Chipmaker Marvell Technology Inc. reported earnings and revenue that just edged past analysts’ expectations today, but its guidance failed to stir much excitement and its stock was headed lower in extended trading.

The company reported first-quarter earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of 62 cents per share, squeezing past Wall Street’s target of 61 cents. Revenue also came out just ahead at $1.9 billion versus the analyst forecast of $1.88 billion, up 63% from a year earlier.

Net profit for the quarter came to $177.9 million, swinging from a $200.2 million loss recorded in the same period one year earlier.

The chipmaker delivered impressive growth in its key data center business segment, with revenue there rising 76% from a year earlier, to $1.44 billion, also edging past expectations.

The company’s four other segments, all much smaller, endured a torrid year in fiscal 2025. But things appear to be looking up as they grew their revenue by a combined 32% in the quarter, surpassing the Street’s estimate.

The best performer was Marvell’s carrier infrastructure segment, where sales jumped 93%, to $138.4 million, followed by the consumer division, up 50%, to $63.1 million, and enterprise networking, which rose 16%, to $177.5 million. The only segment that declined was Marvell’s automotive and industrial business, where sales fell 2%, to $75.7 million.

For the current quarter, Marvell is guiding for revenue of exactly $2 billion at the midpoint of its guidance range, just ahead of the Street’s forecast for $1.99 billion.

Marvell Chief Executive Matt Murphy (pictured) hailed the company’s performance, saying it delivered “record revenue” and is expecting to see continued strong growth in the current quarter.

“This momentum is being fueled by strong AI demand in the data-center end market, where our revenue is benefiting from the rapid scaling of our custom silicon programs and robust shipments of our electro-optics products,” Murphy said. “We see our custom silicon business driving strong growth in the second quarter and beyond.”

Marvell’s custom silicon business involves making customized data center chips to order for hyperscale data center operators such as Amazon Web Services Inc. The company makes a ton of cash by helping AWS design and manufacture its “Trainium” chips for artificial intelligence workloads, and is also believed to be working with the likes of Google Cloud and Microsoft Corp. too, though it hasn’t said so publicly. The Trainium chips compete with Nvidia Corp.’s graphics processing units, which are the most popular silicon for running AI workloads today.

The success of Marvell’s data center business has become critical to its fortunes, as the segment accounted for 72% of the chipmaker’s total revenue in fiscal 2025, up from 41% in the previous year.

“Marvell is showing Wall Street that there’s room for more than Nvidia at the AI party, with impressive growth fueled by the ongoing construction of AI data centers,” said Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc.

The analyst said Marvell’s turnaround from one year ago has been exceptional. He noted that it posted an operating loss 12 months ago, but today delivered a strong profit, representing a swing of almost $400 million.

“Matt Murphy and team deserve kudos for keeping the company’s cost structure intact, and investors will be encouraged that it’s spending $70 million more on R&D than it is on its sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses,” the analyst said. “With no immediate headwinds in sight, it looks like a case of rinse-and-repeat is coming up in the next quarter.”

Despite the impressive data center growth, Marvell’s stock has had a rough ride this year, and they fell more than 3% in after-hours trading today. That means it’s down 42% in the year to date.

Photo: Marvell Technology