Marvell stays JPMorgan top chip pick on AI demand

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL ) remains one of JPMorgan’s top semiconductor picks as the firm expects solid fiscal second-quarter results and a stronger-than-expected third-quarter outlook.

JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur reiterated an Overweight rating on Marvell in a Monday note.

The firm said Marvell’s data center growth story has strengthened over the past 90 days, helped by demand for optical chips, switching products and custom silicon.

The company will report its second-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings on Thursday, August 27, 2026, after the market close.

AI Chip Demand Drives Outlook JPMorgan expects Marvell to report fiscal second-quarter results in line with or slightly above consensus.

The firm cited strong demand for optical DSPs used in 1.6T and 800G programs, as well as traction for Teralynx 10 switching products.

The analyst also expects Marvell’s custom silicon business to benefit from the early ramp of Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMZN ) next-generation AWS Trainium 3 XPU ASIC program.

Volumes are expected to build more meaningfully in the second half of the year.

For the fiscal third quarter, JPMorgan expects revenue guidance above the Street estimate of $3.03 billion.

The firm said guidance could come closer to $3.1 billion, implying 13% to 14% sequential revenue growth.

Data Center Forecast In Focus The bigger question for investors may be Marvell’s outlook for calendar 2027 and 2028 data center growth.

JPMorgan said current expectations call for 55% year-over-year data center growth in calendar 2027.

The firm sees upside to that forecast, driven by optical strength, Trainium 3 volumes, Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT ) Maia program and broader XPU-attach opportunities.

Marvell’s expanded partnership with Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) (NASDAQ: GOOG ) Google also supports the bull case, JPMorgan said.

The firm said the deal validates Marvell’s role in silicon used around AI accelerators, including storage controllers, networking chips, memory-interface controllers and AI inference offload engines.

JPMorgan said the setup could give Marvell a clearer path toward calendar 2028 earnings power near $11 per share, above the current Street estimate of $9.64.

MRVL Price Action: Marvell Technology shares were down 4.08% at $227.36 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Pro data.

Photo via Shutterstock Read Also: Meta Stock Faces Litigation Overhang: Expert Says It Lacks Tobacco's Pricing Power