners between 2017 and 2018.
- What does class action certification mean in this case? It means a federal judge has allowed the class action to proceed on behalf of all eligible Nvidia shareholders for the period in question, although no substantive decision has been made yet.
- Who is covered by the certified group? Anyone who purchased or acquired Nvidia common stock between August 10, 2017, and November 15, 2018, may be included, subject to standard legal exclusions.
- Has Nvidia faced sanctions related to this case before? Yes – the SEC imposed a $5.5 million civil fine on Nvidia in 2022 for providing insufficient information about the impact of cryptocurrency mining on its revenue during the same period.
