The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

0931 GMT - Snowflake's new artificial intelligence feature is in a positive feedback loop as demand soars, Jefferies's Brent Thill writes. Cortex Code, Snowflake's coding assistant, is the company's "killer AI capability," the analyst says. Registered accounts for the AI co-pilot jumped by more than 2,000 on-quarter, surpassing 9,100 in total and driving headline revenue growth higher, Thill writes. Users of Cortex Code are also using the U.S. cloud-based AI company's overall platform more, "reinforcing our view that AI is additive rather than cannibalistic," Thill says. Snowflake guided for third-quarter revenue growth well-ahead of analysts' expectations, the analyst notes. Shares jump 24% premarket. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0928 GMT - Reports that Publicis Groupe secured PepsiCo's entire media account point to another major win for the French advertising group, boosting hopes that it can sustain organic revenue growth over the medium term, Bank of America analysts say. Publicis was already the incumbent for PepsiCo's media activities across many Asian markets and eastern Europe, but the win could boost its 2027 organic net revenue growth by between 50 and 100 basis points, according to Bank of America. This uplift could be reduced to between 30 and 80 basis points if Publicis loses its recently won Coca-Cola account due to the potential conflict of interest, the analysts say. Publicis shares rise 3.5%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0917 GMT - Broadcom's revenue guidance delivered on high expectations given the group's massive estimate for 2028 AI revenue, Bernstein analysts write. The chip design and cloud computing company said its AI revenue would hit $230 billion in 2028, a number that "should be well ahead of expectations," the analysts say. Bearish investors will raise concerns that Google demand will weaken, making frontier AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic Broadcom's largest customers. However, the labs' spending aspirations are dependable, they say, while Broadcom will benefit from being less reliant on just Google. Broadcom shares fall 2.4% premarket.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0914 GMT - Watches of Switzerland's current trading looks strong, but comparison bases get tougher ahead, RBC Capital Markets' Piral Dadhania and Richard Chamberlain write in a note to clients. The U.K.-based luxury-watch retailer on Thursday backed its guidance for the full fiscal year after noting continued strong momentum in the first quarter, including in the U.S. The run-rate looks above guidance, in fact, though second-half comparisons get tougher, Dadhania and Chamberlain note. "We suspect these results will be interpreted as cautiously positive, given the UK improvement and continued healthy U.S. momentum." Shares lose 1.6% in morning trading in London, joining a slide in other European luxury stocks. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)

0907 GMT - Hewlett Packard Enterprise investors will be disheartened by its guidance for a normalization of AI revenue growth and margins, JPMorgan analysts write. The technology company raised its outlook for both 2026 and 2027 in earnings released after the closing bell Wednesday on strong demand across the group's AI and traditional hardware businesses. However, "investor sentiment will likely be tempered" by the guide for decelerating revenue growth in the group's cloud and AI division, as well as tighter margins in 2027. Still, the group's networking outlook points to steepening growth acceleration that will help offset margin compression in its AI business. Shares fall 3.3% premarket.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0900 GMT - Malaysia's telecommunications sector is expected to see improvement in core EPS sequentially in 3Q, supported by seasonality, mobile monetization and fiber connectivity demand, CIMB Securities analyst Choong Chen Foong says in a note. The outlook remains supported by a potential review of telecom access prices. This is likely to begin in September or October and conclude by December or January 2027, he notes. The transfer of shares in Malaysia's state-backed 5G infrastructure firm Digital Nasional from the Ministry of Finance to Maxis, CelcomDigi and YTL Power International could be completed by end-3Q, providing greater clarity on DNB's net losses and the telcos' plans to mitigate the impact on earnings over the next two to three years, he adds. CIMB maintains an overweight rating on the sector.(yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0815 GMT - Venezuela crude oil production isn't expected to return to pre-2018 levels of above 2 million barrels a day over the next few years, despite renewed interest from U.S. and European oil companies, Goldman Sachs says. Production stood at around 1.1 million barrels a day in July, while crude and condensate exports have risen 400,000 barrels a day year-on-year, with the U.S. overtaking China as the largest buyer. Chevron and Eni are among the companies expected to expand operations, supporting a gradual increase in output. However, significant infrastructure damage and an unreliable power grid remain major constraints, making a rapid recovery difficult and costly, analysts at the U.S. bank say. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0811 GMT - Persian Gulf oil flows appear higher than visible data suggest, although exports remain well below pre-war levels, according to Goldman Sachs. Accounting for "dark" tanker crossings, total Gulf exports are estimated at 15 million-16 million barrels a day, around two-thirds of pre-war levels, compared with visible flows of about 10 million barrels a day. The upward revision over the past two weeks appears to reflect more tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz with tracking system signals switched off, analysts at the bank say. However, Red Sea flows have fallen by 4.5 million barrels a day in August as Saudi Arabia redirected shipments from Yanbu to eastern ports amid Houthi-related security concerns, Goldman data shows. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0800 GMT - Furukawa Electric's earnings are likely to be boosted by cooling products used at data centers, Jefferies analysts say in a note. As artificial-intelligence servers consume more power, cold plates and liquid-cooling systems are likely to drive earnings growth in the coming years, the U.S. bank says. Jefferies forecasts operating profit to grow 37% annually over the four years ending March 2030. The bank raises its target price for Furukawa to 10,500 yen from Y9,000 and maintains a buy rating on the stock. Shares close 3.7% lower at Y3,613. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)

0754 GMT - Volkswagen has no easy way out, either it cuts costs or loses market share, Citi analysts write. The bank says it is not the company that has made German plants unviable, rather it is decades of negligent German industrial/energy policy, negligent EU/China trade policies and EU carbon-dioxide policies, combined with assertive China auto industry subsidies and exports. If anything, Volkswagen's global business has been subsidizing uncompetitive German plants for too long, it adds. From a capital-structure view, Citi says Volkswagen could perhaps spin off its German core business and allow the Audi, Porsche, Traton and Finco businesses to stand alone. The bank adds that the current predicament highlights the importance of EU industry protection. Shares fall 1.1%. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0742 GMT - Thailand's tourism stocks likely have limited near-term catalysts, DBS Group Research analysts say in a note. Shares are expected to remain mainly driven by company-specific earnings momentum, rather than a broad-based recovery in tourism sentiment. Recovery in tourism is slow, with monthly figures largely fluctuating in July and August. However, Thai tourism operators' earnings shouldn't be hit badly even if foreign arrivals decline. This is due to companies' more diverse customer base and flexible pricing strategies, DBS says. It continues to favor Airports of Thailand, Central Plaza Hotel and Erawan Group, which offer relatively strong operating trends and earnings visibility. (amanda.lee@wsj.com)

0740 GMT - Tiong Woon Corp. is likely to benefit from various construction- and infrastructure-focused nation-building plans in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, say CGS International analysts in a note. The Singapore heavy lift and haulage company has a strong regional track record and is vying for more integrated heavy lift projects, such as in the semiconductor, data center and petrochemical sectors, which should deliver improved margins, they say. Still, the analysts cut their FY 2027-FY 2028 earnings-per-share projections by 2%-10% on more conservative fleet utilization estimates. CGSI raises its target price to 1.33 Singapore dollars from S$1.29 and reiterates its add rating. Shares fall 0.5% to S$0.96.