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.

0807 GMT - Nokia could report third-quarter sales and EBIT slightly ahead of consensus, but the market needs to see near-term sales upgrades to take the stock up significantly, J.P. Morgan analysts write. The market remains concerned about Nokia's ability to execute strong AI and cloud orders due to component shortages, so supply commentary will be a key focus. If Nokia can raise near-term sales and margin guidance in network infrastructure, it would increase market confidence in order delivery capability. The bank remains very bullish on the stock, and if Nokia can beat earnings expectations, confirm supply and lift guidance, "we believe the upside on the stock could be very strong." It rates Nokia at overweight with an 18 euro price target. Shares fall 0.2% to 9.14 euros. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0800 GMT [Dow Jones]--There's no one-size-fits-all solution for managing AI spending within a business, but 75% of the companies who have most effectively leveraged AI have some sort of guideline on token spending, according to a new Boston Consulting Group report. About half of those companies actively encourage employees to maximize their AI usage, while 22% have limits or controls to manage spending. "Organizations that have a strong financial muscle are well-prepared to leverage that capability for AI," BCG Managing Director Natasha Taylor says, adding that businesses are growing smarter about routing less complex AI tasks to cheaper models. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

0800 GMT [Dow Jones]--AI spending is increasingly coming from all parts of the enterprise, not just the IT budget, according to a new Boston Consulting Group report. Non-IT spending on AI was five to six times higher than IT spending among surveyed businesses, and IT budgets held flat year over year while overall AI spending tripled. The growth of spending on AI across business units indicates that effective AI adoption is "a strategic imperative for the whole enterprise," BCG Managing Director Natasha Taylor says. "To be successful requires engagement from all of the functions in an organization." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

0427 GMT - Megaport's new contracts further support the view at Jefferies that the compute-as-a-service provider is one of Australia's highest-leverage AI-infrastructure exposures. Analyst Roger Samuel lists improving contract economics, reduced funding risks, and growing visibility over future earnings among the attractions at Megaport, which he continues to rate as a buy. Samuel tells clients in a note that the company's core network business is also doing well, with annual recurring revenue up by 4.5% in the two months through Aug. 31 and net retention rates at their highest since 2023. Jefferies lifts its target price by 5.8% to 27.50 Australian dollars. Shares are down 1.2% at A$20.375. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0241 GMT - Naura Technology could face component supply constraints inthe near term due to strong demand, Daiwa analysts say in a research note. Daiwa expects its revenue to increase to 12 billion yuan in 3Q and 15.8 billion yuan in 4Q. Revenue could be weighted toward 4Q due to the time needed to validate locally sourced chip equipment components, they say. "We expect Naura to continue gaining market share among its key leading-edge fab clients, supported by portfolio expansion," they note. The brokerage raises Naura's target price to 715.00 yuan from 685.00 yuan. However, given the around 40% appreciation in its share price so far this year, Daiwa downgrades Naura to outperform from buy. Shares are last at 621.50 yuan. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0042 GMT - Megaport's bull at Macquarie recommends investors drop any resistance to the compute-as-a-service provider's strong momentum. One of the investment bank's analysts tells clients in a note that the Australian company's reallocation of pooled processors to a new contracts highlights management's focus on returns. They explain that the customer's A$282 million prepayment gives Megaport a capex payback period of about eight months, compared with between 16 and 22 months for pooled capacity. This reduces utilization and funding risk, the analyst adds. Macquarie keeps an outperform rating on the stock and raises its target price 8.4% to 34.70 Australian dollars. Shares are down 0.5% at A$20.525. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1858 GMT - OpenAI is adding plug-in extensions to its AI models to help customers distribute their products more. App makers can build directly into ChatGPT and Codex, Chief Executive Sam Altman says during OpenAI's Development Day. Apps can also be discovered through the models, so when a user asks a question, ChatGPT can recognize if a plug-in would be helpful and suggest it. Users can also use the tokens they pay for through a ChatGPT subscription to use other company's programs, so businesses don't have to cover the cost of users' tokens, Altman says. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1644 GMT - Investors are overly fixated on Netflix's slowing viewing trends in the U.S. and missing other positives for the company, Deutsche Bank analysts write in a note, updating the stock to buy. They note that the biggest domestic declines this year coincided with the Winter Olympics and World Cup, while international viewing data suggest consistent growth with a substantial runway. The company also has room to leverage its position as a platform -- optionality the analysts see as not priced in - and should, on net, benefit from AI adoption. Though the U.S. softness is real, the analysts write, "we believe the current valuation largely reflects these domestic risks while insufficiently differentiating Netflix's mature US business from its less- developed, higher growth international opportunity." Shares gain 2%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1637 GMT - Xanadu Quantum Technologies offers a high-upside, pure-play investment in photonic quantum computing, says RBC's Paul Treiber, who initiates coverage with a speculative risk rating and a $16 price target. The analyst says that near-term stock upside will be driven by technical milestones, government funding, and strategic partnerships rather than immediate sales until its quantum data center goes online in 2029/2030. The risk exists because "Xanadu and most quantum computing peers have nominal near-term revenue, which makes benchmarking valuation difficult." However, Treiber says that Xanadu offers a "unique exposure to photonics-based quantum computing" as the company and sector ramp up to "quantum monetization" in 2030. Shares are up 2% to C$4.87 but down 55% year-to-date. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1604 GMT - Fair Isaac is dealing with two key negative developments, Deutsche Bank says in a note. Analyst Faiza Alwy says FHFA director Bill Pulte indicated that competitor VantageScore's 20 point discount to FICO has been removed and both scores will now be treated the same by the GSEs. "This would likely in and of itself result in higher number of mortgages that will see favorable pricing with VS4 vs. FICO Classic," Alwy says. Additionally, Rocket Mortgage said it will become the first mortgage lender to use VantageScore 4.0 as its preferred credit scoring model for all eligible loans, and during 4Q will default to VS4 for mortgages delivered to the federal housing agencies, VA home loans and any other eligible mortgages, according to Alwy. Fair Isaac tumbles 27%. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1543 GMT - Select altcoins are posting big gains, with Avalanche (AVAX) up 8.8% to $11.54. Aave, the token native to the Aave DeFi platform, is jumping 17.3% to $175.40. For both Aave and AVAX, it's the highest the tokens have traded at since January. Interest in altcoins continues to drive recent cryptocurrency trading, with activity in altcoin at its highest since last October, according to analysts with CryptoQuant in a note. However, the firm also says, demand for bitcoin appears to be cooling in the short term, which may soon be a drag on altcoins. Bitcoin climbs 0.4% to $83,799, ethereum rises 1.2% to $2,712, and XRP is up 3.5% to $1.55. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1351 GMT - Major cryptocurrencies are mostly higher, with bitcoin up 1.2% to $84,479, ethereum rising 2.1% to $2,738, XRP climbing 3.8% to $1.55, and solana advancing 2.1% to $121.29. Altcoins--or tokens other than bitcoin--are seeing more interest and taking up a larger share of daily trading volume, according to data from Glassnode. The firm says that total spot volume in cryptocurrency trading is currently about four times that of bitcoin trading volume, suggesting that more buyers are piling into altcoins. CoinMarketCap's "Altcoin Season Index" sits at 61 out of 100, down from 63 yesterday but still close to the highest level seen in a year.