The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0950 GMT - Micron Technology stock falls premarket as investors fear the boom in demand for artificial-intelligence memory is nearing a peak, Deutsche Bank's Melissa Weathers writes. Despite recording expectation-beating earnings for the second fiscal quarter and raising its revenue guidance well-above analysts' expectations, investors focus instead on past crashes in the memory market. "We see this cyclical caution from investors as prudent given past memory bust cycles, and acknowledge that the bear case is difficult to disprove in the near-term," Weathers writes. Micron's significant increase in capital expenditure raises concerns around its vulnerability to a memory market downturn. However, "such cycle peak fears are immature," Weathers adds. Micron falls 5.1% premarket. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0938 GMT - Micron Technology's premarket share price drop is a product of sky-high investor expectations for the stock, Direxion's Jake Behan says. The artificial-intelligence memory-chip maker recorded a sharp rise in sales for the fiscal second quarter, well ahead of the company's own guidance. The earnings were "as good as it gets for Micron and for better or worse, that raises the bar heading into next quarter," Behan says. "That's likely what you're seeing play out in the initial aftermarket reaction." Micron shares fall 5.2% premarket. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0935 GMT - Demand for Swiss watches remains on track for a gradual recovery for now, but war in the Persian Gulf could pose a threat, analysts at Bernstein say in a note. The sector has been struggling with weak demand as well as trade conflicts with the implementation of tariffs in the key U.S. market. "The other key risk to watch out for is the development in the Middle East, which was a rare spot of growth in 2025 for the sector," the brokerage says. The consequences in the short term might be limited if the conflict can be quickly resolved, the analysts say. However, indirect impacts including reduced travel, higher oil prices, inflation, and weaker consumer confidence from a drawn-out conflict could threaten early signs of recovery. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)
0925 GMT - A weak start to the year is likely a concern for Lanxess shareholders, analysts at JPMorgan write in a note to clients. The German chemicals supplier said in Thursday's earnings update that it doesn't expect any positive momentum until the latter half of the year as it pins its hopes on German fiscal stimulus to help it turn around last year's slide in sales and profit. But the group's adjusted Ebitda guidance for 2026 suggests an on-year improvement only at the top end of the range. "This implies that a significant step-up in earnings may be needed over the rest of the year to deliver even the low end of the guidance range," JPM notes. The bank has an underweight rating and a 15-euro target on the stock; shares lose around 6.9% to 12.44 euros. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)
0921 GMT - Threatened strikes on key energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar could push oil prices past $120 a barrel immediately, according to Rystad Energy. The five facilities warned by Iran together account for roughly 20% of global LNG trade, up to 10% of Asia-Pacific naphtha imports, and more than 6% of global polyethylene capacity--all concentrated in a region with few near-term alternatives. "If statements from Iran's Tasnim news agency come to fruition, with facilities in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar all hit, at least 700,000 barrels per day of refined product capacity would be removed from global markets overnight, hitting diesel, jet fuel and naphtha supply simultaneously across three countries," analysts at Rystad say. Oil could even reach $150 a barrel or higher if critical infrastructure such as Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port is hit, the firm says. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
0915 GMT - Shares in European semiconductor companies edge lower as the Iran war shows no sign of abating after attacks on Middle Eastern energy infrastructure. Shares in Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker ASML Holding and smaller rival ASM International are down 2.6% and 3.1%, respectively. German chip maker Infineon Technologies falls 4.6%. STMicroelectronics--which supplies Apple, Samsung Electronics and Tesla--drops 2.3%. The declines in Europe follow losses in Asian stocks like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which closed 2.9% lower. South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix--which supplies Nvidia--closed down 4.1%. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)
0913 GMT - Vonovia's deleveraging plan is ambitious, ING analysts Francesca Ferragina and Michiel Vereycken say in a research note. The German real-estate company is targeting to lower its loan-to-value ratio to around 40% by 2028 and its net debt/Ebitda multiple to below 12. For 2025, Vonovia posted a loan-to-value ratio of 45.4% and has a current multiple of 13.8. "We estimate that to pursue such a deleveraging around 8 billion euros in disposals would be needed," the analysts say. While this looks like a sizeable amount, Vonovia was able to sell around 7.9 billion euros of assets during the difficult years of 2023 and 2024, the analysts say. This is a good track record, they add. Shares trade 10.3% lower at 22.06 euros. (nina.kienle@wsj.com)
0911 GMT - Shares in Air Astana lose ground after cofounder BAE Systems sold off its remaining stake in the Kazakh airline at a discount. The U.K. aerospace-and-defense group on Wednesday listed for sale its remaining roughly 6.9% stake in Air Astana at a price of $5.10 per global depositary receipt, a discount to the previous day's closing price of $6.02. BAE Systems cofounded the airline alongside the Kazakh wealth fund at the start of the century, taking it public in 2024 before selling off its stake in a series of disposals. Shares in Air Astana lose 7% to $5.60. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)
0853 GMT - Silver and platinum prices tumble, pressured by a firmer dollar and mounting concerns that high energy prices will fuel inflation. Silver futures dive 8.3% to $71.14 a troy ounce, while platinum falls 6.7% to $1,918.19 an ounce. Both metals tracked losses in gold, with New York futures down 3.7% at $4,712.70 an ounce as hopes of further U.S. interest-rate cuts in the near term dimmed further following Powell's remarks on Wednesday. While geopolitical tensions would typically bolster safe-haven demand, the inflationary impact of rising energy costs is weighing on precious metals by pushing real yields higher and limiting upside. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
0849 GMT - Xiaomi's shares rose sharply in Hong Kong as investors watch for the new SU7 launch event Thursday evening. Its shares closed 3.4% higher at 36.32 Hong Kong dollars, outperforming the Hang Seng Index's losses of 2.0%.The gains come as investors closely watch for the new SU7 sedan that Xiaomi is about to release Thursday night. The company's CEO said in a livestream in February that the new SU7 had rolled off the production line. Although China's auto sector has faced slowing demand in January and February, analysts are expecting a recovery in March with new model releases from multiple automakers.(jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0840 GMT - IG Group's earnings and 125 million pound share buyback are expected to be well received by the market, RBC Capital Markets analysts Ben Bathurst and Jude Neanor say in a note. The online-trading company is making demonstrable progress as it keeps its generous capital return policy, the analysts say. "Messaging around accelerating customer growth and raising ambitions will be well received, in light of management's reputation for conservatism." Shares are up 4.5% at 1,421 pence and are up 49% over the past 12 months. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)
0838 GMT - Kingboard Holdings' investments in artificial-intelligence upstream materials and chemicals are likely to boost 2027 earnings, say Citi analysts in a note. The Hong Kong-based copper-foil manufacturer's 2026 core earnings could fall, particularly as the company is placing shares in subsidiary Kingboard Laminates and therefore reducing the unit's profit contribution. The analysts cut their 2026 core earnings estimate by 11%. After 2026, the first contributions from new AI-related and chemical projects should come in, leading the analysts to raise their 2027 earnings projection by 4.0%. Still, Citi prefers Kingboard Laminates to Kingboard Holdings as the former is a pure AI upstream materials play. Citi raises its target price on Kingboard Holdings to HK$48.00 from HK$45.00 and maintains a buy rating. Shares closed 5.3% lower at HK$37.50. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2026 05:51 ET (09:51 GMT)
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