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.
1458 ET - A settlement between Apple and the Department of Justice over allegations of antitrust law violations would likely help Apple in Europe, TD Cowen analyst Paul Gallant says in a note following a Bloomberg report that the DOJ and Apple are engaged in settlement talks. Despite the risk of angering President Trump, European regulators are pressing the company on App Store commission levels, emboldened by similar scrutiny from U.S. courts, Gallant says. "But if/when DOJ settles, we think that will slow or stop the EC's downward pressure on Apple's European commissions via carrying lower-priced app stores or actually lowering its commission levels due to fears of Trump retaliation," he says. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1441 ET - Investors will likely focus on the pace of Tesla's robotaxi deployment when the company reports 2Q results slated for next week, according to Bank of America in a note. Tesla missed an original target of having robotaxis in nine cities by the first half of this year, with operations in five markets and four others in preparation, analysts Alexander Perry and Jack Joyce say. The Texas fleet is scaling quickly, they say, but their analysis of San Francisco robotaxis indicates that demand is still outpacing supply. They are bullish on Tesla's long-term opportunity in robotaxis, which are expected to be "the most significant change agent in the Auto 2.0 landscape, offering consumers more time, safer travel, and more accessible transportation." Tesla is off 2.5%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1122 ET - Raymond James analysts expect Netflix to soon benefit from efforts to lay the groundwork in two emerging business areas: gaming and AI. In video games, Netflix's FIFA game launch around the World Cup was its most successful to date, and its monthly active players for cloud games have grown by 11 times since last October, the analysts say. The company seems to be focused on growing its cloud offering rather than figuring out ways to play in other areas of the gaming ecosystem, they say. Meanwhile, in AI, Netflix called out production benefits and fast scaling across creative processes, noting generative AI workflows have been used in more than 300 titles to date, they say. That commentary all seems to show "that pieces are in place for more meaningful contributions," the analysts say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1112 ET - Netflix's disclosure that it plans to publish its engagement report on an annual basis, rather than semiannually, only compounds a slew of disappointing news it delivered in 2Q results, Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos says in a note. The move is likely to perpetuate investor worries that engagement is worsening, Kurnos says, although viewing hours were still up 2% in the first half of the year. "Things may get interesting now that the company looks like they have ripped off the band-aid," Kurnos says. All-in-all the analyst calls the results a "pedestrian 2Q26 print" with a narrowed revenue range and a reiteration of full-year margin expectations despite easier comparisons in 2H and a strong start to the year. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1103 ET - Netflix has the right strategy, but it will take awhile to bear fruit, Wedbush Securities analysts say in a note after the company reported underwhelming results and guidance. The analysts say they are optimistic that Netflix's advertising ramp, layered with games, podcasts and eventually performance marketing, will result in materially greater profit and free cash flow. "We just think it takes longer, with more noise, to see confirmed," they say. "This is less a change in conviction on the destination, but rather an admission that it's a longer runway to the next growth spike." The analysts lower their price target to $105 from $118. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1049 ET - Netflix's latest report shows concerns about declining engagement are somewhat overblown, given that total view hours grew 2% year-over-year in 1H, according to Morgan Stanley in a research note. That's a relief compared with fears that overall engagement would be flat-to-down, particularly with the competitive impact of the Winter Olympics in 1Q and the World Cup in 2Q, analysts Sean Diffley and Daniel Duran say. No single piece of content represented more than 1% of total engagement hours, which showcases the company's scale and diversification, the analysts add. (dean.seal@wsj.com)
0647 ET - Tech Mahindra's 1Q results were a strong beat, with revenue growing ahead of expectations and EBIT margins expanding for the 11th consecutive quarter, HDFC Securities says in a note. Analysts Amit Chandra and Vinesh Vala think the Indian IT services company is on course to reach its 15% EBIT margin target in FY 2027. They also note its confidence in delivering above-industry growth, underpinned by investments in AI, deep vertical capabilities and marquee partnerships. Factoring in the robust performance and strong visibility, HDFC Securities raises its target price on the stock to 1,650.00 rupees from 1,500.00 rupees, keeping an add rating on the stock. Shares end 3.9% higher at 1,570.50 rupees. (farah.elias@wsj.com)
0635 ET - Netflix remains a powerhouse as the world's largest streamer but investors don't seem impressed by its foray into advertising and video games, XTB's Kathleen Brooks writes in a note. "This seems like a move back towards the legacy TV model, and far from the innovative tech giant that Netflix was once heralded as," she says. However, the U.S. streaming giant is making progress in artificial intelligence, already using the technology in more than 300 titles, mainly in postproduction, she notes. This could reduce Netflix's content costs, but for now the company has increased its content budget for this year, she adds. Netflix shares are down 9.1% premarket. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0617 ET - TSMC's gross margin outlook remains resilient, Citi analysts say in a research note. With 2Q gross margin reaching 67.7%, advanced technologies already accounting for 77% of wafer revenue, and 2-nanometer chips contributing revenue for the first time, TSMC remains well-positioned to sustain industry-leading profitability, the analysts say. TSMC's pricing discipline also preserves long-term customer relationships, they add. More importantly, management repeatedly emphasized that artificial-intelligence demand has become even stronger than previously expected and it sees increasing AI demand with agentic AI adding CPU demand on top of accelerators. Citi maintains its buy rating on TSMC and keeps its target price at 3,800 New Taiwan dollars. Shares last ended at NT$2,290. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0547 ET - Netflix's guidance raises fresh concerns among investors about the company's growth prospects, AJ Bell's Russ Mould writes in a note. The U.S. streaming giant said that it expects revenue and profit growth to slow in the third quarter. "[...] the third-quarter forecast implies the weakest revenue growth in three years and just feeds into concerns about competition and the long-term strategy following its failed attempt to buy Warner Bros Discovery," Mould says. While Netflix might have made its name through streaming, the company is operating as a traditional television network in some areas of its business, and advertising is becoming an increasingly significant portion of its revenue as the number of subscribers to its ad-supported service grows, he notes. This provides an extra source of income, but one that could prove to be more volatile, he adds. Netflix shares are down 9.4% premarket. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0545 ET - TSMC's higher full-year revenue and capital expenditure guidance should ease concerns about the durability of AI demand and supply-chain bottlenecks, Morningstar analyst Phelix Lee says in a note. TSMC sees the AI semiconductor market moving beyond GPUs to include CPUs, custom AI ASICs, networking chips and others, as the ecosystem becomes much more diversified. TSMC also closely tracks customers' AI infrastructure build-outs, including power, site construction and deployment schedules, before committing capacity to ensure its chips won't turn into idle inventories. Lee reckons TSMC's higher capex guidance is a response to hyperscalers raising their 2027 budgets. Meanwhile, TSMC's confidence in expansion without bottlenecks is likely due to supplier ASML's plans to increase capacity by 30% in 2027 and another 30% in 2028, he says. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0530 ET - Moonshot AI's new model release shows competitive leadership becoming increasingly transient, according to BofA Securities in a research note. Moonshot's Kimi K3 nearly tripled parameter scale, compared with its K2 model. AI system parameters' count is a shorthand for a model's capabilities. "For Alibaba, while it benefits from broad AI training/usage growth for its cloud service given tight compute environment, Alibaba Qwen's 'open-source leader' narrative may face some tests," the analysts say. It also adds pressure to other independent AI labs, such as Z.AI and MiniMax, BofA says. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 17, 2026 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments