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.
0914 ET - Intel is set to benefit from surprisingly strong growth in server CPU demand, say Wedbush analysts Matt Bryson and Antoine Legault, who raise their price target to $60 from $30. This demand is being driven by inference workloads and agentic AI and Intel is best positioned to serve this demand due to its ability to ramp up internal manufacturing supply. "In turn, this backdrop gives us confidence that the business improvement Intel enjoyed in Q1 and Q2 is sustainable," the analysts say. Still, the analysts' price target, despite using multiple math in excess of targets for other chip makers, remains below the stock's current level. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)
0906 ET - Intel is delivering real improvements in factory output to meet stronger CPU demand, says Benchmark analyst Cody Acree, who raises the price target to $105 from $76. The company's quarterly results benefited from one-time inventory monetization, but the bigger story is that production improved, "while demand in server CPUs remains ahead of supply and is being reinforced by inference and agentic AI workloads," Acree says. "The company's material supply recovery is one of the main reasons we think the quarter's outperformance and better outlook should be particularly encouraging to investors." Shares jump 25% in pre-market trading to $83.27. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)
0455 ET - Telia's robust first quarter should lead to few changes to consensus, Berenberg analysts write in a note. The Swedish telecommunications operator reiterated it full-year guidance after reporting strong growth in net profit and a two-month contribution from its Swedish broadband acquisition, Bredband2. However, performance in Norway is still lagging, they say. Shares are up 3% at 49.06 Swedish kronor.(najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0447 ET - AI-driven demand for Intel's chips will only grow, Jefferies analysts write in a note. The chip maker's results validate the view that AI will drive demand for its CPU chips, which are less advanced than the GPUs made by market-leader Nvidia. "It remains early days for AI's impact on the CPU market with plenty of room to run," they write. Though the Santa Clara-based group expects weakening in its PC business, sustained high demand for chips in a low-supply environment favors the company, they add. Intel stocks surge close to 23% premarket. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0434 ET - The launch of DeepSeek's latest artificial-intelligence model highlights the competitive landscape in China, according to Citi analysts in a research note. The launch, along with updates from other Chinese AI players, suggest that it isn't "winner-takes-all" for market leadership, they note. "The technological gap is closing, positioning China's leading models as increasingly viable alternatives to their top-tier global counterparts," they note. This will intensify competition and provide enterprises with a wider array of powerful, cost-effective options, Citi says. Citi maintains its buy rating on Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, which are also active AI players. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
0351 ET - SK Hynix is likely to post record quarterly results in 2Q, say HSBC's Ricky Seo and Han Kil Chang. The analysts expect the South Korean memory-chip maker's sales and operating profit for the April-June quarter to hit record highs of 75 trillion won and 57 trillion won, respectively, driven by higher semiconductor prices. The figures would be up 42% and 52%, respectively, from the previous record highs set in the prior quarter. Prices of DRAM and NAND--the two major memory-chip types--are expected to rise 28% and 35%, respectively, in 2Q from the previous quarter, they say. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
0337 ET - SAP's first-quarter update is a welcome relief after some rather soft reporting from peers, Deutsche Bank analysts say. The German business-software group reported an increase in revenue and operating profit, beating estimates. Current Cloud Backlog, a key performance metric, rose 20% to 21.9 billion euros. "This is clearly encouraging and pointing to sustained healthy demand momentum for SAP's solutions," the analysts write in a note. Some software stocks have pulled back in 2026 as investors question whether AI companies will emerge as rivals. "While sentiment and headline risk remains for the software sector, we see SAP well underway to reposition the company for the future." Shares are up 6.3% at 149.6 euros. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)
0037 ET - Accelink Technologies is set to benefit from the accelerated AI optical networking investment cycle, Nomura analyst Bing Duan says in a note. As one of China's leading optical transceiver and component suppliers, the company is well supported by its integrated device manufacturer model amid component shortages, the analyst says. Nomura, which maintains a buy rating on the stock, raises its target price to 158.50 yuan from 80.00 yuan after factoring in FY 2025 and 1Q 2026 results, which showed gross-margin expansion in both 4Q and 1Q. The stock is down 5.8% at 124.07 yuan. (venkat.pr@wsj.com)
2349 ET - SK Hynix is set to post stronger-than-expected 2026 earnings on increased shipments and higher prices of memory chips, Nomura analysts say. The South Korean chip maker's operating profit could reach 280 trillion won, a sixfold jump from 47 trillion in 2025, say the analysts led by C.W. Chung. They expect the company's 2026 shipments of conventional DRAM and NAND--the two major memory-chip types--to rise 25% and 30%, respectively. Its shipments of high-bandwidth memory, an advanced DRAM used in artificial-intelligence accelerators, are expected to rise 24% this year, they say. Nomura expects DRAM prices to nearly triple and NAND prices to almost quadruple this year. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
2307 ET - WiseTech Global keeps its bull at Morgans despite the broker's analysts feeling more cautious on the logistics-software provider's growth outlook. The analysts keep a buy rating on the stock despite trimming their revenue forecasts to reflect pressures on freight volume and sentiment from the Middle East conflict. They tell clients in a note that they are also adjusting their FY 2027 and 2028 forecasts to account for the risk that Danish-listed freight forwarder DSV moves some business away from WiseTech and onto its in-house systems. However, they like WiseTech's track record of growth and cash-flow generation, and see it as a likely beneficiary of AI adoption over the long term. Morgans cuts its target price 16% to A$70.40. Shares are down 2.0% at A$43.51. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
2229 ET - Tencent's latest large language model launch is "an important milestone" given its immediate integration into broad-based Tencent products, Citi analyst Alicia Yap says in a research note. Tencent on Thursday released the new AI model, Hy3 preview, which claims a 40% improvement in inference efficiency with competitive pricing. Yap thinks the Hy3 preview takes a "pragmatic" approach, focusing on real-world applications over lab scores. "We believe further capability improvements are likely with the official Hy3.0 release or subsequent iterations like 3.1/3.2," she adds. Citi maintains its buy rating on Tencent and keeps its target price at HK$783.00. Shares are last 1.3% lower at HK$488.60.(sherry.qin@wsj.com)
2147 ET - SK Hynix's earnings growth is likely to accelerate in 2Q, driven by increased shipments and higher prices of semiconductors, Daiwa Capital's S.K. Kim says. The analyst expects the South Korean memory-chip maker's operating profit to top 60 trillion won from 37.610 billion won in 1Q. Daiwa raises its 2026 EPS forecast for the artificial-intelligence chip supplier by 39%. "With memory becoming critical in AI computing, IT customers are prioritizing volume procurement over pricing, while supply remains constrained due to limited space for capacity expansion," Kim says. Daiwa raises the stock's target price by 19% to 1,670,000 won and keeps a buy rating. Shares are 0.5% lower at 1,219,000 won. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 24, 2026 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)
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