Jensen Huang just handed Marvell its biggest single-day catalyst in years. Marvell shares surged 24% in premarket trading on Tuesday after Nvidia’s chief executive publicly declared at the Computex conference in Taiwan that the chips and networking company is on a path to a market value of more than $1 trillion, implying a fivefold increase from Monday’s closing market capitalization of approximately $192 billion. Here is what Huang’s endorsement is based on and why the networking infrastructure thesis is gaining traction.
Speaking alongside Marvell’s chief executive at Computex, Huang pointed to the critical role of networking infrastructure in powering AI data centers of increasing scale. As AI facilities grow larger and more complex, optical transceivers become essential for transferring data efficiently by converting electrical signals into light. Marvell makes the digital signal processors at the core of those transceivers, positioning the company as indispensable to the buildout of AI infrastructure. Barclays projects Marvell’s optical networking revenue could grow by as much as 90% this year and next.
Marvell has been aggressively building out its position. The company recently acquired optical networking specialist Celestial AI for $3.25 billion and interconnect technology company XConn for $540 million, adding capabilities that directly support the networking demands of next-generation AI data centers.
NVIDIA has also invested $2 billion in Marvell as part of a collaboration that allows customers to combine components from both companies to develop semi-custom AI infrastructure. The investment reflects Nvidia’s broader strategy of deepening ties with companies that extend demand for its own GPU ecosystem, a pattern it has replicated across multiple partners in the AI supply chain.
Marvell shares had already closed 7% higher on Monday before Tuesday’s premarket surge.
