Ahead of the Bell: Marvell down after 2Q results

NEW YORK—Shares of chip maker Marvell Technology Group Ltd. trended down in premarket trading Friday after its third-quarter revenue guidance came in below analyst estimates.

The stock was down 34 cents, or 2.3 percent, at $14.42.

Late Thursday, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company reported earnings of $71.4 million, or 11 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Aug. 2. Excluding items, earnings were 24 cents per share in the latest quarter, beating the forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters by 3 cents.

For the third quarter, ending in October, Marvell forecast sales of $860 million to $880 million, while analysts were expecting $887 million.

However, analysts seized on signals that margins appear to be improving at the company. In a morning note, Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Craig Berger reduced his revenue forecast but kept his earnings forecast and said the stock is "attractively priced."

Noting that margins could be improving because flat expenditures over the next few quarters, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Allan Mishan boosted his earnings forecast for the current fiscal year, which ends in January, by 5 cents per share to $1.