Marvell, Workday and Autodesk All Grew Revenue by Double Digits on Aug. 27 - but Backlog and Guidance Drove the After-Hours Reaction

by Ryo Tanaka · August 28, 2026

Technology Reporter, US Market Current

Three enterprise technology companies reported quarterly results after the close on Thursday, August 27, and all three grew revenue by double digits year over year. The share-price reactions were more mixed than the numbers, with backlog disclosure and forward guidance carrying more weight than the quarters themselves. All three landed on a day the Nasdaq composite closed at 26,541.35, up 1.6 percent, according to the Associated Press tally of Thursday's session.

Marvell: data center now 79% of revenue

Marvell Technology said in its results announcement, distributed via Business Wire on August 27, that revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2027, the three months ended August 1, 2026, was $2,739.3 million on both a GAAP and a non-GAAP basis, which the company put at $39.0 million above the midpoint of its own guidance. GAAP gross margin was 53.1 percent against a non-GAAP gross margin of 58.9 percent, and GAAP operating margin was 16.8 percent against a non-GAAP operating margin of 36.6 percent.

The gap between the two profit measures was wide. Marvell reported GAAP net income of $308.0 million and GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.33, alongside non-GAAP net income of $865.9 million and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.94. Operating cash flow was $605.5 million.

The mix explains the company's positioning. Data center revenue was $2,171.5 million, which Marvell put at 79 percent of the total and up 46 percent from a year earlier, while communications and other revenue was $567.8 million, or 21 percent of the total, up 10 percent. Chief Executive Matt Murphy said in the release that Marvell "delivered record second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $2.739 billion, up 37% year over year," and that "AI-related bookings remain exceptionally robust, and we expect our revenue growth to accelerate further through the remainder of fiscal 2027."

For the third quarter of fiscal 2027, ending October 31, 2026, Marvell guided to revenue of $3.150 billion plus or minus 5 percent, GAAP gross margin of 52.9 percent to 53.9 percent against non-GAAP gross margin of 57.5 percent to 58.5 percent, and GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.53 plus or minus $0.05 against non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.10 plus or minus $0.05.

One point deserves care, because it has been characterised loosely elsewhere. The guidance section of Marvell's release is quarterly only: it carries no numeric revenue outlook for full-year fiscal 2027 or fiscal 2028. The reference to raised annual expectations appears solely in Murphy's prepared commentary, where he said that "given this strength, we are again raising our revenue outlook for both fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028 compared with the guidance we provided last quarter." Reports describing Marvell as having issued raised fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028 revenue guidance are reading a formal guidance figure into a sentence of management commentary; no such figure was published.

Quiver Quantitative, in a post timestamped 8:36 p.m. UTC on August 27, roughly half an hour after the closing bell, reported that Marvell shares fell 3.1 percent after the close, and calculated the year-over-year revenue increase at 36.6 percent against the 37 percent the company itself cited.

Workday: a backlog number did the damage

Workday reported fiscal 2027 second-quarter total revenues of $2.649 billion, up 12.8 percent year over year, with subscription revenues of $2.471 billion, up 13.9 percent, according to its results release issued through PR Newswire on August 27. GAAP operating income was $313 million, an 11.8 percent margin, while non-GAAP operating income was $824 million, a 31.1 percent margin.

GAAP diluted earnings per share came in at $2.57 and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share at $2.75. Operating cash flows were $520 million and free cash flows $460 million. The 12-month subscription revenue backlog stood at $9.034 billion, up 14.2 percent, and the total subscription revenue backlog at $27.403 billion, up 8.0 percent.

Chief Financial Officer Zane Rowe said in the release, "We continue to prioritize investment in our agentic AI roadmap and our platform opportunity while driving operational efficiencies as we scale." Co-founder, Chief Executive and Chair Aneel Bhusri pointed to artificial intelligence driving more than 25 percent of new annual contract value and to more than 5,500 customers now using at least one of the company's organic agents.

Guidance was for third-quarter subscription revenues of $2.515 billion, growth of 12 percent, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 30.0 percent, and full-year subscription revenues of $9.940 billion to $9.950 billion, growth of 13 percent, at a 31.0 percent non-GAAP operating margin.

BigGo Finance, in a report timestamped 23:55 UTC on August 27, said shares initially tumbled more than 7 percent in extended trading before paring the loss to less than 1 percent, and attributed the reaction to a projected total subscription backlog of roughly $27.4 billion against a Wall Street expectation the outlet put at $28.6 billion. That framing should be read with care: $27.403 billion is the figure Workday's own release reports as its total subscription revenue backlog at the end of the second quarter, and the release does not publish a third-quarter backlog projection.

Autodesk: 16% growth, margins up four points on a GAAP basis

Autodesk reported fiscal 2027 second-quarter revenue of $2.046 billion, up 16 percent year over year and 14 percent in constant currency, with billings of $1.854 billion, up 10 percent, according to the results announcement issued through PR Newswire on August 27.

By product family, AECO revenue was $1.029 billion, up 17 percent; AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT was $500 million, up 14 percent; manufacturing was $385 million, up 15 percent; media and entertainment was $92 million, up 15 percent; and other revenue was $40 million, up 29 percent. Geographically, the Americas contributed $898 million, up 14 percent, EMEA $804 million, up 19 percent, and Asia-Pacific $344 million, up 14 percent.

GAAP operating margin was 29 percent, four percentage points higher than a year earlier, and non-GAAP operating margin was 41 percent, two points higher. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $2.33 and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share $3.30. Operating cash flow was $575 million, up 25 percent, and free cash flow $561 million, up 24 percent. Total remaining performance obligations were $7.433 billion, up 2 percent, while current remaining performance obligations grew 12 percent to $5.245 billion.

Autodesk's full-year fiscal 2027 outlook calls for billings of $8.575 billion to $8.650 billion, revenue of $8.295 billion to $8.345 billion, a GAAP operating margin of 25 percent to 27 percent against a non-GAAP operating margin of about 39 percent, GAAP earnings per share of $7.89 to $8.72 against non-GAAP earnings per share of $12.52 to $12.60, and free cash flow of $2.725 billion to $2.750 billion. Third-quarter guidance is for revenue of $2.125 billion to $2.140 billion, GAAP earnings per share of $1.57 to $1.87 and non-GAAP earnings per share of $3.04 to $3.09.

Chief Executive Andrew Anagnost said in the release that "AI turns connected data and context into actionable project intelligence that can ease endemic capacity constraints, raise the bar on what's possible in the physical world, and help our customers do more with scarce resources." Chief Financial Officer Janesh Moorjani said, "We delivered strong second quarter results with consistent execution and momentum. Our sales reorganization is proceeding as expected."