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MRVL Surges 62% in 6 Months: Should You Hold or Fold the Stock?

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Key Takeaways

  • MRVL's data center revenues jumped 69.2% year over year to $1.49 billion in Q2 fiscal 2026.
  • AI-driven demand and next-gen chip launches continue to fuel Marvell Technology's growth.
  • High valuation and margin pressure amid strong rivals make MRVL a hold for now.

Marvell Technology (MRVL - Free Report) shares have climbed 61.9% in the past six months, outperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s growth of 36.8%. This exceptional surge in the share price of this semiconductor leader raises the question: Should investors buy, hold or sell the stock at present? Let’s discuss MRVL’s fundamentals to get a clear picture!

MRVL 6-Month Performance Chart

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Data Center Proves to be MRVL’s Growth Powerhouse

Marvell Technology’s data center segment has experienced rapid growth in the past six quarters. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Marvell Technology’s data center segment grew 69.2% year over year to $1.49 billion.

Marvell Technology’s data center growth has been driven by traction in custom XPUs, electro-optics interconnect products, and next-generation switch divisions due to their increasing application in AI computation and networking across both hyperscale and enterprise spaces.

In the second quarter, MRVL’s next-generation 200G per lane 1.6T PAM4 DSPs saw volume shipments. Marvell Technology also announced a 2nm custom SRAM that will be applied in next-generation AI infrastructure. With AI adoption accelerating across industries, MRVL’s stronghold in the data center market makes it a critical beneficiary of the trend.

MRVL’s AI Products Make it a Long-Term Player

Marvell Technology is experiencing massive traction across its product portfolio, which includes custom Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Custom high bandwidth memory Compute Architecture, Co-Packaged Optics Platform and Multi-Die Packaging Platform, driven mainly by proliferation in AI and high performance computing among data centers and hyperscalers.

As data centers process more AI-related tasks, they need to improve on networking, interconnect, processing and storage capabilities, requiring high-performance semiconductor solutions. Marvell Technology can seize this opportunity and capitalize on this trend with its 800G PAM, 400ZR DCI, and 1.6T PAM digital signal processing products.

Furthermore, the shift from copper to optical connectivity in AI infrastructure represents a massive growth opportunity for Marvell Technology’s Co-Packaged Optics technology. Marvell Technology is also experiencing a recovery among its enterprise networking and carrier infrastructure segments on the back of the demand rebound.

However, Marvell Technology also faces some challenges.

MRVL’s Faces Margin Pressure

Competitive pressure from semiconductor giants like Broadcom (AVGO - Free Report) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) in the AI accelerator market and Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) in the HBM space has added to Marvell Technology’s woes.

Advanced Micro Devices is a strong player in the custom silicon solutions and AI accelerator space with its semi-custom SoC offerings and Instinct Accelerators that power numerous data centers. Advanced Micro Devices’ reconfigurable Alveo Adaptable Accelerator Cards are used to speed up compute-intensive applications in data centers.

Broadcom’s advanced 3.5D XDSiP packaging platform is specifically designed to enhance the performance and efficiency of custom AI XPUs for AI accelerators. Micron Technology has made significant strides in AI-optimized memory solutions, with MU’s HBM3E products gaining attention for their superior power efficiency and bandwidth.

Constant competition from these industry giants has led it to invest heavily in sales and marketing and research and development to stay competitive. While the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings has remained unchanged for the past 60 days, the estimate for 2027 has been revised downward in the past 60 days.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

MRVL Stock Remains Overvalued

From a valuation standpoint, Marvell Technology trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 8.88X, higher than the industry’s average of 6.84X.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Conclusion: Hold MRVL Stock for Now

Marvell Technology has strong long-term fundamentals supported by its strong foothold in the data center, deep AI portfolio and high-speed networking space. It, however, faces several headwinds, including geopolitical tension, shrunken margins and growing competition across its end markets. The overvaluation adds to the investors’ caution.

Considering all these factors, we suggest that investors should retain this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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