The latest Market Talks covering Technology, Media and Telecom. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
0738 ET - German software group SAP will have to up investment in order to compete with rapidly evolving artificial-intelligence agents, analysts at J.P. Morgan say. The required outlay will likely tighten margins and weigh on the group's earnings, they write in a note. "Change is fast approaching and incumbents, including SAP, will need to invest and evolve to give themselves the best chance of remaining relevant as the AI cycle unfolds." Moreover, the analysts expect SAP's revenue growth to slow as the company's cloud backlog diminishes, a factor that will likely weigh on the share price. The market "now demands acceleration to counter prevailing software bear arguments." SAP shares fall 3%. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0716 ET - Transcontinental's remaining businesses will be what drives its success, if it returns sustained positive results, RBC's Drew McReynolds says in a report. With Packaging now divested and C$20-a-share returned to investors, the strategic spotlight shifts to retail services and printing, and media/educational publishing. The analyst says focus will now be on the extent to which the remaining asset mix can return to sustained positive revenue and EBITDA growth. This "remains the primary potential re-rating catalyst for the stock." He sees FY2027 as a realistic point for growth to turn upward, supported by further in-store marketing tuck-ins, the full benefit of post-packaging cost cuts, and benefits from smaller growth areas such as media and book printing. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
0513 ET - Nintendo's share-price drop was likely driven by a media report that the company reduced production of its Switch 2 console for the March quarter, according to Morningstar director Kazunori Ito. The output cut, if true, would be unsurprising, he says. Nintendo had indicated that December-quarter sales in Europe and the U.S. fell short of expectations. Ito notes that the console business faces headwinds, including slowing consumer demand and rising memory costs. But Morningstar isn't concerned about the Switch 2's long-term prospects, as Nintendo is expected to release more exclusive titles to encourage users of the original Switch to move to the new platform, he says. Nintendo shares close 4.8% lower. (jason.chau@wsj.com)
0433 ET - CPU servers are gaining traction from inference-related workloads, Daiwa analysts say in a research note. Agentic AI applications such as OpenClaw and other similar AI tools are likely to drive higher-than-expected inference demand, they note. The adoption of AI agents could lead to higher token demand, as local agents need to interact with large language models more frequently to complete tasks and automate routine workflows, they say. The GPU and HBM combination is unlikely to be the most efficient solution for all inference use cases, they say, adding that ASIC- and CPU-based server solutions may play a more important role. Daiwa retains a positive view on Taiwan's data-center hardware sector, supported by continued hyperscaler capex growth. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0427 ET - Alibaba Group's latest chip is unlikely to have a major impact on the company's overall revenue, Morningstar's Chelsey Tam says in a commentary. The launch of XuanTie C950 is a positive development for China's efforts to achieve self-reliance in advanced technology, Tam says. The chip could also improve supply-chain resilience amid scarce computing power and lower overall costs. But Tam notes that Alibaba's T-Head chip business generated revenue of more than 10 billion yuan in 2025, a fraction of the company's total revenue last year. Capacity constraints also make it hard for the company to increase chip production drastically, she adds. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
0242 ET - Weibo's undemanding valuations keep Citi analysts led by Alicia Yap bullish on the stock. The Chinese social-media platform posted mixed 4Q results, with revenue beating consensus estimates but net profit missing, the analysts say in a note. The company sees an opportunity to capture the fast evolution of AI and is stepping up investment in the area, which is likely to lead to a near-term drag on margins, the analysts say. They see potential upside for Weibo from AI search products and improved monetization. Citi retains its buy rating and $12.00 target price on Weibo's ADRs. ADRs last closed 1.15% higher at $8.76.(megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0208 ET - AEM Holdings stands to benefit from its strategic partnership with Taiwan's ASE Technology, Maybank Research's Jarick Seet says in a research report. The partnership is aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence and high-performance computing test innovation, the analyst notes. This partnership should boost the Singapore-listed semiconductor test solutions provider's revenue and net margin in 2027-2028, the analyst says. Also, AEM will continue expanding in Taiwan and jointly integrate its test technologies into ASE Technology's Taiwan manufacturing and test environments, which should boost AEM's revenue. Maybank Research raises the stock's target price to S$4.84 from S$2.84 with an unchanged buy rating. Shares are 2.8% higher at S$4.07. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
0021 ET - SK Hynix could see stronger-than-expected memory chip prices in 2Q, Nomura's C.W. Chung and Eon Hwang say. The prices of its DRAM and NAND, the two main memory-chip products, are expected to jump 51% and 50%, respectively, on quarter in the April-June period--beating Nomura's earlier projections of 6% and 20% growth, the analysts write in a research note. They raise their annual operating-profit forecasts for the company by 36% to 256 trillion won for 2026 and by 37% to 365 trillion won for 2027, citing strong demand from major technology companies amid the artificial intelligence boom. Supply is unlikely to catch up with demand until early 2028, they add. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
2125 ET - Telstra's mobile price rises suggest that the consensus forecasts for fiscal 2027 could be too low, Jefferies analyst Roger Samuel reckons. The prepaid and postpaid price rises he has seen flagged on Telstra's website are higher than the average analyst forecast. Samuel estimates that this could lead to the fiscal 2027 consensus forecast for Ebitda rising by 0.7%, and for net profit rising by 2%-3%. This assumes there is no change in subscriber numbers or an increase in customers trading down to lower-value plans, he adds. Jefferies has a hold rating and A$5.40 target price on the stock, which is up 0.1% at A$5.305. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
1937 ET [Dow Jones]--Commonwealth Bank looks like the Australian bank with the most to gain from AI adoption, according to Macquarie analysts. They think that the lender will initially leverage improved productivity to drive revenue and accelerate change. Taking a narrower view, they reckon that Westpac is the best-placed lender in terms of near-term cost cuts. They tell clients in a note that this is because of its greater reliance on outsourced workforce providers. Overall, they anticipate material AI cost savings across Australia's banking sector, with global peers flagging workforce reductions of about 10% over the next five years. They caution that this could coincide with increased bad debt charges as AI drives job losses. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
1937 ET - Aussie Broadband gets a new bull at Macquarie, where analysts flag the stock as a defensive play amid rising inflation and interest-rate hikes. Raising its recommendation to outperform from neutral on the stock's recent weakness, the investment bank publishes a note highlighting what its analysts call the challenger telco's compelling value proposition. They point out that Aussie Broadband appears to have been unaffected by incumbent Telstra's November price cuts. The stock appears to be undervalued given the company's growth outlook, but Superloop remains their preferred pick due to the superior quality of its earnings growth outlook. Macquarie keeps a A$5.30 target price on Aussie Broadband shares, which are up 2.5% at A$4.88. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
1605 ET - As artificial-intelligence agents become an increasingly widespread enterprise tool, Microsoft may be missing its window to capitalize on the shift, Melius analysts write in a note. The company's thesis is that AI agents will buy Microsoft seats en masse, and that its Fabric data analytics platform gives it an additional moat. But the notion that Microsoft would be the AI gateway of choice is slipping as customers turn to tools like OpenClaw or derivatives like Nvidia's NemoClaw, the analysts write. "Microsoft in reality is still a seat-first SaaS company," they write. "Microsoft may end up a credible reseller of frontier models, but customers may soon demand commodity margins for this service, not the toll booth margins of today - and it is hard to believe that customers will like their agents being charged a full seat for access to 365." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2026 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)
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