New York, January 23, 2026, 15:43 EST — The regular session is now underway
Marvell Technology (MRVL) shares fell 3.9%, ending Friday at $79.90, down from $83.10 the day before. The stock swung between $84.33 and $79.73, with more than 9 million shares changing hands.
The shares fell even though U.S. antitrust officials gave an “early termination” to the waiting period for Marvell’s acquisition of Celestial AI, per an FTC notice. This green light matters because Marvell sees the deal as a key step deeper into AI data center infrastructure—one of the hot spots fueling recent market moves. 1
Early termination speeds up the Hart-Scott-Rodino merger review by ending the statutory waiting period ahead of schedule. This lets the parties close the deal as soon as other conditions are satisfied, the agency said. 2
Marvell revealed in a recent filing that its acquisition of Celestial AI is valued at roughly $3.25 billion. The payment includes $1.0 billion in cash plus about 27.2 million Marvell shares exchanged at closing. According to a presentation on the deal, Marvell could shell out up to another $2.25 billion in contingent payments tied to Celestial’s revenue goals through fiscal 2029. The deal is slated to close in the first quarter of calendar 2026. 3
Celestial’s strength is photonics—using light rather than electrical signals to link chips and memory in future data centers. Reuters pointed out that this deal pushes Marvell deeper into competition with Broadcom and Nvidia, amid hyperscalers’ drive for faster, more energy-efficient AI systems. 4
Friday’s drop came amid a broader risk-off mood, sparked by Intel’s 17.8% plunge after it posted a weaker-than-expected forecast. “Even with more volatility, there’s now greater confidence in investing beyond artificial intelligence,” noted Michael Kantrowitz, chief investment strategist at Piper Sandler. 5
Marvell has ramped up its AI connectivity ambitions with a $540 million acquisition of XConn Technologies on Jan. 6. The deal expands its lineup in PCI Express and Compute Express Link switching — critical tech for linking processors, accelerators, and memory. CEO Matt Murphy described it as “a compelling switching platform for accelerated infrastructure,” underlining Marvell’s push into advanced AI and cloud data center connectivity. XConn CEO Gerry Fan highlighted their offering as “the industry’s highest-port-count advanced PCIe 5 and PCIe 6 switching portfolio.” 6
That said, the stock trades in a market quick to punish even the slightest sign of dilution, setbacks, or increased execution risk. Progress on antitrust issues hasn’t stopped the broader semiconductor selloff, nor does it guarantee a smooth integration.
Investors are focusing on earnings as the next major catalyst. Nasdaq has Marvell’s report date penciled in for about March 4. Traders want to see fresh details on data-center demand, plus any clues on when the Celestial AI deal might close. 7
