Marvell shares soar as chipmaker boosts its AI drive with Celestial deal

Dec 3 (Reuters) - Marvell Technology jumped 9.3% to a nine-month high on Wednesday after its $3.25 billion deal to acquire semiconductor startup Celestial AI bolstered investor confidence in the chipmaker's push into next-gen AI infrastructure.

The company is doubling down on AI infrastructure to regain momentum after a tough year marked by intense competition in its custom AI chips and networking. Its shares are down about 16% so far this year, through Tuesday's close.

If Wednesday's gains hold, the rally would add more than $6.3 billion to Marvell's market value.

The Celestial AI deal adds photonic tech for next-gen data centers, putting Marvell in direct competition with Broadcom and Nvidia as hyperscalers race to build faster, energy-efficient systems amid the generative AI boom.

The company also issued a warrant to Amazon.com, allowing the tech giant to buy Marvell shares tied to its purchases of photonic fabric products through 2030.

"In our view, Celestial AI, with blessing from Amazon, bolsters Marvell's CPO (co-packaged optics) technology for custom XPUs and scale-up switching, making Marvell a stronger contender," TD Cowen analysts said.

Photonics fabric tech uses light instead of electrical signals to link AI chips and memory for next-gen data centers.

The Celestial tech will be used in Marvell's next-generation photonics-related infrastructure products, which will contribute to a new $10 billion market for Marvell, CEO Matt Murphy told Reuters on Tuesday.

Celestial's technology is projected to contribute $500 million in annualized revenue by late-fiscal 2028, doubling to $1 billion a year later.

Marvell expects roughly $10 billion in revenue for its next fiscal year, fueled by a 25% jump in data center sales. The Santa Clara, California-based company estimated its custom chip revenue to rise 20% next year.

Marvell trades at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, below Broadcom's 38.39, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Rashika Singh and Siddarth S in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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