Chipmaker Marvell Technology Inc. delivered better-than-expected results and guidance in its latest financial report today, but investors were decidedly unimpressed, and its stock fell hard in the after-hours trading session.

The company reported fourth-quarter earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of 60 cents per share, just edging past Wall Street’s target of 59 cents per share. Revenue for the period rose 27% from a year earlier, to $1.82 billion, ahead of the $1.8 billion consensus view.

Marvell’s impressive revenue growth helped the company deliver a net profit of $200.2 million in the quarter, swinging from a loss of $392.7 million in the same period one year ago.

The company is a major player in the world of data storage, networking and automotive chip manufacturing. Its primary customers are cloud computing providers, telecommunications firms and car manufacturers. Although it’s much smaller than rival chipmakers such as Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp., Marvell is well-established in the industry and is benefiting from the rising demand for silicon that can power artificial intelligence workloads.

Marvell Chief Executive Matt Murphy (pictured) told analysts that the company’s custom AI silicon programs have now entered volume production, and insisted this bodes well for its future prospects. “Marvell has secured multiple new design wins, including several custom silicon programs that will fuel future growth,” he added.

The key profit driver for Marvell was its data center business, which generated the bulk of its revenue at $1.365 billion, up 78% from the year-ago period and 24% sequentially. However, the rest of Marvell’s chipmaking business doesn’t look so good. Sales in the enterprise networking segment fell 35% to $171.4 million, while the carrier infrastructure and consumer segments both fell 38%. The automotive and industrial segment climbed 4%. On the other hand, all of those units but the consumer segment showed growth on a sequential basis.

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. noted that the 27% revenue growth was a record for the company, and said it was timely too, as it allowed the company to swing to a profit and narrow its loss for the full year.

“In the full year it lost slightly over a dollar in earnings per share, which is more or less the same as the previous fiscal year,” the analyst said. “That means Marvell is still in the same place, and Matt Murphy and his team will need to figure out a way to get the company going again and make it profitable in the new year.”

For the current quarter, Marvell said it’s looking for earnings of 61 cents at the midpoint of its guidance, a penny above the consensus view of 60 cents. In terms of revenue, it’s shooting for $1.875 billion at the midpoint, just ahead of the Street’s target of $1.865 billion.

Despite topping those key guidance metrics, Marvell’s stock fell more than 15% after-hours. This year, investors have been punishing AI-related stocks that fail to meet their sky-high expectations, and Marvell’s stock is now down 18% in the year to date.

Photo: Marvell Technology