Coles is investigating a cybersecurity incident and says it has found no evidence to date that customer, staff or supplier data was compromised or removed, as Nvidia's earnings and Anthropic's expected listing are due this week. The developments come amid a Financial Times report that former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is considering a comeback.
Coles told the ASX it is working with global cyber security experts to contain and secure its IT environment. The retailer said operations and shopping in store and online continue as normal, and said it will provide further updates.
The Financial Times reported Monday that Mr Huang, who stepped down last week after revelations of extramarital affairs including one involving a suspected Chinese spy, has discussed with confidants the possibility of returning as Nvidia's chief executive. A Huang ally told the FT they are putting together a "war room" of Silicon Valley executives to lobby for his return and would seek support from the White House. "Everyone that matters in tech outside the frontier labs loves Jensen," the source said. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
Nvidia shares have fallen for six consecutive weeks, valuing the company at about US$3.9 trillion, down from US$5.8 trillion in early October. Analysts expect earnings growth of 90 per cent on revenue of US$109 billion when the chipmaker reports on Tuesday.
Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, told Reuters that the loss of Mr Huang, who was "basically the AI champion and willing to use Nvidia's balance sheet to fund a lot of this AI expansion," has raised questions about the AI trade. "There's been a loss of confidence," he said.
Anthropic's IPO is expected to begin trading on Thursday, with the offering set to value the company at up to US$1.4 trillion. Big retailers including Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe's also report results this week.
The Australian dollar slipped 0.5 per cent to 67.71 US cents, making it the month's worst-performing G10 currency, as US interest rates pushed higher.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Coles' cyber incident affects millions of Australian shoppers; any escalation could disrupt a major supermarket chain
- Nvidia's leadership uncertainty and earnings results could determine the direction of the AI investment boom
- This week's results (Nvidia, Anthropic, major retailers) will test whether markets can look past risks including AI volatility
Background
Coles is Australia's second-largest supermarket chain. Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang resigned on 12 November 2026 after revelations of extramarital affairs including one involving a suspected Chinese spy that raised questions over the company's exports of AI chips to China. The Financial Times reported on 16 November that Huang is considering a return.
Key Perspectives
Huang ally: said they are putting together a "war room" of Silicon Valley executives to lobby for the former Nvidia chief's return, adding that "everyone that matters in tech outside the frontier labs loves Jensen."
Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial: said the absence of Jensen Huang, who was the AI champion and used Nvidia's balance sheet to fund AI expansion, has created a loss of confidence and that Nvidia will go through a period of volatility as the market wrestles with the AI narrative.
Sameer Samana, Wells Fargo investment boss: said the market has "rose-coloured glasses on almost all the risks" including AI uncertainty, and that disappointments this week "could finally kind of wake investors up from this ability to look at every glass as half full."
What to Watch
- Nvidia's earnings result on Tuesday and whether it meets the 90 per cent growth expectations
- Anthropic's IPO on Thursday as a real-time barometer of AI trade sentiment
- The Reserve Bank of Australia minutes on Tuesday, following the 6-3 split in the November rate decision
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 10 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedColes is investigating a cybersecurity incident.Just In: “Coles says it's investigating a cyber security incident.”
- Partly supportedThe summary says no data was compromised, without preserving the source’s qualification that this is based on evidence found so far.Just In: “The retailer says it has not identified any evidence of customer, staff or supplier data having been "compromised or removed from Coles' system" based on the investigation to date.”
- SupportedThe Financial Times reported that Huang is considering a return as Nvidia CEO.Just In: “London's Financial Times is reporting Mr Huang is considering a comeback as Nvidia's chief executive and has discussed with confidants the possibility of returning.”
- Partly supportedHuang was ousted from Nvidia.Just In: “Mr Huang stepped down on Thursday”
- SupportedNvidia earnings and Anthropic's expected listing are due this week.Just In: “the market is hoping things will stabilise with a strong result on Tuesday. On Thursday, trading in Claude chatbot creator Anthropic is expected to begin”
- SupportedHuang stepped down last week after revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy.Just In: “Mr Huang stepped down on Thursday after revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy”
- SupportedA Huang ally told the FT they were putting together a “war room” of Silicon Valley executives to lobby for his return and seek White House support.Just In: “One Huang ally told the FT they were putting together a "war room" of Silicon Valley executives to lobby for the former Nvidia chief's return and would try to garner support from the White House.”
- SupportedThe Huang ally said, “Everyone that matters in tech outside the frontier labs loves Jensen.”Just In: “"Everyone that matters in tech outside the frontier labs loves Jensen," the source said”
- SupportedSaglimbene was quoted describing Huang as “basically the AI champion” who funded AI expansion, and saying, “There's been a loss of confidence.”Just In: “... there's been a loss of confidence," ... "who was basically the AI champion and willing to use Nvidia's balance sheet to fund a lot of this AI expansion.”
- SupportedNvidia shares have fallen for six consecutive weeks.Just In: “It's the sixth consecutive week of losses for the one-time most valuable company on the planet.”
- SupportedNvidia's value fell from about US$5.8 trillion in early October to US$3.9 trillion by Friday.Just In: “the chipmaker's value fall from about $US5.8 trillion in early October to $US3.9 trillion as of Friday.”
- SupportedAnalysts expect 90 per cent earnings growth on US$109 billion in revenue for Nvidia's fiscal third quarter.Just In: “Analysts expect earnings growth of 90% on revenue of $109 billion in the company's fiscal third quarter.”
