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Marvell Q2 Earnings Call Highlights Faster AI Data Center Growth

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Key Takeaways

  • Marvell lifts fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to about $12B, implying roughly 45% year-over-year growth.
  • Data center revenues up 46% Y/Y to $2.17B, led by interconnect growth and a ramp up in custom silicon.
  • Scale-up optics expectations for fiscal 2028 rose, contributing to a $1.5B increase in the revenue outlook.

Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL - Free Report) raised its growth outlook again as management pointed to accelerating AI infrastructure demand across interconnect, switching and custom silicon. Management emphasized a larger second-half ramp-up and stronger fiscal 2028 expectations.

CEO Matthew Murphy said the data center opportunity continues to broaden, while CFO Daniel Durn emphasized scaling investment without giving up operating leverage.

MRVL Lifts the Growth Bar

For fiscal second-quarter 2027, Marvell posted non-GAAP earnings of $0.94 per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.93. Revenues of $2.74 billion also exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.71 billion.

Marvell Technology, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Marvell Technology, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Marvell Technology, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Marvell Technology, Inc. Quote

CEO Murphy said quarterly revenues reached a record $2.739 billion, up 13% sequentially and 37% year over year. He added that both revenues and non-GAAP earnings exceeded the midpoint of the company’s guidance.

CEO Murphy said Marvell now expects fiscal 2027 revenues of roughly $12 billion, up from its prior outlook of about $11.5 billion. That represents approximately 45% year-over-year growth.

Marvell Sees Data Center Momentum Broadening

Data center revenues reached $2.17 billion, rising 18% sequentially and 46% year over year. The segment accounted for 79% of total revenues.

CEO Murphy said interconnect remains the leading growth driver, while custom silicon is set for a significant second-half ramp. Scale-out switching, broadband analog products and optical DSPs also remain important contributors.

CEO Murphy raised the fiscal 2027 data center growth forecast to approximately 60% from about 50%. He also said the company now expects data center revenues to grow more than 60% in fiscal 2028.

 

MRVL Sharpens Focus on Scale-Up Optics and Switches

 
MRVL Sharpens Focus on Scale-Up Optics and Switches

CEO Murphy devoted substantial attention to scale-up networking, where customers are evaluating copper and optical approaches as AI clusters expand. He said customers are planning scale-up optics deployments starting as early as next year.

Marvell is pursuing NPO and CPO optical interconnects alongside purpose-built scale-up switches supporting UALink, ESUN and NVIDIA NVLink Fusion. CEO Murphy said customer design activity is accelerating across these areas.

In Q&A, CEO Murphy said scale-up optics expectations for fiscal 2028 have moved meaningfully higher than a quarter ago. He described the category as a significant contributor to the company’s $1.5 billion increase in its fiscal 2028 revenue outlook.

Marvell's Custom Silicon Outlook Expands

CEO Murphy said Marvell remains confident its custom business will more than double year over year in fiscal 2028, driven by both XPUs and XPU-attach products.

The expanded hyperscaler agreement discussed on the call spans inference accelerators, storage controllers, network interface controllers, memory interface controllers and near-memory compute. CEO Murphy said revenue from covered programs through fiscal 2028 is already reflected in existing targets.

CEO Murphy said the larger impact is expected in fiscal 2029 and beyond. Management plans to provide a more detailed long-term custom revenue framework at its Oct. 6 Investor Day.

MRVL Q&A Puts FY29 Custom Upside in Focus

A Melius Research analyst pressed management on the scale of the disclosed hyperscaler opportunity and how investors should frame fiscal 2029 and 2030.

CEO Murphy said prior custom revenue models should move higher from fiscal 2029 onward. He stopped short of quantifying the increase, saying Marvell will provide ranges of outcomes at Investor Day.

A JPMorgan analyst also asked about the timing of the commercial agreement. CEO Murphy said some programs are already underway, but programs entering execution or production should contribute much more significantly in fiscal 2029.

Marvell Keeps Growth and Leverage in View

CFO Durn guided fiscal Q3 revenue to $3.15 billion, plus or minus 5%, and non-GAAP earnings to $1.10 per share, plus or minus $0.05. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected at 57.5% to 58.5%, with custom mix creating a sequential headwind.

CFO Durn said Marvell still expects operating leverage as revenue scales. Non-GAAP operating margin is expected to enter the long-term 38% to 40% range in the fiscal fourth quarter and reach the upper end of that range during fiscal 2028.

MRVL Rank and Style Scores Signal a Mixed Setup

MRVL carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), a favorable rank under the Zacks framework. Its Growth Score is C, while its Value, Momentum and VGM Scores are all F, leaving the style profile weaker than the A or B grades favored alongside top Zacks Ranks. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Rank is favorable, but the current Style Scores provide limited reinforcement under the Zacks framework. The Zacks Rank can change as analysts revise estimates following the just-reported results.

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