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.
1138 ET - Apple looks like it will continue to buck a slowdown among its smartphone competitors, Citi analysts say in a note. The company has a strong foothold in the mid-range price segment through promotions and subsidies, and its premium brand and loyal customer base should limit any pressure on demand as it raises some prices to offset higher component prices, the analysts say. The company will likely keep gaining market share as a result, the analysts say, while they forecast the smartphone and personal computer market to decline at a mid- to high-teens rate.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1111 ET - The market's jitters around Netflix are excessive heading into the company's quarterly earnings, Oppenheimer analysts say in a note. Investors have concerns over weaker viewership, but the company has a stronger content slate set for the second half with 104 releases versus 95 in the same period a year earlier, which should allow viewing to accelerate. Wall Street's fears over churn are also overblown, the analysts say, citing a survey that suggests far more Netflix subscribers are watching more versus less compared to six months ago, even if some ad-supported subscribers have downgraded their subscriptions. Taking those factors into account, the analysts say the stock is likely oversold. They lower their price target to $100 from $120, noting a near-term headwind from lower advertising monetization. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1048 ET - Bitcoin managed to stay rangebound last week, between the $62,000 to $64,000 range, according to data from CoinGlass. That's even with ongoing concerns surrounding the global inflation picture and bitcoin's viability amid sales of bitcoin announced by Strategy, owner of the largest bitcoin treasury in the world. "Bitcoin was tested from every direction last week," says analysts with Bitfinex, noting that the relatively narrow range that bitcoin traded at should be encouraging for investors. That said, the sentiment around inflation globally looks to keep bitcoin's movement to the upside limited, says the firm. Bitcoin is down 2.6% to $62,496. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0849 ET - Spreads on dollar-denominated credit widened last week, mainly due to increased credit supply, BNP Paribas strategists say in a note. Heavy debt issuance by massive cloud service providers, or hyperscalers, caused a widening in dollar investment-grade credit spreads, the strategists say. Focus will be on further corporate guidance on AI-linked capital expenditure, the strategists say. BNP Paribas strategists have an underweight recommendation on hyperscaler credit. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
0844 ET - Siltronic's path to a meaningful earnings recovery would require a broad-based shift in pricing and volumes, MWB Research's Abed Jarad says in a research note. The German manufacturer of semiconductor wafers hasn't shown any material change since the first quarter, the analyst says. However, Jarad expects a sequential improvement in both sales and the Ebitda margin in the second quarter. Additionally, the company's reluctance to lock in long-term business at current spot prices seems like a positive sign that management expects pricing and bargaining power to improve, the analyst adds. Shares trade 5.25% higher at 94.2 euros. (nina.kienle@wsj.com)
0729 ET - Bitcoin falls as U.S. stock futures decline amid renewed weakness in artificial intelligence stocks and a new round of attacks between the U.S. and Iran. "A late rally for cryptocurrencies last week has failed to push on into the new week, a reflection of broader risk-off concerns in global markets," IG analyst Chris Turner says in a note. Crypto markets faces a repeat of May's selloff if the positive momentum over the past two weeks fades, he says. A full-blown resumption of hostilities in the Middle East wouldn't help matters, he says. Bitcoin falls 1.7% to $63,049, LSEG data show. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
0654 ET - French billionaire Xavier Niel's purchase of a 16.2% stake in Vodafone could prompt investors with short positions to reconsider their strategy, Citi's Carl Murdock-Smith writes in a note. Niel agreed to buy e&'s entire stake in the U.K. telecommunications company for around 4.4 billion pounds in cash through his Vega acquisition vehicle. Investors would likely want to know what level of representation Niel is seeking on the board of directors, Murdock-Smith says. Investors will also look at what happened at Tele2 after a Niel investment vehicle became the largest shareholder in 2024, which included a 15% workforce reduction plan, when considering what to expect, the analyst adds. Shares in Vodafone are up 4.5% at 1.15 pounds. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0643 ET - SK Hynix's American depositary receipts may continue to trade at a premium over its Seoul-listed shares, says James Ooi of Tiger Brokers. "Companies with both U.S. and home-market listings often trade at a premium in the U.S., benefiting from broader investor access, deeper liquidity and stronger valuation support," he writes. Arbitrage is also made more difficult, as the conversion of South Korean shares into ADRs appears less straightforward than the reverse, the market strategist says. He notes SK Hynix's strong Nasdaq debut amid enthusiasm for AI and memory chip makers, with the offering oversubscribed several times. For investors seeking exposure to high bandwidth memory, SK Hynix could be a new U.S.-listed alternative to Micron, Ooi adds. (farah.elias@wsj.com)
0607 ET - Tencent's stronger AI investment commitment and improved chip supply lead Daiwa to raise its 2026 capital expenditure forecast for the internet company to 181 billion yuan from 108 billion yuan. Daiwa analysts caution that the higher expected capex could weigh on near- and medium-term earnings through higher depreciation. However, it should also enable faster cloud expansion and AI demand monetization from 2H, they say in a research note. Tencent has made solid AI product deployment progress recently, but revenue from these productivity tools remains immaterial, with monetization still at an early stage and largely offset by rising training and inference costs, the analysts note. Daiwa lowers Tencent's target price to HK$670.00 from HK$700.00. Shares fall 0.6% to HK$457.60. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0551 ET - Coding remains the clearest path for improvements in model intelligence, according to UBS's Wei Xiong in a research note. Coding is the core capability underpinning model intelligence, the China internet securities analyst says. This is due to its "relatively verifiable" outcomes and the abundance of training data available, the analyst says. The adoption of artificial intelligence in model research and development could, in return, accelerate model iterations. This could allow top-tier models to "reinforce their leadership," Xiong says. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
0548 ET - Deutsche Telekom appears to be a strong company from an operational perspective but lingering concerns are weighing on its stock price, Citi's Carl Murdock-Smith writes in a note. The German telecommunications company's second-quarter results are likely to reflect strong growth in T-Mobile US with a slightly better performance in Germany compared to the first quarter, he says. "However, fears about LEO satellite constellations, and specifically Starlink, becoming a direct mobile service provider and press reports of a potential DT/TMUS merger, have combined to drive recent share price underperformance," he adds. DT is due to publish its second-quarter results on Aug. 6. Shares are up 2.4% at 26.76 euros. ( najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0424 ET - Shares of European semiconductor companies started the week in the red following SK Hynix's Nasdaq debut last week. While the South Korean chip maker's American depository receipts closed nearly 13% higher on Friday in New York, investors sold off the stock in Seoul on Monday. SK Hynix shares closed more than 15% lower, weighing on semiconductor stocks in Europe. Shares of Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker ASML Holding and smaller rival ASM International are down 1.6% and 2%, respectively. German chip maker Infineon Technologies is down 2.3%. STMicroelectronics shares are down 1.1%. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 13, 2026 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)
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