Marvell follows Nvidia's rally, surging 29% after chip maker cites AI as 'key growth driver'

• Shares of Marvell Technology shot up 29% on Friday, nearing its largest ever single-day increase.
• The chipmaker credited AI for its upbeat second-quarter forecast.

Marvell Technology stock jumped as much as 29% on Friday after posting a glowing second-quarter forecast, citing artificial intelligence technology as a "key growth driver" for the US chipmaker.

Shares of the company were trading at $64.54 as of 2:20 p.m. ET, on track for their largest single-day gain ever.

On a call with analysts Thursday, chief executive officer Matthew Murphy said Marvell is looking at the "tremendous" potential that AI could offer the business.

"AI has emerged as a key growth driver for Marvell, which we are enabling with our leading network connectivity products and emerging cloud-optimized silicon platform," Murphy said in a statement.

He added: "While we are still in the early stages of our AI ramp, we are forecasting our AI revenue in fiscal 2024 to at least double from the prior year and continue to grow rapidly in the coming years."

Marvell's jump follows Nvidia's massive rally on Thursday, that added nearly $200 billion to its market value.Shares of Nvidia skyrocketed after reporting blockbuster quarterly results and promises of more to come with very strong forward guidance.

"The computer industry is going through two simultaneous transitions — accelerated computing and generative AI," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said.

Huang added: "A trillion dollars of installed global data center infrastructure will transition from general purpose to accelerated computing as companies race to apply generative AI into every product, service and business process."