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.

1220 ET - With Reddit's ad revenue likely to hit snags from Google's upcoming AI search updates, the platform's data licensing business likely isn't helping, Wells Fargo Securities analysts said in a research note. Reddit's troves of user-generated content are extremely valuable, and will only become more so as users increasingly turn to AI tools for direct answers, the analysts said. But as such changes in user search behavior accelerate, granting third-party access to Reddit's valuable content for a relatively insignificant amount could cap its long-term user growth prospects, the analysts said. That would pose serious risks to its ad business, and in turn, its long-term goal to become an independent ad platform, they said. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1159 ET - With Google likely to integrate full AI search capabilities over the next six months, Reddit's recent user disruptions could become a more permanent obstacle, Wells Fargo Securities analysts said in a research note. More AI search offerings will likely dent Reddit's search referrals, hurting its logged-out user activity, the analysts said. Such users are critical to logged-in user acquisition and extending the scale of advertiser reach, they said. With the long-term growth potential of Reddit's ad business now in danger, the analysts downgraded the stock to equal weight and cut their price target to $115 from $168. Shares fall 1.9% to $105.97. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0831 ET - The latest 13F data from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission supports the case for bitcoin to rise to $500,000 by the end of 2028 before President Trump leaves office, Standard Chartered's Geoff Kendrick says in a note. At first glance the data was disappointing as direct holdings of bitcoin exchange traded funds fell overall in the first quarter, he says. However, government entities increased their holdings of Strategy, formerly Microstrategy, which typically trades like a bitcoin proxy. "We believe that in some cases, Strategy holdings by government entities reflect a desire to gain bitcoin exposure where local regulations do not allow direct bitcoin holdings." Bitcoin falls 0.4% to $105,098, according to LSEG. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0706 ET - The operating chief of German chip maker Infineon Technologies reckons politicians are oversimplifying the complex global semiconductor supply chain amid heightened trade tensions. The design, fabrication, packaging and testing of semiconductors often takes place in different countries. Infineon COO Rutger Wijburg says industry professionals only learned how complex the supply chain was during the Covid-19 global chip shortage. "This oversimplification is underestimating the complexities of the systems we are building in automotive and data centers," he says at Semicon Southeast Asia. While it is good to invest big sums into fabs to build 2-nanometer chips, simple parts like tubes or small wires could disrupt the entire system, he adds. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0630 ET - German chip maker Infineon Technologies sees "tremendous" semiconductor innovation capabilities in Southeast Asia, Chief Operations Officer Rutger Wijburg says at Semicon Southeast Asia. Noting that the firm's "best innovations" for new power system to support artificial intelligence comes from its Melaka facility in Malaysia, Wijburg says the region's role is likely to shift from its traditionally lower-end position in the supply chain, assembling and testing chips. "I'm really positive about this part of the world and we are going to do more in this part of Asia," he says of Southeast Asia. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0605 ET - Asia will likely play a more important part in the semiconductor ecosystem than it does today, says David Goeckeler, chairman of U.S. computer tech company Sandisk, at Semicon Southeast Asia. The entire world woke up after Covid-19 and realized the importance of developing their semiconductor industries, he says. "Every country wants a share of the pie." But given the robust growth of the industry, the pie is also getting bigger, he adds. "This is not a zero-sum game." The semiconductor industry, which is in an upward cycle now, provides a lot of opportunities and emerging countries are great places to invest, he says. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0526 ET - Vodafone Group's changes are starting to pay off, Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter writes in a note. The London-listed telecom company has been tackling too many fronts while facing mounting debt, leading to the need for a significant transformation, Hunter says. "What should now emerge from the turnaround is a smaller and less geographically diverse, but more focused operation," he adds. However, the company's Germany unit is still facing challenges, and Vodafone is unlikely to see a real turnaround there until revenue starts growing again, he says. Shares are up 1.3% at 73.34 pence. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0008 ET - KT Skylife is expected to maintain modest subscriber growth this year for its telecom services, including broadband and mobile-virtual-network-operator businesses, Daiwa Capital analysts Thomas Y. Kwon and Joon Lee say in a note. They expect the satellite-broadcasting affiliate of South Korean telecom giant KT to tighten control of labor and marketing costs to improve operating cash flows. They cut their 2025 net profit forecast for KT Skylife by 82% to reflect weaker-than-expected 1Q results and a sluggish advertising-market recovery in South Korea. Daiwa cuts the stock's target price by 6.8% to KRW4,800 and keeps an outperform rating. Shares are 0.9% higher at KRW4,355. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

2120 ET - Demand from cloud-infrastructure and artificial-intelligence providers is sufficiently strong for UBS analysts to see only a minimal risk of oversupply in the Asia-Pacific region within the next five years. The analysts see a more-than-80% chance of regional supply meeting or falling short of demand, telling clients in a note that they see demand growing at a compound average rate of 20% through 2030. Data-center operators in Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea look best positioned, while China is the country most exposed to risk of a supply glut. Their top picks for exposure to the theme include Australia's NextDC and DigiCo, and New Zealand's Infratil. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1920 ET [Dow Jones]--The impact of Telstra's latest price rises for its post-paid mobile services are hard to predict but Barrenjoey analyst Eric Choi thinks it looks positive. Choi warns clients in a note that it is difficult to account for any potential churn and to know exactly how many users the increases will apply to. There are a lot of moving parts, but he anticipates an increase in average revenue per postpaid user of close to A$2.40. This compares with what he reckons is the market's expectation of A$1.40. Barrenjoey has a last-published overweight rating and A$4.50 target price on the stock. Shares are at A$4.56 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2025 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.