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.
1423 ET - Apple officially launches the iPhone Duo, its long-awaited, foldable iPhone model. The device has a wide inner display, allowing the simultaneous use of multiple apps, and folds into a roughly passport-sized device with an outer screen. The model represents the company's largest change yet to its iconic line of mobile phones, and is the thinnest iPhone to date when unfolded, Apple says at its fall product showcase. The phone also features Apple's new mobile chip, the A20 Pro. "iPhone Duo brings an entirely new design while preserving everything you love and expect from the iPhone," Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, says. The phone's pricing begins at $1,999, with preorders beginning on Oct. 16.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1356 ET - Digital banks such as Revolut and Monzo have the opportunity to gain market share from traditional banks, Morgan Stanley says in a note. The banks have been quick to grow deposits and accounts, the analysts say. However, incumbents continue to defend, and in some cases regain, market share. Some incumbents including JPMorgan and Santander have launched their own digital banks. True market disruption from digital banks requires very high rates, incumbent participation and regulatory pressure, the analysts say. Digital banks also have more room to grow in lending, particularly with mortgages. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1343 ET - A memecoin launched by Hunter Biden, called Hunter Biden's Laptop ($LAPTOP) initially jumped 200% in the first few minutes of its debut. It has since shed 98% of its value, and currently trades at $1.81 with a fully-diluted market cap around $1.76B, according to data from Coinbase via its Base app, which is where the coin was launched, according to WSJ. The coin debuted at 8 a.m, and was down 95% by 9 a.m., according to data from Base. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1339 ET - Apple announces a new computer chip that will power its iPhone 18 pro. The A20 Pro chip is built on 2-nanometer technology and features improved GPU, CPU, and two neural engines designed to handle on-device artificial-intelligence workloads. All told, the improvements have generated a 50% improvement in memory bandwidth, the widest it has ever shipped in an iPhone, the company says at its fall product showcase. Apple trades down 1.5%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1320 ET - Braze reported good 2Q numbers, but the company's 3Q guidance and decelerating backlog growth disappointed, Oppenheimer analysts write in a note. "Additionally, outsized growth in services revenue in FY27, combined with fears that AI spending will crowd out 2H software spending, raise concerns on subscription growth durability," the analysts add. Still, the market's negative reaction may overlook some important results, including improving margins and measures of profitability and sales productivity. "In our view, these developments suggest Braze's growth can reaccelerate post its customer conference in F3Q, and the AI ramp is not structurally margin-dilutive," the analysts write, maintaining their outperform rating. Shares tumble 19%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1204 ET - Bitcoin briefly dipped but rebounded, after the Treasury said it would buy up to $6 billion of longer-term debt at its Thursday buyback operation. The announcement sent bond yields higher with the 2-year yield now at 4.85%. Markets initially responded by moving money out of riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin which had been in positive territory before the announcement. Bitcoin is rising again, up 0.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1026 ET - Meta Platforms has unveiled Muse, a personal AI agent that aims to let people offload tasks such as booking appointments, filling out forms and monitoring home security camera feeds. Muse may mark the beginning of a substantial product cycle for Meta that isn't currently priced into the company's shares, Mizuho analysts say in a research note. The analysts found Muse's user experience to be significantly more consumer-focused than other AI engines, and they expect Muse to be a more serious contender for consumer usage than they had envisioned prior to launch, they write. "The single biggest hurdle for long-term investors, in our discussions, has been proving out the ROI on AI investment, and we believe the Muse app is a significant step in that direction," the analysts write. Meta shares are up 4.5%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
0917 ET - Robinhood could be in for a big boost when AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI go public, Mizuho analysts say in a note. The analysts highlight how SpaceX's IPO in June, and the elevated tech sentiment afterward, drove a roughly 24% month-over-month increase in equity volumes, and helped the company add about 1 million funded customers in 2Q, its biggest quarterly gain in almost five years. "If the post-SpaceX elevated retail trading environment were to repeat itself, the anticipated AI IPOs in October and in 2027 could meaningfully boost HOOD's trading volumes," the analysts say. They now forecast the company's 4Q equity volumes will increase about 50% year-over-year, up from their prior projection for 16% growth.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
0847 ET - Fortum's nuclear power deal with Google could have favorable implications not only for the Nordic energy company's valuation, but also the European data-center buildout story, Citi analyst Piotr Dzieciolowski writes. The deal has a long duration, is material in size, and looks to be priced at a substantial premium to current expected future wholesale prices, he says. Fortum and Google signed a 22-year power purchase agreement for 50% of the Loviisa nuclear power plant's capacity. The agreement will start in 2028 and will reach 50% of the Loviisa power plant's capacity in 2030-49. The volume linked to the deal is above 4 terawatt hours, which is about 9% of Fortum's current portfolio and 5% of Finnish demand, Citi adds. Shares rise 14%. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
0540 ET - Global chip foundry revenue is set to extend record growth in 3Q, driven by rising production of next-generation AI and high-performance computing chips, seasonal smartphone introductions and concerns over tighter mature-node capacity, TrendForce says. The world's top 10 foundries posted combined revenue of $53.5 billion in 2Q, up 11.5% sequentially. TSMC retains its dominance with a 72.5% market share, while Chinese chip maker SMIC narrowed the gap with Samsung after 2Q revenue surged 20% to more than $3 billion. SMIC's share rose to 5.4% from 5.0%, approaching Samsung's 5.9%, as demand strengthened for AI peripheral chips, server networking products and consumer electronics. Samsung's revenue rose 1.8%, but its market share slipped as rivals expanded at a faster clip, TrendForce says. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0446 ET - Liquid-crystal display panel prices are expected to remain broadly stable in the coming months as manufacturers maintain tight output controls despite sluggish end-market demand, according to a Morgan Stanley report. TV, monitor and laptop panel prices are forecast to stay flat on month in September, supported by seasonal restocking ahead of year-end promotions and planned maintenance shutdowns in China, the report says. While MS expects average TV panel prices to decline by a low-single-digit percentage in 3Q, it sees downside limited by disciplined industry supply management. The bank says demand for IT panels softened in 2H after earlier restocking, but producers facing cost pressures are reluctant to offer further price concessions.(sherry.qin@wsj.com)
0351 ET - China Unicom (Hong Kong)'s move to suspend dividends in 1H was an unpleasant surprise to DBS Group Research analysts, but they note this is likely to be a one-off occurrence. The board didn't declare an interim dividend in 1H, a surprise given that the stock is largely held for its yield, the analysts say in a note. The management attributed the suspension to frontloaded capital expenditure. While the analysts cut their 2026-2028 earnings estimates by 6.2%-11% on value-added tax's effects, they retain their projection of a more than 65% dividend payout ratio, which implies a 7.9% yield. DBS cuts its target price to 8.00 Hong Kong dollars from HK$8.70 and maintains its buy rating. Shares rise 0.7% to HK$5.775.
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