The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1515 ET [Dow Jones]--Five data center companies who got their start in the cryptocurrency mining business are set up for "rapid growth," UBS analysts write in a note, initiating coverage of the stocks with buy ratings. The companies -- Hut 8, TeraWulf, Core Scientific, Cipher Digital, and Applied Digital -- already have connections to power grids that will prove increasingly valuable, given that "time to power is the key factor in data center development," the analysts write. "They occupy the enviable position of right place, right time with the skills and assets to supply crucial inputs in the largest infrastructure spending project in history." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1502 ET - PG&E is dealing with a growing risk from inaction on wildfire liability reform, UBS analysts say, downgrading the stock to neutral from buy. While the analysts expect work on wildfire legislation to continue, there hasn't been action. California Governor Gavin Newsom has spoken about a potential special session on AI, but hasn't mentioned something similar for wildfire reform, the analysts say. They see the delay in a wildfire reform resolution as a negative for PG&E's performance. UBS cuts its price target on the stock to $14 from $19, and lowers its estimate for 2028 earnings per share to $1.90 from $1.95. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1501 ET - Rising costs of extracting oil and natural gas from U.S. shale rocks increases the importance of Canada to help meet future energy demand, according to a report by Enverus. "The U.S. has [an estimated] 17-year low-cost oil resource life index at current production rates, compared with nearly 53 years in Canada," the energy-focused data-analytics company says. It adds, however, that the Permian Basin, a sprawling region spanning portions of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, will likely remain North America's main oilfield for more than a decade. That's partly because more investments in oil-and-gas extraction and related infrastructure, including liquefied-natural gas terminals, are needed to tap Canada's reserves, Enverus says. "Realizing [Canada's] potential will require additional oil and gas pipelines, LNG export capacity, and a substantial rotation of capital toward upstream development." (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)
1501 ET - Thomson Reuters' new AI product rollout will drive faster long-term revenue growth than previously thought, says TD Cowen's Vince Valentini. In a report, the analyst notes new products either recently launched such as the new version of CoCounsel or still in development, like its proprietary LLM, called Thomson. Then there's Brief Builder for legal, which is coming soon. "We believe the legal TAM [total addressable market] growth rate is accelerating," he says, estimating a 10%-13% growth over the next few years. Valentini sees "TRI being able to keep pace with this market growth." As a result, Valentini raised his consolidated organic revenue growth to 9.0% in 2027 and 9.4% in 2028, up from his previous estimate of 8.3% and 8.4%, respectively. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1448 ET - Expedia's partnership with Meta's Muse AI assistant puts pressure on Booking Holdings and Airbnb to follow suit, Morgan Stanley says in a note. If the partnership successfully shifts trip planning activity to Muse agents who prioritize Expedia listings, "we think it will also increase pressure on BKNG and ABNB to pursue similar partnerships with Muse rather than risk losing incremental traffic and customer relationships to EXPE." Airbnb may be most exposed, the analysts say, as around 90% of its traffic comes directly and the company relies comparatively less on marketing. Expedia falls 6.3%, Booking is off 4.6% and Airbnb slides 6.1%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1441 ET - McDonald's doesn't expect the challenging environment from the past few years to change in the near future, Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski says on CNBC. He expects traffic in the fast-food industry will remain flat and inflation will stay elevated going forward. "We need to stop talking about that being a difficult environment and just say that is the environment, because as we look out forward, we're not expecting things to change," he says. To grow, Kempczinski says McDonald's needs to focus on gaining share from competitors. His focus is increasing share for chicken and beverages, he says. McDonald's falls 5%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1342 ET - The key debate regarding Micron's stock is the balance between momentum in memory technology demand and pricing and the duration of the memory shortage, according to UBS in a note. So far, it seems that the mismatch between memory supply and demand will widen in 2027. But even if open market memory prices fall by around 80% at the end of the cycle, beginning in the back half of 2028, Micron should still show strength, the analysts say. "We think trough annualized EPS will still be HIGHER than where MU will likely guide annualized EPS next Q--a very powerful statement and one that we think the market will ultimately reward," they say. Micron is off 2.3%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1257 ET - Ahead of Carnival's F3Q results slated for next week, Jefferies modestly lowers its estimates, primarily due to fuel. "Brent crude has risen 33% since Carnival's 2Q26 earnings call on June 23, a material move given the company's unhedged fuel exposure," the analysts say in a research note. They add that roughly a third of that increase has occurred this month, which falls in Carnival's F4Q, meaning the outlook for fuel looks increasingly bleak. "We have become less optimistic on near-term easing and now assume higher Brent prices in 1H27," the analysts say. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1249 ET - The risks associated with CoreWeave are real, but they are "more than adequately priced-in" at the stock's recent valuation of around three times 2027 revenue, UBS analysts write in a note, initiating coverage with a buy rating. They identify several risks hanging over the stock: the leverage needed to finance CoreWeave's data center buildout, the profitability of AI infrastructure, customer concentration, competition in the cloud market, and bottlenecks tampering new data center construction. "In our view CoreWeave shares at 3x 2027 revs already reflect these concerns and may not reflect the strength of demand and the upward revisions to revenue estimates as each GW of AI compute capacity can be monetized at higher price points," the analysts write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1246 ET - Bitcoin has moved above the cost bases that held it back earlier in the year and remains elevated thanks in part to a pullback in profit-taking, Glassnode analysts say in a note. The current price range between $84,000 and $85,000 has Bitcoin sitting just above a large block of long-term holder supply, the analysts say. Profit taking is a fraction of what it was when the flagship cryptocurrency was at its 2024 and 2025 highs, even though almost all short-term holders are currently in profit, they say. Bitcoin ETF buying is also picking up, while spot volume has more than doubled from its August low, the analysts say. (dean.seal@wsj.com)
1236 ET - Bitcoin might have more fuel left in the tank to add to its recent gains, says Frederik Theissen of Glassnode in a note. Theissen points to open interest in bitcoin options, which according to data from Deribit shows that call options are building for options at strike prices ranging from $91,000 to $102,000. Trader behavior appears to be signaling that investors are holding onto bitcoin, seemingly expecting further gains ahead. "Profit taking is a fraction of what it was at the 2024-2025 tops, even though almost all short-term holders are in profit," says Theissen. Bitcoin is down 2.6% to $83,985, while ethereum falls 3.4% to $2,657, XRP is down 4.2% to $1.51, and solana is down 2.8% to $114.66. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1229 ET - Investor concerns around CoreWeave's leverage and credit risk are likely peaking, and the company should benefit from a positive inflection in the Street's sentiment around AI, UBS analysts write in a note, initiating coverage with a buy rating. The rating sets UBS apart from consensus, the analysts concede, but they argue that investors are underrating GPU pricing trends, the durability of compute demand, and CoreWeave's positive reputation within the tech industry. "A positive call on CoreWeave shares is a de facto call that investors will soon rotate back into the long-AI trade, a scenario that seems increasingly likely given the muted sentiment, strong demand signals and reported frontier lab growth," the analysts write. Shares are up 1.7%.
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