New York, January 24, 2026, 19:18 (EST) — The market has closed.
- Marvell Technology (MRVL) closed Friday at $80.23, down 3.5%.
- After the FTC’s early-termination notice on Marvell’s Celestial AI acquisition, investors have shifted focus to the timing of the deal.
- Next week’s Fed decision, combined with a flood of U.S. tech earnings, is set to steer momentum in AI-related chip stocks.
Marvell Technology’s shares slid 3.5% on Friday, finishing at $80.23 after a choppy session for the AI-focused chipmaker ahead of Monday’s market open.
The drop stings, with Marvell stuck in the crossfire between heavy data-center spending and closing deals. When investors turn cautious, these stocks rarely get any breathing room.
The upcoming calendar is full, and it wouldn’t take more than a single major macro event or a disappointing report from Big Tech to derail the sector before Marvell has a shot to prove itself.
Friday’s pullback followed Intel’s plunge on a disappointing forecast, sparking broader nerves as investors brace for a “show-me” tech earnings season. Jason Blackwell, chief investment strategist at Focus Partners Wealth, said, “We’re feeling pretty good, but mindful we might have some significant twists and turns.” Janus Henderson’s Julian McManus called it a “show-me” moment where companies need to “put up the revenue growth” behind the AI rally. 1
Marvell’s acquisition of Celestial AI is back in the spotlight after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued an early-termination notice dated Jan. 21. This move means the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period ended sooner than expected — a crucial step that can pave the way for closing once other conditions fall into place. The deal, announced in December, is still on track to close in the first quarter of calendar 2026. 2
Marvell is making a major play on Celestial’s photonics technology to ramp up data transfer speeds and slash power consumption by replacing electrical signals with light. CEO Matt Murphy told Reuters last December, “We’re going to have a silicon photonics powerhouse at Marvell when this is all done.”
The deal ramped up competition further. Reuters reported that Marvell handed Amazon a warrant tied to photonic fabric product purchases extending through 2030. TD Cowen highlighted the move as one that “bolsters Marvell’s” drive into co-packaged optics—technology that nestles optical connections closer to processing chips to speed up data transfer. 3
Marvell’s ambitions go beyond Celestial. Earlier this month, it agreed to buy networking equipment maker XConn for roughly $540 million, ramping up its footprint in the AI data center infrastructure space. 4
That said, the short-term picture is shaky. If investors turn cautious again, high-valuation semiconductor shares might dive hard, even without fresh company updates. Concerns about the pace of cloud spending or the timing and integration of Marvell’s acquisitions could weigh on the stock further.
Traders will zero in on Monday’s open before turning their sights to the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Jan. 27–28, with the key rate decision dropping Wednesday, Jan. 28. The outcome could shake up rate-sensitive growth areas, particularly semiconductors. 5
