Shares of Marvell Technology climbed on Thursday after the semiconductor company received a major price target increase from KeyBanc Capital Markets and announced a milestone shipment of photonic chips used in artificial intelligence data centers.
MRVL shares rose 8% in trading after KeyBanc raised its price target on the stock by 48% to $385 from $260 while maintaining an Overweight rating.
The new target represented roughly 33% upside from Wednesday’s closing price of $289.54.
The stock also benefited from broader strength in semiconductor shares after President Donald Trump said Apple had agreed to work with Intel on designing and manufacturing chips in the United States.
Intel shares surged more than 7% following the announcement.
Marvell stock has gained 45% in June and is up 250% so far this year.
The company has also attracted growing investor attention after Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang recently said he believes Marvell can become the “next trillion-dollar company.”
KeyBanc sees durable growth in optical networking
The price target increase followed an investor meeting between KeyBanc analysts and Marvell management.
Analyst John Vinh said the firm’s outlook on Marvell’s optical-networking business has become increasingly optimistic and that the opportunity could prove more durable than the company’s custom artificial intelligence chip business.
“Networking represents the most significant and durable growth opportunity,” Vinh wrote Wednesday, adding that the total addressable market by 2030 could be around $30 billion.
Marvell manufactures digital signal processors used within optical transceivers that transfer data in AI data centers by converting electrical signals into light.
Demand for these technologies has accelerated as hyperscale companies continue building increasingly large AI infrastructure.
Vinh also maintained a positive outlook on Marvell’s custom AI chip business.
He said the company has a “clear line of sight” to $10 billion in revenue by 2030 for its AI chips, with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft supporting demand.
Photonic chip shipments surpass 5 million units
Separately, Marvell announced that it has shipped more than 5 million coherent photonic integrated circuits worldwide in partnership with Tower Semiconductor.
Photonic integrated circuits transmit, process, and route information using light instead of electricity.
While the technology has long been used in telecommunications, it has become increasingly important for data centers because it supports faster networking and computing than traditional copper-based systems.
The milestone comes as hyperscale companies and technology firms rapidly expand AI infrastructure, placing significant strain on global supply chains for advanced components.
“This milestone demonstrates the strength of our collaboration,” said Dr. Radha Nagarajan, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Optical Engineering, at Marvell.
“As one of our key ecosystem partners, we look forward to continue working with the Tower team to advance next-generation coherent technologies for scale across data center architectures, providing customers with the latest efficient, high-performance photonics technologies to power their advanced AI workloads.”
AI expansion and S&P 500 inclusion add momentum
Marvell has also expanded its capabilities through acquisitions, including the purchase of optical-networking company Celestial AI for $3.3 billion and interconnect technology company XConn for $540 million.
Nvidia has additionally invested $2 billion in Marvell as part of a collaboration allowing customers to combine components from both companies to build semi-custom AI infrastructure.
The latest developments come ahead of Marvell’s planned entry into the S&P 500 on June 22, when it will replace Pool Corporation in the benchmark index.
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