Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL)

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07:17 MRVL Marvell: Earnings preview; expect a Q4 beat - FBR (11.85 )

Friedman Billings says MRVL will report FY 4Q08 earnings results on March 6. They believe business is robust, with the firm benefiting from strong demand for RIMM's Blackberry devices, and hard disk drives (>10% customer Western Digital just raised its 1Q guidance). Recent production checks show continued order strength at MRVL as the firm needs more product. The Street, however, is only forecasting a measly 2% sequential rev decline for Q1. One possible scenario is that the Street is too aggressive with its April-quarter rev est. The other possible scenario is that MRVL beats 4Q rev ests and guides 1Q seasonally down, which would get one close to the 1Q Street est. Firm raises their 4Q and forward ests to reflect this latter scenario.