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.

0534 GMT - Apple's anticipated entry into the foldable market is set to drive prices higher by locking consumer focus on the premium segment, boosting demand for advanced software and productivity tools, Counterpoint Research said in a report. Apple's entry is part of the reason the global average selling price for foldables is forecast to jump 18% this year, the research firm said. It added while competition is driving down prices for budget-friendly flip-style clamshell foldables, narrowing their price gap with premium bar-type smartphones, demand for the larger and more expensive book-style foldable models is surging. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

0416 GMT - Lenovo's infrastructure services business could see robust growth in the next three years, Citi analysts say in a research note. Citi raises its 2027-2029 earnings estimates on Lenovo by 6%, 29% and 40%, respectively, on stronger revenue and better profitability for its infrastructure solutions business, which includes servers. The segment is supported by robust server demand from both China and overseas, ramping AI server delivery and improving pricing given tightened CPU and memory supply, they say. The analysts forecast the segment revenue to grow 47%, 44%, 23% in 2027-2029, respectively. Citi maintains a buy call on Lenovo and raises its target price to HK$31.00 from HK$20.00, Shares are last 5.1% lower at HK$22.76. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0234 GMT - Renesas Electronics' growth drivers appear clearer after hosting its 'Capital Market Day' this week, says Nomura's Masaya Yamasaki in a research report. The Japanese company clarifies the timeline for its growth drivers: AI infrastructure, software-defined vehicles and humanoid robots, the analyst notes. For AI infrastructure, the company said it expects growth to exceed digital power device market's average amid strong GPU demand and stronger growth in application-specific integrated circuits and CPUs. For SDVs, the company's 'Gen 4 R-Car' series products for Japanese clients have gotten off the ground steadily, the analyst adds. Nomura raises the stock's target price to 5,300 yen from 4,100 yen with an unchanged buy rating. Shares are 5.5% higher at 5,110 yen. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0027 GMT - Life360's bull at Bell Potter expects investors to start focusing on the positives at the tracking app developer, after digesting a single short-term negative. The only reason analyst Chris Savage sees for investors' recent focus on relatively low growth in global active users is that Life360 may not have done a good job explaining the technical issues behind it. He reminds clients in a note that paid subscriptions are what drive revenue growth, and points out that these were very strong in the March quarter. Savage raises his subscription growth forecasts for the remainder of 2026 and reckons this metric will soon draw more attention. Bell Potter keeps a buy rating on Life360's ASX-listed stock and raises its target price 1.5% to 33.00 Australian dollars. Shares are at A$23.52. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2302 GMT - All eyes are now on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as it weighs clearance of Echo IQ's EchoSolv heart-failure product, says Petra Capital. Clearance will trigger another A$10 million payment as part of Echo IQ's heads of agreement with Pro Medicus, which establishes a U.S. commercial partnership. Analyst Tanushree Jain says FDA clearance is highly likely and key to unlocking the U.S. commercial opportunity. She says that, timing wise, it has parallels to Pro Medicus's investment in ASX-listed 4DMedical. This investment was made just before FDA clearance of 4DMedical's CTVQ product and led to 4DMedical's share price rising strongly, which continued after FDA clearance. Petra Capital lifts its price target on Echo IQ by 19%, to A$1.30/share, and retains a "hold" call. Echo IQ ended Thursday at A$1.615. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2230 GMT - Ord Minnett is delighted with Echo IQ's heads of agreement with Pro Medicus to establish the framework for a strategic investment and U.S. commercial partnership. Pro Medicus will invest an initial A$10 million. This will be followed by another A$10 million if Echo IQ's EchoSolv product gets approval by the Food and Drug Administration. "We view the key benefits of the deal as three-fold," says analyst Tom Godfrey. It is a material endorsement and a validation datapoint from a global imaging tech leader in Pro Medicus. It also gives a timely boost to Echo IQ's cash position and leads to a step-change in its immediate U.S. commercialization opportunity. Ord Minnett raises its price target on Echo IQ by 20%, to A$1.80/share. Echo IQ ended Thursday at A$1.615. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1758 GMT - Microsoft's announcement of price increases for Xbox consoles falls on an important day for gamers: the beginning of pre-orders for the long-awaited "Grand Theft Auto VI." The game, which has been in development by Take-Two Interactive Software for years, is expected to be the highest-profile entry in the GTA series to date. Microsoft's price hikes, which take effect in August, could incentivize gamers to buy consoles sooner in advance of the game's debut in November. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1718 GMT - Apple's price increases shouldn't have too much of an impact on its business given the focus on selling to higher earners, Wedbush says in a note. Apple raised prices for Macs and iPads between 15% and 25% as a response to the rising costs of memory and storage chips. "The current memory price increases have forced Apple's hand to raise prices, but we believe the company is in a strong position to increase prices without sacrificing hardware performance and risking increasing customer churn given the company's increasing focus on the higher-end consumer," the analysts say. Apple's partnership with Intel should help diversify the supply chain and take off some memory and storage pressure, they add. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1634 GMT - Micron will generate an estimated $380 billion in free cash flow in 2027 and 2028 which will likely be heavily used for stock buybacks, UBS says in a research note. At the current stock price, that could allow the company to repurchase some 20% to 30% of its shares between now and then, the analysts say. They are slightly lowering their estimates for EPS in 2029 to $121 and, discounting it back a year, maintain a price target of $1,625. UBS also maintains its buy rating. Micron surges 16% to $1,214.94. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1626 GMT - Micron's 3Q results cleared a high bar both financially and strategically, helping send a message to investors that it's business model has fundamentally changed in the AI era, Deutsche Bank analysts say in a research note. The company gave significant details about its long-term customer contracts that will ensure profitability across the current economic cycle, they say. The breadth of agreements and depth of disclosures exceeded investor hopes, the analysts say. The report goes a long way in showing that the fundamental dynamics underlying the memory industry have changed as memory becomes a strategic asset rather than just a commodity, they say. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1556 GMT - Major cryptocurrencies are falling again, with a macro-level "debasement trade" a key driver for weakness in bitcoin and other major crypto tokens. "In the short term [bitcoin is] tracking more in-line with 'debasement' trades that are suffering from a relatively hawkish Fed posture," says Stephen Coltman of 21shares. Coltman adds that the status of Strategy's bitcoin treasury, and the ability of the company to survive without selling a sizable portion of it, is also injecting fear into investors. Strategy's last purchase of bitcoin, posted on Monday, brought its total stack to 847,363 BTC, with an average buying price of $75,651 per coin. That means that at today's prices, Strategy is nearly $14 billion underwater. Bitcoin is down 2.7% to $59,250, according to data from LSEG. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1541 GMT - It's still too early fully measure investor interest in BlackBerry's physical-AI, according to TD Cowen's John Shao. The company's QNX software platform's positioning in Physical AI is the primary reason for investor inbound interest. It has driven the stock up over 20%, nearly tripling its value year-to-date, the analyst says in a report. However, "incremental updates on this topic were limited, and we believe this remains an early-stage opportunity." Still, Shao sees opportunity in the space on BlackBerry's horizon. "We do see QNX as having a competitive advantage in Physical AI given its high-performance and deterministic nature," he says. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 26, 2026 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.