New York, Jan 22, 2026, 15:34 EST — Regular session
- MRVL shares rose roughly 0.5% in afternoon trading after the FTC approved early termination for its Celestial AI acquisition
- Approval removes a major regulatory hurdle just before the planned first-quarter closing
- Investors are now awaiting updates on the timeline, integration plans, and any disclosures related to shares involved in the deal
Shares of Marvell Technology edged up Thursday following the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s decision to end the antitrust waiting period early for its proposed purchase of Celestial AI.
This approval clears a major obstacle for Marvell as it aims to expand further into data-center connectivity, a rapidly evolving segment of the AI buildout where timing and client deals often change on a dime.
Traders have a clear takeaway: regulatory uncertainties are fading, shifting attention to whether Marvell wraps up the deal on time and exactly how much revenue and dilution it will generate.
Marvell gained roughly 0.5%, trading at $82.95 in afternoon action. The wider market edged up as well, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF rising around 0.6%, the Invesco QQQ Trust climbing about 0.7%, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF inching up 0.2%.
The FTC’s early termination database marked the Marvell Technology–Celestial AI deal as “granted” on Jan. 21. This early termination cuts short the mandatory Hart-Scott-Rodino review period before its scheduled end. 1
Marvell revealed its deal with Celestial AI back in December, pegging upfront consideration at around $3.25 billion. That includes $1 billion in cash plus about 27.2 million shares of Marvell stock. The company aims to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2026, pending standard closing conditions. 2
Celestial’s “photonic fabric” aims to transfer data between AI chips and memory using light instead of electrical signals—a key bottleneck in large systems. Marvell CEO Matt Murphy told Reuters the company plans to become “a silicon photonics powerhouse,” taking on bigger rivals like Broadcom and Nvidia in the data-center infrastructure space. 3
The deal structure still involves several moving parts. Marvell has mentioned additional contingent consideration based on hitting certain milestones. Plus, earlier disclosures about customer-linked share warrants mean investors will watch closely to see how much future upside gets diluted through new equity issuance. 4
Risks remain. A slowdown in hyperscaler spending or delays in photonics adoption at scale could change the payoff timeline — and markets usually punish pricey deals that take longer to generate revenue.
Investors are now turning their attention to updates on closing and integration as Marvell prepares to release its quarterly results for the period ending Jan. 31. Nasdaq lists March 4 as the anticipated earnings announcement date. 5
