The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1617 ET - IBM's lowered full-year guidance -- projecting constant currency revenue growth between 4% and 5% -- is meant to give investors confidence in the company's growth despite headwinds in its mainframe business, CFO Jim Kavanaugh says in an interview. "We anchor it on the low end, to give confidence to the Street on our earnings and our cash," he says. "At the high end, it obviously provides upside and we're going to maintain the investment flexibility so we continue to invest for the long term in this company." Kavanaugh adds that IBM is seeing signals that buyer behavior is changing from the difficult second-quarter, calling the demand profile "extremely strong" for the back half of the year. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1518 ET - Super Micro Computer's move to sharply boost its gross margin outlook isn't just a good sign for the server company, Wedbush Securities analysts say in a note. The updated guidance also offers an encouraging signal for other server players like Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the analysts say, so long as it was driven by strong AI server demand that outpaced supply. The analysts say that if Super Micro's raised forecast is in fact a result of scarce supply that allowed it to sell at higher prices, those other players should benefit from the same dynamics. Shares of Dell were recently up 9.6%, while HPE shares rise 3.5%. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1506 ET - Bitcoin is down 0.8% to $65,884 -- hitting resistance at $66k to $68k and potentially unwinding further, says analysts with Bitfinex in a note. That's because spot trading volume is light meaning that there's little underpinning the current rally. "The recovery appears to be driven primarily by derivatives positioning and a lack of sellers rather than an influx of fresh capital," says Bitfinex. Data from Deribit shows a spike in calls around $70k to $72k, the majority dated for July 31. Light volumes could result in extreme choppiness in reaction to some sort of event, says Bitfinex. "A market that climbs on thin participation can travel quickly in either direction, because there is little resting liquidity to absorb a shift in flow," the firm says. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1254 ET - Philip Morris International is hoping more countries will follow in the footsteps of the U.S. to make smoke-free products like Zyn more widely used, Chief Executive Jacek Olczak says on CNBC. During 2Q, the tobacco company got permission from the Food and Drug Administration to market Zyn in the U.S. as less harmful than cigarettes. He says he hopes other countries will make similar decisions so the company can sell and market Zyn more aggressively in other parts of the world. The Philip Morris smoke-free business, which includes nicotine pouches such as Zyn, has grown in recent quarters and now makes up 42% of total sales. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1247 ET - When asked about the risk posed by SpaceX's Starlink, AT&T CEO John Stankey says his company is in a good spot. "There are going to be new competitors, and there are going to be folks who come in, but the reality is, they're coming to the game very late after this industry has been established," he says during an appearance on CNBC. New players will have to catch up with substantial amounts of infrastructure investment that's been going on for decades, he says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1236 ET - Moncler's results might disappoint investors and push the stock to its recurring summer seasonal lull, Bernstein analysts write in a research note. The Italian high-end fashion company reported second-quarter sales of 409.3 million euros, up 5% on year on a constant currency basis. The company's namesake brand recorded a quarterly increase in sales of 3%, missing revised down sell-side expectations of a 5.1% rise, the analysts say. The company suffered from lower spending from tourists during the quarter, the brokerage says. Shares closed at 51.40 euros. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)
1223 ET - EasyJet shares fall close to 12% on a report the European Union is preparing a review of airline ownership rules, putting the airline's proposed takeover at risk. The review will look to prevent foreign investors from gaining controlling stakes in European carriers, according to an unnamed EU official cited by Reuters. EasyJet approved a 5.7 billion pound offer from U.S. private-equity group Apollo Global Management earlier this month, after previously backing a lower bid from Apollo's American peer Castlelake. Shares in the budget airline fell as much as 15% following the publication of the Reuters story, before paring losses slightly. The stock closed at 5.85 pounds, a steep discount to Apollo's 7.15 pound a share offer. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
1221 ET - Cruise lines might have a shakier outlook than investors have believed, Deutsche Bank analysts say. Investors have been confident about the cruise sector because they believe companies haven't met their full potential and demand is consistently strong. However, the analysts think hotel revenue per available room is poised to outperform cruises' performance. Hotels have been adding fewer rooms, creating less supply. Meanwhile, cruises have had to rely more on discounting and increased marketing to drive growth, the analysts say. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1215 ET - Collectibles like trading cards and memorabilia are gaining steam, potentially at the expense of Nike, UBS analysts say in a note. The sports collectibles market increased 55% to $32.5 billion last year from 2020, the analysts say, forecasting that strong growth will likely continue. The industry may be absorbing some of the attention and dollars that Nike's "sneakerhead" fans previously put toward its coveted, limited-availability sneakers, the analysts say. "Sneakerheads have historically been Nike's best brand advocates. If Nike is losing this audience, it could make it much more difficult for Nike to engineer a turnaround," they say. Still, the collectibles boom could also be an opportunity for Nike if it can find a way to offer unique trading cards or collectibles, they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1205 ET - The simplest way to characterize today's labor market is that it remains stuck in second gear, EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco says. "While conditions appear stable on the surface, there is little evidence of renewed momentum," Daco's note says. Labor demand remains highly selective amid structural labor supply constraints stemming from demographics and lower net migration, he says. Meanwhile, businesses continue to seek the right talent with the right skills at the right price, resulting in restrained hiring, selective layoffs and continued moderation in wage growth. (jessica.coacci@wsj.com)
1147 ET - Investors question if the rules for bitcoin have changed, says Zach Pandl with Grayscale in a note Wednesday. There's two ways to evaluate how bitcoin has moved, he says. One is using the so-called "four-year cycle" -- a pattern persistent since the early days of bitcoin- where prices typically rise ahead of and after bitcoin experiences a "halving". A "halving" is when rewards from a mined bitcoin block are cut in half from their prior amount. The last halving happened in 2024, reducing the reward per mined block to 3.125 BTC. Pandl notes that bitcoin may not be moving along that cycle anymore, instead moving more like a typical asset. "If macro factors are in the driver's seat, bitcoin's price could bottom when these macro factors turn around," says Pandl. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1145 ET - Super Micro Computer's recent business update--in which it sharply raised its gross margin outlook for the quarter--provides a much-need reprieve, given recent headlines regarding export circumvention to China in May, and the more recent announcement of the detention of four employees related to an investigation in early July by Taiwanese authorities, Raymond James analysts say in a research note. The analysts are encouraged by the company's recent momentum, but they opt to leave their estimates unchanged until they hear more. "We suspect supply constraints around memory and other components will remain bottlenecks in the immediate term, and the timing around revenue recognition remains uncertain." (connor.hart@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 22, 2026 16:17 ET (20:17 GMT)
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