Chip maker Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) brought out a terrific earnings report, and jumped 5.5% in premarket trading on the news. The company held onto those gains going into this morning's trading session as well, and the word from the broader analyst community is strongly bullish. It's been so for the last two years, and with a global chip shortage still in place, there's every reason to believe it will continue for some time.
Marvell's Earnings Report Delivers Wins on Every Front
Marvell delivered wins all over with its earnings report, leading off with earnings of $0.29 per share. This beat—if narrowly—the consensus expectation of $0.27 per share. It also readily beat the earnings from the same time last year, coming in at 61.1% above what was brought in then.
Revenue, meanwhile, delivered a slightly larger-scale win, coming in at $832.3 million against the consensus of $804.2 million. That's also up from this time last year, about 20% up.
Going into next quarter, the company also offered upbeat guidance, projecting earnings between $0.28 and $0.34 per share, which are in line with analyst expectations of $0.30 per share. Revenue is expected to come in at $1.065 billion against consensus estimates of $1.04 billion.
Matt Murphy, Marvell's CEO, pointed to the benefits raised by the acquisition of Inphi for much of the gains, noting that Inphi's acquisition provided a “...growth opportunity in the data center, Marvell's largest end market by revenue.” Murphy also noted that the company was looking for “strong revenue growth” and “robust demand across all our key end markets,” leading Murphy to ultimately note his belief that the company was beginning a “multi-year growth cycle.”
What Are Financial Analysts Saying About MRVL Stock?
Those looking for insight into the Marvell stock forecast have little to fear from financial analysts, who are commonly in favor of buying in. In fact, our latest research finds that not only is Marvell considered a “buy”, but it's also considered on by a wide margin and one that's been in place for over two years.
A year ago, Marvell had 20 “buy” and five “hold” ratings to its credit. Six months ago, that shifted more bullish with 23 “buy” ratings and four “hold”. Today, it's still more bullish with 22 “buy” ratings but also just three “hold” ratings. Marvell is becoming increasingly a pure buy play.
The Marvell price target, meanwhile, occupies a fairly broad range. The current average is $54.55, with a high of $70 and a low of $39. With Marvell stock trading at $49.74 as of this writing, there is some upside potential afoot here.
Recent movements have been extremely positive for Marvell. Today alone, 10 analysts issued new positions on the company, and of those 10, eight boosted their price targets. Morgan Stanely upgraded its price target from $343 to $455, and holds an “overweight” rating on the stock. Summit Insights upgraded its position outright from “hold” to “buy”, and Rosenblatt Securities reiterated its “buy” rating on the company while also upgrading its price target from $60 to $70. The price target boosts seen today were largely incremental—the largest difference was $11, seen at Craig Hallum in its jump from $52 to $63—but having so many together is a good sign.
Before the sudden outpouring of support, hiked price targets and improved outlooks were fairly common for Marvell. The closest thing to bad news in recent memory comes from 2019, when in July of that year, Goldman Sachs downgraded the company from “buy” to “neutral.”
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