The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0549 GMT - UMS Integration stands to see long-term benefits from the growth in the semiconductor industry led by artificial intelligence, RHB Research's Alfie Yeo says in a report. RHB Research sees the chip segment as a beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, especially for accelerators and servers. RHB Research lifts its forecasts for 2027 and 2028 revenue for the manufacturer of front-end semiconductor components by 4% each year, citing improving operating efficiency as capacity utilization ramps up. Given factors such as the company's strong earnings outlook, RHB Research raises the stock's target price to S$3.37 from S$1.86, while maintaining a buy rating. Shares are 0.8% lower at S$2.62. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
0548 GMT - Baidu's 1Q results beating expectations doesn't change its 2026 and longer-term outlook, as AI investment is expected to rise, Morningstar analyst Chelsey Tam says in a note. Investors remain focused on Baidu's AI chip subsidiary, Kunlunxin, which management expects to list in Hong Kong by August. She estimates Kunlunxin's valuation at between HK$400 million and HK$500 million, with that figure potentially rising if it reports stronger-than-expected financials during the IPO. Morningstar maintains fair value estimates of HK$125.00 on Baidu's H-shares and US$128.00 on the ADRs. The H-shares last traded at HK$134.10, while the ADRs closed at US$137.68. (jason.chau@wsj.com)
0528 GMT - Samsung Electronics' shares have likely to a large extent already priced in concerns over a potential union strike, KB Securities analysts write in a note. The South Korean chip maker's earnings momentum continues to strengthen with the easing of labor-dispute uncertainty set to boost the stock in the future, says the analysts led by Jeff Kim. They expect Samsung's operating profit to surge 19-fold from a year earlier to around 90 trillion won in 2Q, fueled by stronger-than-expected memory-chip prices and brisk demand from big tech companies. Prices for Samsung's data-server DRAM chips and enterprise solid-state drives are likely to jump over 50% in 2Q, they add. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
0513 GMT - Bilibili's advertising growth momentum is likely to be sustained into 2Q as users spend more time on the video streaming platform, say Citi analysts in a note. This comes as the Chinese video-streaming company's efficiency in content recommendation and matching, as well as automated advertising placement brought by AI improves, the analysts note. While its video games segment could continue to face tough competition in 2Q, its planned new titles could help the business recover, they add. Bilibili's goal to invest 1 billion yuan this year for AI-related areas could weigh on earnings, but cost-savings could mitigate this, they add. Citi retains its buy rating and US$27.00 target price. ADRs last closed at $20.00.(megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0503 GMT - Any strikes at Samsung Electronics could hurt the South Korean chipmaker beyond simply production losses, says Morningstar's Jing Jie Yu in a note. Samsung's management said it couldn't accept the union's demands, while the union said it would proceed with its planned strikes from May 21-June 7. The analyst estimates an 18-day strike could lead to a roughly 5% decline in 2026 operating profit. He says that Samsung's less competitive compensation could lead to talent leaving the company, particularly in its memory division. This could be concerning as talent loss in 2019 led to Samsung falling behind in developing certain high-bandwidth memory and missing out on strong demand in 2024-2025, the analyst adds. Morningstar maintains its 205,000 won fair-value estimate. Shares fall 1.45% to 271,500 won. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2026 01:49 ET (05:49 GMT)
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