New York, May 26, 2026, 05:03 EDT
- Marvell traded at $206.75 before the bell, up 5.3%. The stock closed at $196.33 on Friday.
- The company is set to release its fiscal first-quarter results after the close on Wednesday.
- Options markets are pricing in a big move after earnings. The risk is that expectations may be ahead of the actual results.
Marvell Technology shares gained before the open Tuesday, as the chipmaker looked set to push its recent rally further. Investors are getting ready for its fiscal first-quarter results this week.
The stock traded at $206.75 in premarket, up 5.3% from Friday’s $196.33 close. U.S. markets were closed Monday for Memorial Day, so Tuesday marks the first session back after the holiday.
Marvell reports after the U.S. market closes on Wednesday, and its conference call starts at 1:45 p.m. Pacific. The company is now seen as a more focused play on custom chips and optical links for AI data centers alongside GPUs.
Marvell’s March outlook called for Q1 revenue of $2.40 billion, give or take 5%, and non-GAAP diluted EPS of 79 cents, plus or minus 5 cents. Non-GAAP excludes certain accounting items.
First-quarter revenue is seen at $2.41 billion with adjusted earnings at 80 cents a share, according to analysts tracked by Investopedia. That’s close to 30% higher than a year ago. Options are pricing in a move of as much as 12% by week’s end, Investopedia said.
Stifel lifted its price target on Marvell to $210 from $140 on Friday and kept its Buy call. The broker said Marvell should top its $2.40 billion revenue forecast for the April quarter thanks to growth in optical interconnects and the lead XPU program. XPU stands for data-center chips built for specific jobs.
Citigroup gave the top price target at $215 on May 21, according to Benzinga. Stifel, Citigroup and Oppenheimer put out the latest analyst calls. At the current premarket level, the stock is already trading around or above several of those recent targets.
Chip stocks added to gains. The PHLX Semiconductor Index ended Friday at 12,202.54, up 1.99%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF was last up 2.4% early Tuesday.
Nvidia put $2 billion into Marvell in March, striking a deal to connect Marvell’s custom silicon and networking to Nvidia’s AI infrastructure. The two are partners now but still chasing business in the same market. EMarketer analyst Jacob Bourne told Reuters the agreement helps Nvidia tap Marvell’s tech when “bandwidth and power efficiency” issues slow things down. Reuters
Marvell CEO Matt Murphy said in March that fiscal 2026 revenue hit a record $8.195 billion, a 42% jump. Murphy added that year-on-year revenue growth should speed up each quarter in fiscal 2027, citing demand from data centers. In a separate release about the Nvidia partnership, Murphy said the deal showed how “high-speed connectivity” and optical interconnects matter more for scaling AI. Marvell Technology, Inc.
But Marvell’s setup is tight. Shares already trade at a high price-to-earnings ratio, and the premarket price was above the old 52-week high of $198.40. Just meeting expectations, a weaker July outlook, supply issues, or any hint that AI demand is moving to rivals like Broadcom can put the focus back on valuation.
Marvell traders want to see if the AI boom is still lifting Marvell’s own sales or if Nvidia is taking all the attention. Wednesday’s results and the outlook for the July quarter will show whether Tuesday morning’s rally holds through the week.
