Marvell rises on Wells Fargo upgrade, as 'healthy amount of pessimism now priced in'
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Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) gained early on Tuesday as investment firm Wells Fargo upgraded the semiconductor company, pointing out that a "healthy amount of pessimism" has now been priced into the stock. 
Wells Fargo analyst Gary Mobley raised his rating on Marvell Technology (MRVL) to overweight from equal-weight, along with a $58 price target, noting the company is one of the "best secular growth stories" and while it will not be able to completely evade the economic slowdown, it should fare better than others.
"While [Marvell] won't be able to completely avoid global macro pressures, we believe the company is heavily insulated from the consumer weakness that has been most pronounced in the current macro softness," Mobley wrote in a note to clients. 
The analyst added that when the global economy recovers, Marvell's (MRVL) fundamentals and share price will likely "outperform peers' in the broader chip sector."
Marvell (MRVL) shares rose more than 0.5% to $40.56 in premarket trading.
The analyst added that Marvell (MRVL) deserves to trade at a premium to the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which should trade at roughly 20 times earnings.
Earlier this month, Bank of America reiterated its buy rating on Marvell Technology (MRVL) and several other semiconductor companies, as the group is likely to still benefit from increased cloud computing spending.
Analysts are largely bullish on Marvell (MRVL). It has a BUY rating from Seeking Alpha authors, while Wall Street analysts rate it a BUY. Conversely, Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently beats the market, rates MRVL a HOLD.