New York, Jan 14, 2026, 20:57 EST — Market closed.
RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage of Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL) with an Outperform rating and a $105 price target on Wednesday, putting a fresh Wall Street stamp on a stock that has struggled to find a clean direction. Shares ended the regular session down 2.2% at $81.21, after trading as low as $79.28. 1
The timing matters. Chip and megacap tech names weighed on U.S. indexes on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite down 1% as investors digested bank earnings and pulled back from some of the market’s priciest corners. 2
For Marvell, the next session will likely be about whether the RBC call lands with buyers after a down day, and whether investors want to lean back into the company’s AI data-center exposure or keep treating it as a show-me story.
RBC analyst Srini Pajjuri pointed to Marvell’s position in data centers and wrote that management’s revenue target of less than $1 billion for fiscal 2028 from a Microsoft custom chip program looked “conservative,” while the optical business was “on solid footing.” He also flagged scale-up and custom SmartNICs — network cards that offload data-center work from servers — as “underappreciated growth opportunities,” and said the stock traded at a discount to peers. 3
Marvell’s business is tied to the plumbing of big AI clusters — the chips and connectivity that move data between processors and memory — not just the headline accelerators. That can mean steadier demand, but it also links results tightly to a handful of cloud customers and their spending cycles.
The company is also trying to widen its portfolio through acquisitions. Marvell said this month it agreed to buy XConn Technologies for about $540 million in cash and stock, adding PCIe and CXL switching silicon — the connective chips used to link servers, accelerators and memory inside data centers. CEO Matt Murphy called it a “compelling switching platform,” and the company said the deal is expected to close in early calendar 2026, subject to conditions and approvals. 4
Marvell’s pending Celestial AI deal is another piece of that buildout. The company said in December it would acquire Celestial AI for upfront consideration valued at about $3.25 billion, with additional contingent stock consideration tied to revenue milestones, and expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of calendar 2026, subject to customary conditions and approvals. 5
The competitive backdrop stays hard. Broadcom remains a heavyweight in custom silicon for hyperscalers, while Nvidia dominates AI accelerators — and investors have been quick to punish any hint that data-center budgets are shifting or that a supplier is losing ground inside the cloud.
The risk case is straightforward: RBC’s upbeat view hinges on execution and follow-through in a market where design wins can move, customer timelines can slip, and acquisition integrations can distract. Another leg down in high-multiple tech, or a fresh round of doubts about hyperscaler demand, would leave little cushion.
Traders will be watching Thursday, Jan. 15, for whether the new coverage call draws dip-buying after Wednesday’s slide. Beyond that, Marvell’s next scheduled cash event is its quarterly dividend payment on Jan. 29. 6
