Bank of America took a bullish call on Marvell Technologies ( MRVL ) on Friday morning, changing its rating to buy from neutral and raising its price target to $110 from $90. The move came hours after Marvell reported fourth-quarter financial results that sent shares up more than 16%.
The upgrade arrived just in time. Marvell shares have spent much of the past year under pressure, trading well below their 52-week high of $102.77. Now, Wall Street is once again paying close attention.
Analyst Vivek Arya, who covers semiconductors at Bank of America, pointed to two specific catalysts for the upgrade: Marvell’s growing strength in AI optical communications and rapidly improving vision in custom chip programs with both Microsoft and Amazon.
Marvel’s March 5 earnings call gave Arya and her team a reason to go big. The company reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $8.19 billion, a record, up 42% year over year. Fourth-quarter revenue came in at $2.219 billion, coming in above the midpoint of Marvel’s own guidance.
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Non-GAAP earnings per share for the quarter came in at $0.80, a penny above the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.79. Shares rose to around $90 in Friday trading, up nearly 20% from Thursday’s close of $75.68.
Arya noted that the earnings call significantly boosted his confidence in three things: Marvell’s position in AI optical communications, its Amazon XPU (custom processor) transaction, and the potential scale of its upcoming Microsoft chip program.
Q4 revenue: $2.219 billion, up 22% year over year
Full fiscal year 2026 revenue: $8.195 billion, up 42% year-over-year
Data center revenue in Q4: $1.65 billion, a quarterly record
Non-GAAP EPS for the full year: $2.84, up 81% year over year
FY2027 Revenue Guidance: $2.4 billion, better than previous Wall Street estimates Source: Marvel’s Q4 earnings release
The data center segment, which accounts for 74% of total revenue, is where the real story is written. Custom silicon revenues fell from nearly zero to $1.5 billion in just one fiscal year, doubling in fiscal 2026. CEO Matt Murphy said about the earnings call that customs revenue is expected to grow more than 20% in fiscal 2027 and at least double in fiscal 2028.
Marvell’s product range is extensive. Its 1.6T optical connections entered volume production in the second half of fiscal 2026, and the company expects revenue to accelerate this year. Data center switching revenue reached $300 million in FY2026 and is expected to exceed $600 million in FY2027.
Murphy told analysts that the 2026 fiscal year broke the all-time record for design wins, with bookings “accelerating to a record pace” into the 2027 fiscal year. He said the company is still in what he describes as the early stages of a strong multi-year growth cycle.
Custom XPU Silicon: Expected to grow 20%+ in FY 2027, at least double in FY 2028
1.6T Optical Connect: Entering Production in H2 FY2026, Growing Rapidly
Data Center Transformation: Forecast to Exceed $600 Million in FY 2027
XPU supplements and CXL: expected to double each year, potentially reaching $1 billion Source: Marvel’s Q4 earnings release
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images ·David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The direction Marvel has offered for years to come gives Bull more fuel. The company has raised its outlook for year-over-year growth of more than 30%, approaching $11 billion. It then went even further, projecting fiscal 2028 revenue of nearly $15 billion, nearly $2 billion more than the outlook it provided in December 2025.
Murphy credited the upward revision to a better outlook and strong customer commitments, particularly in the interconnected business. He said the forecast is based on the demand the company is seeing right now, not an estimated pipeline.
Non-GAAP EPS for fiscal 2028 is expected to reach more than $5, a number that represents a dramatic step up from the $2.84 reported in fiscal 2026.
Bank of America wasn’t the only one to turn to more urgency. According to analyst reports, JPMorgan raised its price target on Marvell to $135. Susquehanna has a Buy rating with a $140 target. Rosenblatt also has a target of $140 after the earnings release, and both Stifel and Wolff Research are at $130.
The average analyst price target across 38 companies is roughly $113, which represents roughly 49% upside from Thursday’s closing price. Consensus remains firmly in the buy zone.
Bank of America Aria called Marvell’s current valuation attractive, noting the stock trades at about 16 times estimated 2027 earnings, compared with roughly 29 times its peers trade. The company sees the $110 target as conservative with its bull case, with a discounted cash flow model pointing to $130 if fiscal 2028 earnings projections hold.
For investors watching the AI semiconductor space, Marvell’s earnings and the flood of analyst upgrades that followed are a signal that the company’s quiet build in custom silicon and optical interconnects is starting to show in bigger numbers. The question now is whether the stock can hold its gains as expectations rise sharply.
Related: Bank of America raises Amazon stock price target
This story was originally published by The Street on March 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the Investing section. Add TheStreet as a Favorite Source by clicking here.
