Kia vs Marvell: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Kia reported ~$81B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$5.4B of net income. Marvell reported $8.2B of revenue in FY2026 and $2.7B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Kia
Kia's revenue has risen every year since 2020: from ~$49.6 billion (KRW 69.9 trillion) in 2021 to ~$76.3 billion (KRW 107.4 trillion) in 2024 and a record ~$81 billion (KRW 114.1 trillion) in 2025 (+6.2%). Profit has not kept up. Operating profit fell 28.3% in 2025 to ~$6.45 billion (KRW 9.08 trillion), and the margin dropped from 11.8% to 8.0% as US tariffs and incentives ate into earnings. Net profit was about $5.36 billion (KRW 7.55 trillion). The squeeze continued into 2026. Q1 revenue was a record ~$20.9 billion (KRW 29.50 trillion) (+5.3%), but operating profit fell 26.7% to ~$1.57 billion (KRW 2.21 trillion). Q2 revenue reached ~$23.5 billion (KRW 33.04 trillion) (+12.6%) while operating profit fell 4.9% to ~$1.87 billion (KRW 2.63 trillion). The shares dropped about 13% on the day of the Q2 results. Shareholder returns are still high: the 2025 dividend was KRW 6,800 per share, a 35% consolidated payout ratio, and Kia has been cancelling treasury shares, cutting issued shares from 405.4 million in 2022 to 390.4 million at the end of 2025.
Marvell
Marvell's revenue was $2.70 billion in fiscal 2020 and $5.77 billion in fiscal 2025, then jumped 42% to $8.195 billion in fiscal 2026 as AI data-center demand ramped. GAAP results were losses from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025, mainly due to amortization from the Inphi and Cavium deals and restructuring charges. Fiscal 2026 GAAP net income was $2.67 billion, helped by a pre-tax gain of about $1.8 billion on the $2.5 billion sale of the automotive Ethernet unit to Infineon. In Q2 fiscal 2027 (quarter ended August 1, 2026) revenue was $2.739 billion, GAAP net income $308.0 million ($0.33 per share), non-GAAP EPS $0.94 and operating cash flow $605.5 million. Marvell guided Q3 fiscal 2027 revenue to $3.15 billion, plus or minus 5%.
Revenue and profit by year
Kia
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$81B | ~$5.4B | 6.6% | +6.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$76.3B | ~$6.9B | 9.1% | +7.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$70.9B | ~$6.2B | 8.8% | +15.3% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$61.5B | ~$3.8B | 6.2% | +23.9% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$49.6B | ~$3.4B | 6.8% | — | Source |
Marvell
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $8.2B | $2.7B | 32.6% | +42.1% | Source |
| FY2025 | $5.8B | -$885M | -15.3% | +4.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $5.5B | -$933.4M | -16.9% | -7.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $5.9B | -$163.5M | -2.8% | +32.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $4.5B | -$421M | -9.4% | +50.3% | Source |
| FY2021 | $3B | -$277.3M | -9.3% | +10.0% | Source |
| FY2020 | $2.7B | $1.6B | 58.7% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Kia
- Global Vehicle Sales
primary revenue source
Kia generates most revenue from selling SUVs, passenger cars, hybrids, EVs, and commercial vehicles through regional subsidiaries, importers, dealers, and fleet channels.
- Parts, Service, and Accessories
recurring support revenue
Genuine parts, aftersales service, accessories, and warranty-related activity provide higher-repeat revenue tied to Kia's installed vehicle base.
- Future Mobility and PBVs
emerging growth area
Dedicated EVs, software-defined vehicles, purpose-built vehicles, and connected services support Kia's longer-term mobility strategy.
Marvell
- Data Center
74% of FY2026 revenue
Generated $6.1003 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue from custom silicon, networking, optical connectivity, storage, and data-center infrastructure products.
- Communications and Other
26% of FY2026 revenue
Generated $2.0943 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue from carrier, enterprise, automotive legacy, and other communications-related products.
- Direct Customers
57% of FY2026 revenue
Direct customer sales accounted for $4.6304 billion of fiscal 2026 revenue.
- Distributors
43% of FY2026 revenue
Distributor sales accounted for $3.5642 billion of fiscal 2026 revenue.
Business model and strategy
Kia
How it makes money
Kia makes money mainly by building and selling vehicles wholesale to its regional sales subsidiaries, importers and franchised dealers, which then sell to retail and fleet buyers. SUVs and RVs such as the Sportage, Sorento, Seltos, Carnival and Telluride make up most of the mix and earn more per unit than small sedans.
Growth strategy
Kia's current strategy, set out at the 2026 CEO Investor Day, uses several powertrains instead of only EVs. It plans to grow EVs (EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6, EV9 and later models) and hybrids together, add a PBV line of modular electric vans starting with the PV5, and build up software-defined vehicles, autonomous driving and robotics as longer-term businesses.
Competitive advantage
Kia's main advantages are its scale inside Hyundai Motor Group and the way it can switch powertrains easily. Sharing platforms, the E-GMP 800V EV architecture, batteries, chips and logistics (Hyundai Glovis) with Hyundai lowers development and purchasing costs. Factories in Korea, the US (Georgia), Mexico, Slovakia and India let Kia shift production between combustion, hybrid and electric models.
Marvell
How it makes money
Marvell runs a fabless model: it designs chips and licenses-in or builds IP (SerDes, PAM4 and coherent DSPs, Arm compute subsystems, packaging), while foundries such as TSMC manufacture them. It makes money in two ways. First, it sells standard products, including electro-optics DSPs and drivers for optical modules, Teralynx Ethernet switches, PCIe/CXL retimers, storage controllers and OCTEON processors.
Growth strategy
Marvell's growth plan centers on AI infrastructure. It is expanding custom XPU and XPU-attach programs with large cloud providers, upgrading optical DSPs from 800G to 1.6T and beyond, growing Teralynx switches and retimers, and adding optical scale-up interconnect through Celestial AI.
Competitive advantage
Marvell's edge is breadth of data-center IP. It combines high-speed SerDes, PAM4 and coherent optical DSPs (largely from the 2021 Inphi deal), Ethernet switching, custom ASIC design services and, since 2026, Celestial AI's photonic interconnect technology. That lets it sell several components into the same AI cluster and offer hyperscalers a full custom-chip design and packaging service on advanced TSMC nodes.
Questions about Kia vs Marvell
Which company has higher revenue — Kia Corporation or Marvell Technology, Inc.?
Kia Corporation reported ~$81B (FY2025), while Marvell Technology, Inc. reported $8.2B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Kia Corporation is the larger business, with Marvell Technology, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Kia Corporation vs Marvell Technology, Inc.?
Kia Corporation's market capitalisation stands at $32.4B, while Marvell Technology, Inc.'s is $225.7B. Marvell Technology, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Kia Corporation.
Which is more financially efficient — Kia Corporation or Marvell Technology, Inc.?
Kia Corporation generates $1.52M / employee in revenue per employee, while Marvell Technology, Inc. generates $1.11M / employee. Kia Corporation shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Kia Corporation and Marvell Technology, Inc. make money?
Kia Corporation and Marvell Technology, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Kia Corporation: Kia makes money mainly by building and selling vehicles wholesale to its regional sales subsidiaries, importers and franchised dealers, which then sell to retail and fleet buyers. Marvell Technology, Inc.: Marvell runs a fabless model: it designs chips and licenses-in or builds IP (SerDes, PAM4 and coherent DSPs, Arm compute subsystems, packaging), while foundries such as TSMC manufacture them.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Kia Corporation or Marvell Technology, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Kia Corporation trades at 0.4x P/S and Marvell Technology, Inc. at 27.5x P/S. Marvell Technology, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Kia Corporation. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Kia Corporation bigger than Marvell Technology, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Kia Corporation (~$81B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Marvell Technology, Inc. ($8.2B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Kia vs Marvell overview