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.
0801 GMT - China Unicom's move to suspend dividends in 1H is likely to weigh on its stock's appeal, says DBS Group Research in commentary. The telecommunications service provider had a 0.2841 yuan dividend per share in 1H 2025, but didn't declare a dividend for the same period this year. The stock is largely held for its yield, and this likely came across as a negative surprise, the DBS analysts say. Meanwhile, its 1H profit declined 35% from a year earlier, missing market expectations, DBS adds. The dividend suspension and greater need for earnings recovery in 2H has weakened its near-term investment case, the analysts say. DBS is reviewing buy rating and 8.70 Hong Kong dollar target price. Shares plunge 13% to HK$5.475. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0550 GMT - T&S Communications' business prospects appear bright despite 2Q gross margin pressure, say Nomura analysts Bing Duan and Ethan Zhang. Rising shipments of high-end optical transceivers and growing adoption of technologies such as near-field packing and co-packaged optics are likely growth drivers, they say in a note. Despite competition, T&S could benefit from an undersupplied high-end optical connector market, potentially supporting sequential growth in 2H 2026 and 2027. The recent pullback in shares also makes the stock more attractive, it says. Nomura upgrades the stock to buy from neutral, and raises target price to 231.50 yuan from CNY138. Shares are down 7.8% at CNY183.86. (venkat.pr@wsj.com)
0540 GMT - Baidu is likely to face near-term headwinds, according to Nomura analysts in a research note. The company's 2Q revenue came largely in line with low market expectations but adjusted net profit missed expectations, the analysts say. "Given the combination of elevated investments and weakening advertising revenues, we project operating profit margin to moderate further to 9% in the third quarter from 15% in the second quarter," they note. Investors will closely watch its upcoming chip unit listing. Nomura maintains its buy rating, but cuts the target price on its ADRs to US$154.00 from US$170.00. Its ADRs last traded at US$90.87.(tracy.qu@wsj.com)
0349 GMT - Baidu's slower AI cloud infrastructure revenue growth and net profit miss have weighed on its shares, Citi analysts say in a note. Beyond 2Q results, the lack of visibility on the spinoff progress of its AI chip unit also pressured shares, the analysts write. They point to management comments that the proposed listing process of Kunlunxin is continuing, without elaborating on the time frame. However, they note that management remains confident in Kunlunxin's long-term growth and commercial potential with strong AI compute demand. Citi sees Baidu's 3Q general revenue falling 1.5% on year and AI-powered revenue rising 29%. It cuts its ADR target price to $166.00 from $177.00 following the results. Baidu's ADRs end 13% lower; its Hong Kong-listed shares fall 12%. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0212 GMT - Frencken Group's earnings are likely to be stronger in 2H than in 1H, as orders will probably pick up in the semiconductor segment, RHB Research's Alfie Yeo says in a report. The technology company's volume production for some semiconductor programs are poised to ramp up in 2H, the analyst says. A key client is expected to increase orders following a strong outlook that includes opportunities to support its own customers' capacity-expansion plans. Frencken's backend customers are also bolstering production. RHB Research raises the stock's target price to 3.73 Singapore dollars from S$3.57, with an unchanged buy rating. Shares are 0.75% higher at S$2.69. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
1639 GMT - SoftBank's SB Energy saw a "very competitive process" play out for its 10-gigawatt data-center in Ohio before ultimately signing a deal with OpenAI, co-CEO Rich Hossfeld tells CNBC. SB Energy is serving as a developer for the project, which is expected to become one of the biggest AI hubs to date. It pitched leading hyperscalers, cloud providers and frontier AI labs, Hossfeld says, and received a lot of bids. "Thats emblematic of the demand we're seeing for compute," he says. A joint bid between OpenAI and Nvidia won out, Hossfeld says. OpenAI is paying the lease and Nvidia is the exclusive chip provider, he says. (dean.seal@wsj.com)
1457 GMT - Stocks in Abu Dhabi extend gains from the previous session, while Qatar stocks continue to fall, with their benchmark indices rising 0.2% and falling 0.5%, respectively. Abu Dhabi's relative strength looks constructive, supported by resilient earnings and its banking and telecom sectors, says Mazen Abou Ismail, head of trading desk at FFA Private Bank Dubai. Qatar remains more vulnerable given its exposure to regional energy and LNG-related risks, helping explain the continued weakness, he says. Geopolitics remains the main driver of GCC sentiment, but differences in fundamentals, valuations and liquidity are increasingly driving relative performance across markets, Abou Ismail says. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)
1455 GMT - Investors await Nvidia's earnings due to be released on Aug. 26 to provide insights on the strength and broadness of demand for AI, UBS Global Wealth Management's Mark Haefele says in a note. This comes as some investors worry about circular financing in the AI industry, Haefele says. Nvidia has teamed up with big financial institutions to create a financing package of over $500 billion for AI expenditure. This initiative "has raised questions about circularity when suppliers help finance purchases within their own ecosystem," Haefele says. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
1425 GMT - Much like bitcoin, ethereum has been locked in range-bound trading for much of the summer, but the range is thinning, on either side of $1,900. "It remains below the 200-day moving average, while resistance near $1,950 is still intact," says Bret Kenwell of eToro in a note. "Active traders may now be waiting for a break from this tightening range, with bulls seeking an upside breakout and bears watching for support to fail." Ethereum is down 0.3% to $1,899 currently, while bitcoin inches 0.1% lower to $64,281. Other major cryptocurrencies are mixed. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1023 GMT - Speculative bets on a rise in global semiconductor stocks are considered the most crowded trade followed by bets on a weaker Japanese yen, according to Bank of America's global fund manager survey for August. Some 53% of investors say long positions in global semiconductors--which expect these stocks to rise--is the most crowded trade, albeit down from last month's record high of 83%. Short yen positions, which bet on the currency falling, is considered the second most crowded trade with 12% of investors in favor of this view. This is followed closely by long Magnificent Seven, which includes major tech stocks such as Amazon, Apple and Tesla, with 11% of investors considering this the most crowded trade.
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