Credo Technology (NASDAQ:CRDO | CRDO Price Prediction) and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) just posted results that frame the AI connectivity race in sharp relief.
Credo booked $437 million in Q4 FY2026 revenue, up 157.02%. Marvell delivered $2.418 billion in Q1 FY2027, up 27.57%. Same customers, very different playbooks.
Copper Cables Carry Credo. Custom Silicon Carries Marvell.
Credo’s growth engine remains its ZeroFlap Active Electrical Cables, which CEO Bill Brennan called the “preferred solution for in-rack connectivity” delivering 1,000x greater reliability than commodity laser-based optical modules. That reliability story is why Credo is already high-volume with five of six hyperscalers.
The concentration is real: the largest customer alone was 34% of Q4 revenue. Non-GAAP gross margin hit 68.3%, which reflects a tight product focus most peers cannot match.
Marvell is playing a broader hand. Data center revenue reached $1.83 billion, or 76% of the mix. CEO Matt Murphy told investors Marvell is seeing “exceptional AI-related bookings” across 800G and 1.6T optics, 51.2T Ethernet switches, DCI modules, and custom XPU silicon.
The company raised FY27 and FY28 outlooks, guiding Q2 to $2.7 billion. Non-GAAP gross margin guidance of 58.25% to 59.25% sits below Credo’s, a cost of that portfolio breadth.
| Business Driver | Credo | Marvell |
| Core Product | AECs, ZeroFlap optics | Custom XPUs, optics, switches |
| Q Growth (YoY) | 157% | 28% |
| Gross Margin | 68.3% | 58.9% |
Pure-Play Focus vs. Platform Sprawl
Credo just closed the Dust Photonics deal for roughly $750 million to pull silicon photonics in-house, targeting a total optical portfolio contribution of more than $600 million in FY2027. Brennan framed the strategy plainly: “AI network reliability has become Credo’s north star.”
Marvell absorbed Celestial AI and XConn in February and raised $2 billion in preferred stock in March. Murphy is targeting over $10 billion in revenue in fiscal 29 from custom silicon alone. GAAP net income landed at only $34.5 million, weighed down by a $331.8 million contingent consideration charge. Integration risk is concrete here.
The Next Test Is the Optical Ramp
I will be watching whether Credo’s optical portfolio hits its 80%+ YoY growth targets in the second half of FY2027, because that ramp is the entire inflection thesis. Shares are down 21.98% over the past month, so patience is thinning.
For Marvell, the pressure sits on scale-up optics, forecast at $300 million, and whether the NVIDIA partnership converts into visible design wins. MRVL is off 37.22% in a month despite record bookings, which tells you expectations were stretched.
Why I Lean Toward Credo for the Next Twelve Months
Personally, I find Credo’s setup more compelling right now. The margin profile is cleaner, the strategic focus is undiluted, and the optical roadmap gives it a second growth leg without the acquisition accounting noise. Reddit sentiment on r/wallstreetbets has held at 66 to 68 since the earnings report, which matches my read.
If you prefer scale and diversification, Marvell’s $3.84 billion cash pile and custom silicon pipeline are hard to dismiss. Marvell will need one more quarter to confirm integration is working. My view changes if Credo’s largest customer trims orders or hyperscalers push AECs aside for co-packaged optics faster than Brennan expects.
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