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NVIDIA vs. Marvell: Which AI Infrastructure Stock Is the Better Buy?
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Key Takeaways
NVIDIA Q2 fiscal 2027 revenues surged 106% to $96.22B, with data center sales up 117% to $89.02B.
Marvell expects fiscal 2028 revenues to rise about 50% to $18B as custom AI programs and networking ramp up.
NVIDIA trades at 16.78X forward P/E versus Marvell's 41.74X, supporting the article's better-buy call.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) and Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL - Free Report) are two major beneficiaries of the rapid expansion of AI data centers. NVIDIA leads the market in AI accelerators and networking, while Marvell has built strong positions in custom silicon, optical connectivity and data center switching. Their relationship has also become more interesting following the 2026 NVLink Fusion partnership.
Both companies delivered exceptional results in the latest reported quarter, but their valuations and risk profiles are now very different. So, which AI infrastructure stock offers the better investment opportunity today?
Let’s find out.
NVIDIA: The AI Leader With Stronger Financial Muscle
NVIDIA continues to deliver outstanding financial results. In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, revenues surged 106% year over year to $96.22 billion, while non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) jumped 120% to $2.22. Non-GAAP gross margin expanded 250 basis points to 75%.
NVIDIA remains the clear leader in AI infrastructure. Cloud providers, enterprises and governments continue to invest billions of dollars in building AI data centers, and NVIDIA's graphics processing units (GPUs) remain the preferred choice for training and running advanced AI models.
NVIDIA's Blackwell and Vera Rubin AI platforms are seeing strong customer adoption due to their superior performance and energy efficiency. The company is also strengthening its position beyond GPUs through networking products such as InfiniBand, Spectrum-X Ethernet and NVLink, enabling it to capture a larger portion of AI infrastructure spending.
NVIDIA's latest quarterly numbers highlight this leadership. During the second quarter of fiscal 2027, the data center business generated $89.02 billion in revenues, accounting for more than 92% of total sales. The segment’s revenues climbed 117% year over year and 18% sequentially, driven by rapid deployment of Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems and growing networking demand.
NVIDIA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Another key advantage is NVIDIA's software ecosystem. CUDA, along with its expanding AI software portfolio, creates high switching costs for customers, making it difficult for competitors to take market share. This competitive advantage extends well beyond hardware and should continue supporting long-term growth.
As AI adoption expands from model training to large-scale inference and enterprise deployment, NVIDIA is positioned to benefit across every major phase of the AI investment cycle. Four top hyperscalers — Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta Platforms — alone are expected to spend roughly $720 billion to $745 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, with a large portion directed toward AI infrastructure. The company expects fiscal 2028 revenues to grow approximately 70%, although supply remains a constraint.
Nonetheless, NVIDIA does face risks. The company faces rising memory costs, which are expected to pressure gross margins. It expects non-GAAP gross margin to fall toward 71%-72% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027 before recovering to 72%-73% in fiscal 2028. China restrictions, competition and supply-chain dependence are additional challenges.
Marvell: Expanding AI Opportunities
MRVL is becoming an increasingly important player in AI infrastructure, particularly in networking, optical connectivity and custom AI silicon. In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, Marvell’s revenues soared 36.5% year over year to a record level of $2.74 billion, while non-GAAP EPS surged 40.3% to 94 cents.
Marvell’s data center end market remained the major contributor to the outstanding second-quarter performance. The data center revenues climbed 46% year over year to $2.17 billion. The company expects fiscal 2027 revenues to grow approximately 45% year over year to nearly $12 billion and fiscal 2028 revenues to increase roughly 50% to $18 billion, driven mainly by booming AI demand.
Another growth driver is Marvell’s custom AI chip business. During the second-quarter earnings call, management forecasted that custom revenues would more than double in fiscal 2028 as multiple hyperscaler programs ramp up into production. This positions Marvell to benefit from the growing interest in custom AI accelerators among cloud companies.
Marvell Technology, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
The company is also expanding through acquisitions and partnerships. Its collaboration with NVIDIA around NVLink Fusion, optics and AI-RAN creates new growth opportunities in AI infrastructure. The partnership could position Marvell to capture more scale-up networking opportunities as AI clusters become larger and require significantly more bandwidth. Marvell’s recent acquisition of Polariton Technologies, XConn Technologies and Celestial AI is likely to strengthen its capabilities across the data center infrastructure, optical connectivity and AI scale-up technologies.
Nonetheless, Marvell isn't without risks. Its communications and other business segment remains somewhat volatile, with third-quarter revenues expected to decline in the low-to-mid teens year over year. Its non-GAAP gross margin of 58.9% is also well below NVIDIA's 75%. Much of Marvell's upside depends on successful custom-silicon programs and continued hyperscaler spending, creating execution and customer-concentration risks.
NVDA vs. MRVL: Which Has a Better Growth Profile?
Both companies will benefit from the surging demand for AI chips, but NVIDIA’s growth profile appears stronger in the near term.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVDA’s current fiscal 2027 revenues and EPS indicates a year-over-year surge of 87.4% and 93.5%, respectively. The consensus mark for fiscal 2028 revenues and EPS signifies a year-over-year increase of 63.2% and 63.8%, respectively.
NVIDIA Sales and EPS Growth Estimates
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
By contrast, estimates for Marvell’s fiscal 2027 point to more modest 46.3% revenue growth and a 46.8% EPS increase. For fiscal 2028, revenues are estimated to grow 48.4%, while EPS is expected to increase 57.5%.
Marvell Sales and EPS Growth Estimates
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation Face-Off: NVIDIA Wins
Despite MRVL's spectacular 177.9% YTD gain compared with 17.1% for NVDA, NVIDIA currently offers the more attractive earnings valuation. NVIDIA trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 16.78 versus 41.74 for Marvell. This is a major difference considering that both companies are benefiting from the same broad AI infrastructure spending wave.
Marvell's premium valuation reflects its accelerating growth outlook and the market's enthusiasm for custom silicon, optical connectivity and AI networking. However, investors are already paying heavily for that future growth. NVIDIA, in contrast, combines much stronger absolute earnings, significantly higher margins, enormous cash generation and a broad AI platform with a much lower P/E multiple.
The valuation gap gives NVIDIA a stronger risk-reward profile. Marvell may deliver faster percentage growth from a smaller revenue base, but its stock already reflects substantial optimism.
Conclusion: NVDA Is the Better Buy Today
Both NVIDIA and Marvell are well-positioned to benefit from the massive AI infrastructure buildout happening across hyperscalers, enterprises and sovereign AI projects. MRVL is building strong momentum in AI networking, optical connectivity and custom AI chips, making it an attractive long-term AI growth story.
However, NVDA seems the better investment bet right now. The company continues to dominate AI computing with industry-leading GPUs, networking platforms, software ecosystems and rapidly expanding AI infrastructure solutions. NVIDIA is also delivering superior revenue growth and profitability while trading at a lower valuation multiple than Marvell.
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NVIDIA vs. Marvell: Which AI Infrastructure Stock Is the Better Buy?
Key Takeaways
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) and Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL - Free Report) are two major beneficiaries of the rapid expansion of AI data centers. NVIDIA leads the market in AI accelerators and networking, while Marvell has built strong positions in custom silicon, optical connectivity and data center switching. Their relationship has also become more interesting following the 2026 NVLink Fusion partnership.
Both companies delivered exceptional results in the latest reported quarter, but their valuations and risk profiles are now very different. So, which AI infrastructure stock offers the better investment opportunity today?
Let’s find out.
NVIDIA: The AI Leader With Stronger Financial Muscle
NVIDIA continues to deliver outstanding financial results. In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, revenues surged 106% year over year to $96.22 billion, while non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) jumped 120% to $2.22. Non-GAAP gross margin expanded 250 basis points to 75%.
NVIDIA remains the clear leader in AI infrastructure. Cloud providers, enterprises and governments continue to invest billions of dollars in building AI data centers, and NVIDIA's graphics processing units (GPUs) remain the preferred choice for training and running advanced AI models.
NVIDIA's Blackwell and Vera Rubin AI platforms are seeing strong customer adoption due to their superior performance and energy efficiency. The company is also strengthening its position beyond GPUs through networking products such as InfiniBand, Spectrum-X Ethernet and NVLink, enabling it to capture a larger portion of AI infrastructure spending.
NVIDIA's latest quarterly numbers highlight this leadership. During the second quarter of fiscal 2027, the data center business generated $89.02 billion in revenues, accounting for more than 92% of total sales. The segment’s revenues climbed 117% year over year and 18% sequentially, driven by rapid deployment of Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems and growing networking demand.
NVIDIA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
NVIDIA Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | NVIDIA Corporation Quote
Another key advantage is NVIDIA's software ecosystem. CUDA, along with its expanding AI software portfolio, creates high switching costs for customers, making it difficult for competitors to take market share. This competitive advantage extends well beyond hardware and should continue supporting long-term growth.
As AI adoption expands from model training to large-scale inference and enterprise deployment, NVIDIA is positioned to benefit across every major phase of the AI investment cycle. Four top hyperscalers — Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta Platforms — alone are expected to spend roughly $720 billion to $745 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, with a large portion directed toward AI infrastructure. The company expects fiscal 2028 revenues to grow approximately 70%, although supply remains a constraint.
Nonetheless, NVIDIA does face risks. The company faces rising memory costs, which are expected to pressure gross margins. It expects non-GAAP gross margin to fall toward 71%-72% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027 before recovering to 72%-73% in fiscal 2028. China restrictions, competition and supply-chain dependence are additional challenges.
Marvell: Expanding AI Opportunities
MRVL is becoming an increasingly important player in AI infrastructure, particularly in networking, optical connectivity and custom AI silicon. In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, Marvell’s revenues soared 36.5% year over year to a record level of $2.74 billion, while non-GAAP EPS surged 40.3% to 94 cents.
Marvell’s data center end market remained the major contributor to the outstanding second-quarter performance. The data center revenues climbed 46% year over year to $2.17 billion. The company expects fiscal 2027 revenues to grow approximately 45% year over year to nearly $12 billion and fiscal 2028 revenues to increase roughly 50% to $18 billion, driven mainly by booming AI demand.
Another growth driver is Marvell’s custom AI chip business. During the second-quarter earnings call, management forecasted that custom revenues would more than double in fiscal 2028 as multiple hyperscaler programs ramp up into production. This positions Marvell to benefit from the growing interest in custom AI accelerators among cloud companies.
Marvell Technology, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Marvell Technology, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Marvell Technology, Inc. Quote
The company is also expanding through acquisitions and partnerships. Its collaboration with NVIDIA around NVLink Fusion, optics and AI-RAN creates new growth opportunities in AI infrastructure. The partnership could position Marvell to capture more scale-up networking opportunities as AI clusters become larger and require significantly more bandwidth. Marvell’s recent acquisition of Polariton Technologies, XConn Technologies and Celestial AI is likely to strengthen its capabilities across the data center infrastructure, optical connectivity and AI scale-up technologies.
Nonetheless, Marvell isn't without risks. Its communications and other business segment remains somewhat volatile, with third-quarter revenues expected to decline in the low-to-mid teens year over year. Its non-GAAP gross margin of 58.9% is also well below NVIDIA's 75%. Much of Marvell's upside depends on successful custom-silicon programs and continued hyperscaler spending, creating execution and customer-concentration risks.
NVDA vs. MRVL: Which Has a Better Growth Profile?
Both companies will benefit from the surging demand for AI chips, but NVIDIA’s growth profile appears stronger in the near term.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVDA’s current fiscal 2027 revenues and EPS indicates a year-over-year surge of 87.4% and 93.5%, respectively. The consensus mark for fiscal 2028 revenues and EPS signifies a year-over-year increase of 63.2% and 63.8%, respectively.
NVIDIA Sales and EPS Growth Estimates
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
By contrast, estimates for Marvell’s fiscal 2027 point to more modest 46.3% revenue growth and a 46.8% EPS increase. For fiscal 2028, revenues are estimated to grow 48.4%, while EPS is expected to increase 57.5%.
Marvell Sales and EPS Growth Estimates
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation Face-Off: NVIDIA Wins
Despite MRVL's spectacular 177.9% YTD gain compared with 17.1% for NVDA, NVIDIA currently offers the more attractive earnings valuation. NVIDIA trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 16.78 versus 41.74 for Marvell. This is a major difference considering that both companies are benefiting from the same broad AI infrastructure spending wave.
Marvell's premium valuation reflects its accelerating growth outlook and the market's enthusiasm for custom silicon, optical connectivity and AI networking. However, investors are already paying heavily for that future growth. NVIDIA, in contrast, combines much stronger absolute earnings, significantly higher margins, enormous cash generation and a broad AI platform with a much lower P/E multiple.
The valuation gap gives NVIDIA a stronger risk-reward profile. Marvell may deliver faster percentage growth from a smaller revenue base, but its stock already reflects substantial optimism.
Conclusion: NVDA Is the Better Buy Today
Both NVIDIA and Marvell are well-positioned to benefit from the massive AI infrastructure buildout happening across hyperscalers, enterprises and sovereign AI projects. MRVL is building strong momentum in AI networking, optical connectivity and custom AI chips, making it an attractive long-term AI growth story.
However, NVDA seems the better investment bet right now. The company continues to dominate AI computing with industry-leading GPUs, networking platforms, software ecosystems and rapidly expanding AI infrastructure solutions. NVIDIA is also delivering superior revenue growth and profitability while trading at a lower valuation multiple than Marvell.
Currently, NVIDIA sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), making it a must-pick compared with Marvell, which has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.