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.
1354 ET - Canada's minister for cultural policy, Marc Miller, says in a post on social-media platform X he's reviewing the Canadian broadcasting regulator's decision regarding online streaming, which incorporates a significant jump in the level of cash U.S. streamers must set aside for domestic programming. Michael Geist, an internet law expert at the University of Ottawa, says Miller's statement is ambiguous, and he wonders whether the Canadian government recognizes the possible fallout on U.S.-Canada trade relations. The post "has the look of a government preparing to distance itself from what it set in motion," says Geist, noting the Liberal government pushed for a new regime regarding online streamers. A representative from Miller's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (paul.vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)
1331 ET - Spotify's new ticket offering system could boost engagement with the music streaming platform, according to Morgan Stanley in a note. Spotify says it will save two concert tickets for some artists' top fans to purchase before tickets go on general sale. "It seems highly probable that this ticketing system leads to some level of Spotify user 'gamification' wherein fans try their hardest to drive engagement to 'prove' themselves among the most dedicated," the analysts say. To try to gain the top spot, music listeners might avoid using multiple platforms and could instead concentrate their music streaming on Spotify at the expense of its competitors, such as SiriusXM, the analysts say. (chris.kuo@wsj.com)
1330 ET - Workday investors will likely need more data points to feel confident in the company's turn toward artificial-intelligence, but initial results suggest some traction, Morgan Stanley analysts write in a note. Agentic AI annual recurring revenue reached around $445 million during the quarter, and Workday says that after proving their ability to sell acquired AI agents in fiscal 2026, fiscal 2027 will be the year of organic AI solutions. One of the first organic products, Deployment Agent, has led to a 30% reduction of implementation times on existing projects and a 50% reduction for new ones, which the analysts say could unlock better revenue recognition and mid-market penetration. "Investors likely need more than one quarter to buy in, but at current valuation the downside appears limited," the analysts write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1322 ET - Workday's 1Q print showed some resilience in the face of an uncertain macroeconomic environment, but UBS analysts write that they would have liked to see some higher growth metrics to move the stock off a neutral rating. Despite subscription revenue growth beating UBS' estimate, the company reaffirmed its guidance, erring toward conservatism given the macroeconomic environment. Workday's results also suggest a slight moderation of seat growth during the quarter, as well as upside coming from the company's acquired artificial-intelligence offerings rather than the core business. Still, the solid quarter and potential for AI-driven growth "warrants some modest relief in the stock," the analysts write. Shares rise 5.5%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1303 ET - On the surface, it appears Canada's broadcast regulator is tripling the levy, from 5% to 15%, that U.S. streamers face on their Canadian revenue that needs to be spent on Canadian programming. Michael Geist, an internet law expert at the University of Ottawa, says the spending obligations are actually much worse, according to the fine print. The regulator, known as the CRTC, is compelling streamers like Netflix to spend about a third of that 15% on projects in which the Canadian partner owns the copyright. "That isn't the model for Netflix et al, who want to control the copyright on a global basis," Geist tells WSJ. This is why the Motion Picture Association and other digital lobby groups want the Trump administration to apply pressure on Canada PM Mark Carney to repeal the online streaming rules. (paul.vieira@wsj.com, @paulvieira)
1254 ET--Workday's first-quarter print showed some resilience in the face of an uncertain macroeconomic environment, but UBS analysts write that they would have liked to see some higher growth metrics to move the stock off a neutral rating. Despite subscription revenue growth beating UBS' estimate, the company reaffirmed its guidance, erring toward conservatism given the macroeconomic environment. Workday's results also suggest a slight moderation of seat growth during the quarter, as well as upside coming from the company's acquired artificial-intelligence offerings rather than the core business. Still, the solid quarter and potential for AI-driven growth "warrants some modest relief in the stock," the analysts write. Shares are up 5.5%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1254 ET - The combined spot and derivatives volume of crypto exchanges fell 11.7% in April to $4.61 trillion--the lowest aggregate reading since September 2024, according to CoinDesk Research. Spot markets bore the sharper contraction, CoinDesk says, dropping 14% to $1.05 trillion--a level last seen in November 2023. The decline in spot volumes has been consistent since the start of the year, according to CoinDesk. "The cooldown reflects a broader shift in speculative flows, with traders increasingly turning their attention to the AI rally in equities," says the firm. Bitcoin is down 1.2% to $76,712, while ethereum falls 0.9% to $2,118. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1251 ET - Spotify's licensing agreement with Universal Music Group for AI-powered remixes might not be the last of its kind, according to Morgan Stanley in a note. "We believe it is likely that this functionality broadens out over time to include additional labels/content owners and that these other rights holders will sign similar agreements," the analysts say. Warner Music Group, in particular, might be next, analysts say. The company has signed a deal with AI-creation platform Suno, which signals that it might be open to partnering with Spotify for AI remixing, the analysts say. (chris.kuo@wsj.com)
1038 ET - Artificial intelligence is already boosting productivity gains in very specific, well defined tasks, but these increases have yet to scale sharply across the whole economy, a note from BofA says. For now, the economists say that economy-wide productivity is only rising about 0.1% per year, only a small aggregate effect relative to all of the excitement around the technology. However, in the long-term they say the impact of AI on aggregate productivity could be 10 times larger than what is currently seen. "In an optimistic case, AI-driven productivity could lift growth by about 1% a year over the next decade, increasing global growth to 4.5%," they say.(jessica.coacci@wsj.com)
0911 ET - A coalition of US digital companies asks the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee to aggressively champion a proposed bill in Congress that compels the USTR to investigate Canada's online streaming rules, and if required, respond with retaliatory tariffs. The group, known as the Streaming Innovation Alliance, says the decision by Canadian regulators to sharply raise a levy on U.S. streamers' domestic revenue to fund local programming represents "regressive, unaffordable and discriminatory" policy. "Coordinated, unified legislative and executive branch activity is needed to stop Canada from furthering this harmful, costly attack on US innovators... and to deter other nations from following suit," the alliance says in a letter to House and Ways committee chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). (paul.vieira@wsj.com, @paulvieira)
0844 ET - The National Foreign Trade Council follows in the footsteps of the powerful Hollywood lobby group, Motion Picture Association, in condemning Canada's decision to roughly triple the financial contributions that US streaming firms are obligated to make to fund local programming. At the same time, Canada's broadcast regulator is scaling back contributions from domestic broadcasters. The council says a hike to 15% of Canadian revenue is "based on extremely prescriptive and onerous criteria, [and] is incendiary." The DC-based council urges the Trump administration to take action to get Canada to repeal its policy. "Canada risks exacerbating the strains in our bilateral relationship. It is the wrong policy at the wrong time." (paul.vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)
0821 ET - Lightspeed Commerce's F1Q outlook "was optically disappointing to the Street," RBC says in a note, because the implications from the Upserve divestiture weren't likely baked in. Nevertheless, analyst Daniel Perlin thinks Lightspeed is now ready to take advantage of a positive mix shift to faster growing markets, which now account for about 75% of total revenues, and likely reaching around 80% by the end of FY27. He says this "should help drive revenue acceleration throughout the year, as FY27 guidance is F2H weighted." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 22, 2026 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)
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