Retail investors turn net sellers of Nvidia shares

Nvidia shares saw net selling by individual investors for the first time since July, as a broader market pullback linked to the Iran conflict weighed on the AI-led rally.

Retail traders were net sellers of about US$44.9 million on March 26, according to Vanda Research.

Vanda said similar retail selling was followed by a roughly 20% rise over the next six weeks and argued the pattern can coincide with institutional buying.

Nvidia fell more than 4% on March 27 to about US$171.24, nearing a key support level that could signal further downside risk.

An analyst also flagged Micron’s six-day slide of over 20% from its record high despite generally upbeat earnings as a sign sentiment may be turning.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

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Institutions, not retail, have often driven Nvidia sell-offs

Retail selling lasted a single day, unlike other recent drops when individual investors bought heavily while the stock fell 1.
During a roughly 5% intraday decline in February 2026, institutions led the selling, while retail traders logged their biggest contrarian purchases since 2012 2.
This bout of selling still stands out as a small break from the longer pattern. Vanda Research said Nvidia drew nearly $30 billion of retail inflows in 2024, ahead of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 index) and Tesla 3.

The AI buildout’s huge price tag is straining investor trust

Nvidia’s pullback comes with rising doubts about how long the AI infrastructure boom can last 4.
Hyperscalers (the biggest cloud-computing companies) plan nearly $700 billion in capital expenditures this year, based on Fortune’s tally of company plans cited on Nvidia’s earnings call. The same report said some are spending more than free cash flow and taking on debt to fund the build-out 5.
Much of that money ends up with Nvidia, yet investors are pushing for proof of returns and still see unclear payoffs for spending on this scale 4.