The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1315 ET - Bitcoin proxy Strategy Inc., which holds roughly 4% of the total circulating bitcoin supply, continues to pressure prices. Bitcoin is up 1.3% to $60,106 currently, but at this level Strategy is sitting on an unrealized loss of billions for its bitcoin pile. Their treasury sits at 847,363 BTC, averaging $75,651 a coin. As of now, Strategy sits on a loss of $13 billion -- a factor for preferred stock offering STRC finding a new low of $71.25. "The market is reading it as a signal of broader fragility," says James Butterfill of CoinShares in a note. He calls Strategy's holdings not a "systemic risk" to bitcoin prices, but sentiment is still that a potential failure of the company could become a 'contagion' for them. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1247 ET - ON Semiconductor's plan to acquire Synaptics in an all-stock deal valued around $7 billion represents a strategic pivot that "leaves us scratching our head," Truist analysts write in a note. They had previously seen the company as focused on increasing its exposure to the artificial-intelligence data-center industry, but this move signals a shift toward providing integrated edge AI systems. "While we see the potential for this combination to achieve accelerated sales growth (by cross-selling and levering channel scale & scope) and higher margins (through elimination of overlapping expenses and some manufacturing integration), it still feels like a pivot away from Datacenter," the analysts write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1246 ET - ON Semiconductor's acquisition of Synaptics will expand its total addressable market by $30 billion, Chief Executive Officer Hassane El-Khoury says in a CNBC interview, adding that it prepares the company to move beyond just supplying components for artificial-intelligence data centers and toward providing integrated systems for physical AI. Despite data centers remaining a growth market, El-Khoury says the market is heading toward autonomous vehicles, industrial robots, and humanoid robots. Synaptics supplies an "AI-centric compute platform" that supports these systems and complements ON Semiconductor's existing offerings, he says. Shares of ON Semicondcutor fall 23%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1201 ET - Roth analysts are optimistic that the struggling beer industry could get further relief ahead. Both on-premise and off-premise beer volume trends have improved in the first two weeks of the World Cup compared with the weeks prior, the analysts say. They forecast that lift will continue throughout the tournament, and get further momentum with festivities celebrating America's 250th birthday as well as lower fuel prices. Still, the industry isn't out of the woods yet, they caution. The analysts say they "still encourage investors to rely more heavily on relative performance (i.e. the top brands) rather than count on the category to lift all boats." (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1159 ET - People bought more beer at venues like bars, restaurants and stadiums in the first two weeks of the World Cup, especially in Massachusetts, where Scottish soccer fans helped boost on-premise beer volumes up about 28% from a year ago, Roth analysts say in a note. The state led the way among the U.S.'s nine host cities, which together posted on-premise beer volume growth of more than 15%, the analysts say. The metric rose 5.5% in the U.S. overall, they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1142 ET - BlackBerry's latest results show a company shifting from "turnaround skepticism to a cleaner beat-and-raise/re-rate setup," says CIBC's Todd Coupland. Both QNX and Secure Communications growing more than 20% in a seasonally soft quarter, and showing real operating leverage, signals a business entering a different phase, the analyst says in a report. He calls FY2027 a potential "step-change in growth, operating leverage and value creation," and says rising QNX backlog, a stronger pipeline, and the optionality of Alloy Kore and general embedded management design wins justify assigning QNX a higher sales multiple. Shares have tripled this year.(adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1132 ET - Over $1 billion in hedge fund capital has left bitcoin ETFs this week alone, according to data from Coinglass. From Monday through Thursday, bitcoin ETFs saw $1.34 billion in net outflows -- coinciding with a 6.6% drop in bitcoin prices since the start of the week. The cryptocurrency briefly rose back above $60,000 today, but pared some of those gains, now up 0.3% to $59,521, according to LSEG data. Ethereum is flat to $1,558, and XRP is up 0.5% to $1.04. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1121 ET - Krones looks well-positioned to deliver profitable growth despite a challenging economic backdrop, MWB Research analyst Thomas Wissler says in a research note. The German manufacturer of packaging and bottling machines has an extensive global service network that is a key competitive advantage and generates recurring revenue, Wissler says. The analyst expects steady growth in global packaging demand to support long-term performance. Krones's efforts to diversify production beyond Germany is also strengthening its supply-chain resilience while reducing costs and geopolitical risks, the analyst adds. Krones combines resilient end-market demand with disciplined cost management and international expansion, supporting confidence in its long-term growth strategy, he adds. Shares trade 2.1% lower at 111.6 euros. (nina.kienle@wsj.com)
1036 ET - KeyBanc downgrades Nike to sector weight on worries the company's turnaround is proving slower than expected. The brokerage points to lingering weakness in China and Europe, tougher competition from emerging athletic brands and another management shakeup as reasons to stay on the sidelines.While Nike has made progress rebuilding wholesale relationships and running its business, KeyBanc says investors may need to wait for a planned Investor Day before gaining confidence that the recovery is on firmer footing. The firm says that Nike still trades at a premium to peers despite the uncertain outlook. (anvee.bhutani@wsj.com)
0954 ET - The Bank of Japan could intervene in the currency market to shore up the yen if upcoming U.S. nonfarm payrolls data are strong, ING's Francesco Pesole says in a note. The data are due Thursday before Friday's U.S. public holiday for Independence Day, which will offer slightly lower liquidity, he says. Robust data would potentially support Federal Reserve interest-rate rise expectations, possibly lifting the dollar versus the yen and prompting fresh interventions. ING expects the Fed to keep rates steady, which could make interventions more effective, he says. The dollar falls 0.1% to 161.62 yen, having reached a near two-year high of 161.94 Thursday, LSEG data show. ING sees 162-163 as the new area for triggering interventions. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
0943 ET - Entain's partial exit from its Central and Eastern European joint venture could help to improve its valuation, Shore Capital's Greg Johnson writes in a note. The sports-betting and gambling group, which houses British gambling brands Ladbrokes and Coral, agreed to sell a 20% stake in its Central and Eastern European unit to joint-venture partner EMMA Capital for around 425 million euros in cash. The analyst notes that Entain's modest valuation indicators have long raised questions, partly given the diversified nature of its revenue streams. However, "divestment is one step towards unwinding the valuation anomaly, although execution on medium term targets, including organic growth and cash flow, will likely be the greatest driver to a rerating," he adds. Shares are down 1.4% at 5.61 pounds. ( najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0851 ET - Rail freight traffic from the U.S. continues to recover from last year's slump when the trade war between the countries kicked off. Statistics Canada data shows freight tonnage arriving from the U.S. jumped 14.7% on-year in April to 3.8 million tons, matching the five-year average for the month. In 2023 and 2024, freight loadings from U.S. rail connections in Canada represented an average 12% of total rail tonnage each month, but this fell to an average 10.4% in 2025. The proportion has edged up this year, averaging 10.9% in the first quarter and then 11.4% in April, the data agency notes. (robb.stewart@wsj.com; @RobbMStewart)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2026 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)
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