The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1305 ET - The debut of OpenAI and Broadcom's co-developed Jalapeño AI chip signals a shift toward AI labs developing their own hardware and infrastructure, Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan says in a CNBC interview. "It validates very well the business model we put in place, which is simply that every model maker--LLM frontier model developer--will eventually go towards designing, building their own silicon, compute capacity, compute development, simply because they can do it much better," Tan says. The full-stack approach chosen by OpenAI, Tan adds, has led to a chip that is "superb" for its purposes.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1257 ET - Nike's announcement from last night, regarding plans to bring on a new finance chief, came as a surprise given the athleticwear brand is set to report quarterly results next week, BNP Paribas analyst Laurent Vasilescu says. "This would suggest to us that the calendar 2026 guide will likely be cut next week and Matt Friend will be on the call to deliver the bad news," Vasilescusays in a note. If Nike lowers its initial calendar-year forecast, it would mark the fifth annual guidance cut under Friend's tenure, Vasilescu says. He expects Nike to guide for revenue down mid-single digits for the year, compared with its prior forecast for a low single-digit decline. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1256 ET - The Jalapeño AI chip developed by OpenAI and Broadcom is a step up in efficiency, OpenAI President Greg Brockman says in a CNBC interview. The chip was designed using OpenAI's models and is purpose-built for inference, the process of AI models making predictions based on new data, he says. "This is a real performance improvement, on performance per watt, in terms of performance per dollar," Brockman says. "For a fixed amount of intelligence, for a fixed model, it is so much more performant. But also it means we're going to be able to serve much more intelligence models, much more broadly at scale." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1253 ET - JPMorgan raises its S&P 500 year-end price target to 7,800, joining a host of positive revisions among other analysts. The JPMorgan analysts say they started the year constructive on equities, but should have been even more positive on the outlook for S&P 500 earnings growth. Consensus estimates for both 2026 and 2027 have been upgraded about 10% so far this year, they say. "This type of positive revision is unprecedented and is typically seen only after a shock or post-recession," the analysts say. In this case, the market took a hit during the last earnings season, when companies raised capital expenditures budgets, followed by Anthropic announcing its new AI model in April, which confirmed the viability of AI services, the analysts say. "Against this backdrop, and with the US/Iran working towards a peace deal, we are approaching our 'Blue Sky' scenario," the analysts say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1226 ET - Cerebras remains polarizing, eliciting strong opinions on both sides, Morgan Stanley analysts say in a research note. While the chip company characterizes its total addressable market as all of inference, the analysts see it as having only a slice of the market. Granted, though, the company has a lead in that market, with contracts in place to drive significant revenue, they add. "While the need to build out cloud capacity has some risks, we see evidence in these numbers that the company has been conservative in projecting the ramp," the analysts write. "With demand exceeding supply, and no major supply bottlenecks, we see room for material upside." Shares of Cerebras sink 16%, after the company projected narrower profit margins. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1208 ET - Take-Two Interactive Software promises "Grand Theft Auto VI" will be the biggest, most immersive evolution of the series yet. It will also be the most expensive. Pre-orders for the hotly anticipated game will go live Thursday with a price tag of $79.99, about $20 more than "Grand Theft Auto V" cost when it debuted in 2013. An upgraded version of the latest entry will also be available -- "The Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition," costing $99.99 and featuring what Take-Two calls an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel and action. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1205 ET - Swatch Group is no longer trading at the same level it was earlier in the year, reducing its appeal as a deep-value opportunity, Bernstein analysts say in a research note. The broader watch market, amid uneven export trends and slowing momentum, also calls for caution, the analysts say. Concerns persist over Swatch's operational efficiency and inventory management, they say. Nevertheless, the Swiss watchmaker is showing signs of improvement, supported by a gradual recovery in Chinese demand and the success of the AP x Swatch collaboration, they say. The analysts downgrade their recommendation to market perform from outperform, but raise their price target to 200 Swiss francs from 180 francs. Shares closed at 202.9 francs. (nina.kienle@wsj.com)
1147 ET - Shares of Strategy's perpetual preferred stock STRC - which stands for "Short Duration High Yield Credit" - are off from their $100 peg, at $83.84. Behind this slide is the lower bitcoin prices, with Strategy currently sitting on an unrealized loss of nearly $11 billion. STRC fell as low as $82.53 last week, which is a record-low for the offering. "The main issue is cash coverage," says analysts with CryptoQuant in a note. "Strategy's USD reserve has fallen 38% since the start of 2026, while annualized dividend obligations have nearly quadrupled to $1.2 billion." The cryptocurrency market fears a scenario where Strategy dumps a sizable portion of their bitcoin holdings, as the company says that it holds 847,363 bitcoin -- roughly 4% of all bitcoin in circulation. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1058 ET - Recent Canadian CPI data may be signaling that wireless carriers are showing some discipline in pricing. TD Cowen's Vince Valentini says in a note that wireless prices fell 2.6% year-over-year, but rose 5.9% month-over-month, "which is consistent with the competitive intensity that is suggested with our channel checks," showing that discipline has been "maintained so far through June." Still, Valentini says bigger test for the industry will come later as the industry works to sustain profitable growth through the end of 2026, given "volume growth from immigration may not pick up for another year." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1048 ET - Gulf stocks mostly fall as weaker oil prices weigh on regional sentiment, says Aqib E. Mehboob, head of research at Saudi-based BSF Capital. Dollar strength is also affecting markets through global risk appetite, foreign flows and funding conditions, he says. Oil prices are tumbling on signs that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is recovering. Qatar's QE Index falls 0.8%, while Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index and Abu Dhabi's benchmark index each lose 0.3%. The Dubai Financial Market General Index rises 0.1%. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)
1036 ET - The sudden departure of Dye & Durham CEO George Tsivin adds to a prolonged period of turnover as the embattled cloud-based legal practice management software company continues its strategic review and search for a buyer. The board has handed executive duties to a three-member committee that includes Tyler Proud, the company's activist cofounder who recently rejoined the board through OneMove Capital's settlement with the company. The shift further concentrates operational oversight among directors aligned with recent governance changes, including Chair Mary Filippelli. The board's new leadership says the company must tighten discipline and execution as it weighs steps to simplify the business and shore up its balance sheet. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
0927 ET - London mining shares tumble as gold prices fall below $4,000 a troy ounce for the first time since November 2025. Market expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes drag on the non-yielding yellow metal, while a stronger dollar is weighing on gold prices as it raises the cost of buying for foreign buyers. A sharp fall in silver prices is also dragging miners. New York gold futures drop 4% to $3,984.40 a troy ounce, while silver futures drop 5.9% to $58.38 an ounce. Losses for London-listed Hochschild deepened throughout the trading day, with shares down over 9% in afternoon trade to a six-month low. Silver miner Fresnillo drops 5.1%, while Endeavour Mining--which specializes in West African gold--tumbles 5.25%. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2026 13:05 ET (17:05 GMT)
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