The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
Lottery Corp's licence extension in Australia's Victoria state results in "the downgrade we had to have," says Jefferies analyst Kai Erman. Lottery Corp has secured a 40-year extension of its lottery licence in Victoria. Jefferies says this security is positive. Still, Lottery Corp paid A$1.15 billion to extend the licence. Jefferies downgrades its FY 2027 EPS forecast by 14%, citing higher net invested capital and amortization. It retains a hold call on Lottery Corp's stock. "At 18x FY 2027 Ebitda we remain sidelined on valuation grounds and lack of clarity on incremental earnings opportunities beyond portfolio improvements which have been a feature since demerger" from Tabcorp, Jefferies says. Lottery Corp ended Tuesday at A$5.57.(david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1835 ET - Australian stocks are poised to open higher after oil prices fell and U.S. equities gained. ASX futures are up by 0.4% ahead of Wednesday's session, suggesting that the S&P/ASX 200 should bounce from two straight declines this week. The benchmark index closed Tuesday 0.2% lower after the country's central bank raised interest rates and warned that consumers will suffer the effects of the Iran conflict. Oil prices eased after U.S. defense officials downplayed the severity of Iran's latest missile strikes. In the U.S., the gains by shares of chip makers pushed the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 to fresh records. The Nasdaq rose 1.0%, the S&P added 0.8%, and the DJIA gained 0.7%. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
1826 ET - Advanced Micro Devices' data-center business continues to expand at a rapid clip, and is now the primary driver for the company's revenue and earnings growth, CEO Lisa Su says. "We're seeing strong momentum as customers move from pilots to large scale production deployments, particularly in inference where our leadership memory capacity and bandwidth are key advantages," Su says during a call with analysts. AMD is seeing deeper long-term customer engagements in its data-center business as a result, including large scale multi-generation deployments, she says. "We have strong and increasing confidence in our ability to deliver tens of billions of dollars in annual data-center AI revenue in 2027 and to exceed our long term growth target of greater than 80% in the coming years," she says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1820 ET - Advanced Micro Devices' results show the rise of artificial intelligence is still in its early stages, with spending on AI set to surge in the coming years, Wedbush Securities analysts say in a note. The analysts point to how AMD expects server growth to accelerate meaningfully as it meets elevated demand, which continues to outstrip supply. "This is another 'Aaron Judge-like moment' for the tech sector as the AI Revolution gets another key validation data point from Lisa Su and AMD," the analysts say. The analysts say they are seeing no cracks in AI demand on the chips and hardware front. "It's crystal clear to us that the AI Revolution is accelerating at a warp speed pace with 2026 being an inflection point year." Shares rise 12% to $397.50 in late trading. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1810 ET - Companies are becoming increasingly active in the mergers-and-acquisitions market again after years in retreat, making it harder for private-equity firms to win deals, according to PitchBook. "The resurgence of corporate acquirers has been one of the most consequential shifts in the market," the research provider says. The push by these strategic buyers helped lift enterprise value-to-Ebitda multiples for targets in corporate-led deals to 9.7x last year from 8.3x in 2024 across North America and Europe, while the ratio dropped to 12.6x from 12.9x in private-equity buyouts, PitchBook's data show. "After several years of tight credit and volatile equities keeping strategics on the sidelines, they have returned with strong balance sheets and are competing directly with financial sponsors," PitchBook says. "The practical result has been a compression of the PE premium." (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)
1720 ET - Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino says the rise of technology is driving fans to prioritize live experiences, looking for chances to be present with artists and other fans off screen. "In an increasingly digital and AI-driven world, the global desire for authentic human connection has never been stronger," Rapino says. That shift is driving up demand for concerts, with Live Nation booking over 85% of its 2026 large-venue shows through the end of April, pacing up high-single digits so far this year, it says. The company says it has also sold more than 107 million tickets through the end of last month, up 11% from the prior-year period, with double-digit growth across key venue types like stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters and festivals.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1605 ET - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq set fresh highs as stocks rise broadly on optimism that the U.S. and Iran can avoid resuming a full-scale war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the four-week-old cease-fire was still in effect. DuPont leads the materials sector, gaining 8.4% after swinging to a profit and lifting its outlook. Intel climbs 13% on Bloomberg reports that it held discussions with Apple over chip manufacturing. Labor Department data show hiring picked up in March, ahead of the April payrolls report Friday. DJIA climbs 356 points, or 0.7%, to 49298, the S&P 500 gains 0.8% to 7259 and the Nasdaq rises 1% to 25326. (patrick.sullivan@wsj.com)
1509 ET - Oil futures settle lower after U.S. officials said Iranian strikes didn't mark the end of the cease-fire as the U.S. carries out an operation to help get vessels though the Strait of Hormuz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. expected "some churn at the beginning" but that the cease-fire holds. Oil prices eased on hopes of improving tanker flows, though prices remain high, Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group says in a note. "While Project Freedom has injected some optimism into tanker transit, the lack of a full U.S.-Iran peace deal and recent attacks keep energy markets on edge with elevated risk premiums." WTI settles down 3.9% to $102.27 a barrel. Brent falls 4% to $109.87. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1445 ET - Colliers International appears to be moving past the worst of its Investment Management margin pressure, with signs of improvement ahead. National Bank of Canada's Maxim Sytchev says that the market's aversion to these businesses has pushed valuations to overly compressed levels, creating a more attractive risk-reward profile for patient investors. While near-term catalysts are limited, Colliers sees operational improvements in IM on the horizon and believes current sentiment is close to washed out. "Obvious catalysts are not easy to identify, but valuation compression does present a much better risk / reward skew," Sytchev says. The company also expects free-cash-flow inflection in 2H26, which should support deleveraging. Scihares are down 5.8% to C$131.90. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1409 ET - Shopify's 2Q guidance is "very healthy, but likely below buy-side bar," says William Blair's Arjun Bhatia in a report. The analyst says total revenue is expected to grow in the high 20s next quarter, with consensus sitting at 27%. He also notes that growth will see less of an FX benefit than in 1Q, which provided a 200-basis point tailwind compared with 50 bps in 2Q. Bhatia adds that comps are tougher given the acceleration last quarter. Shopify sinks 15% to C$146.70. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1336 ET - Investors seem to like the look of Harley-Davidson's turnaround plan. HOG rises 6.3% after the company lays out its strategy to deliver growth. The company is changing up its portfolio to make it more balanced, including by reintroducing its Sportster entry-level bike. "Our near-term focus is on executing better with the platforms we already have, rather than introducing entirely new ones," says Chief Executive Artie Starrs on an analyst call. "By leveraging our existing platforms and powertrain to bring new motorcycles to market, we are operating with a more capital efficient model." The company also says it will use a more targeted promotional approach to balance volume and profitability. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)
1312 ET - Both PayPal and Coinbase are laying off a large portion of staff as they look to revamp their businesses using AI. WSJ reports that PayPal is cutting 20% of jobs as CEO Enrique Lores says the company will accelerate its adoption of AI. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong makes the link much more explicit, tying his company's roughly 14% layoffs to AI productivity gains. "AI is changing how we work," he writes in a letter to employees announcing the cuts. "The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day." Coinbase is down 3.9%, while PayPal slides 9%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 05, 2026 19:30 ET (23:30 GMT)
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