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.

0716 GMT - Tencent's capital expenditure could rise to 260 billion yuan in 2027 from 210 billion yuan this year, say Macquarie analysts in a research note. Tencent's multilayer AI portfolio has delivered measurable gains in model capabilities and user adoption. However, the company's pre-payments for GPUs and components to support its AI initiatives will remain a near-term cost drag, they say.Macquarie expects slower games growth and tepid advertising and payment revenue in 3Q amid softer macro conditions. The bank maintains a neutral rating on Tencent and trims its target price to 435.00 Hong Kong dollars from HK$440.00. Shares last traded at HK$420.60. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0632 GMT - Higher policy rates won't derail a U.S. economy driven by a largely rate-insensitive artificial-intelligence capex cycle, says Sylvia Sheng, multi asset solutions lead portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Financial conditions also remain supportive, with credit spreads still tight and corporate fundamentals remaining healthy, she adds. J.P. Morgan's constructive stance on equities is underpinned by solid nominal growth, low recession risk and a sustained AI capex earnings cycle, she adds. The U.S. remains the asset manager's core overweight as it offers the broadest and most durable exposure to the AI capex and adoption cycle, while earnings momentum has started to broaden beyond the initial AI beneficiaries, she says. J.P. Morgan continues to believe the AI capex build-out has ample room to run. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0518 GMT - NTT stands to benefit from its subsidiary's mobile rate increases, Nomura's Daisaku Masuno says in a research report. The increases, announced in September, are slated to be introduced in December and will boost sales by around Y35 billion for fiscal year ending March 2027 and by about Y55 billion for next fiscal year, the analyst estimates. Meanwhile, growth in NTT's overseas data center business will probably act as a catalyst for modest share price growth from here. The brokerage raises the stock's target price to Y197 from Y194 to factor in the planned mobile rate increases, with unchanged buy rating. Shares are 1.1% higher at Y172.0. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0349 GMT - Disco's 2026 results should be supported by generative artificial-intelligence-related demand, Jefferies analysts say in a note. Disco's tools and equipment are used to cut, grind and polish semiconductor wafers. Second-quarter shipments on an unconsolidated basis rose 6% on quarter to 123.9 billion yen, setting a record high for a third straight quarter, the U.S. bank says. Although the figure was below the bank's projection, it likely exceeded the company's internal target, Jefferies says. While the stock lacks near-term catalysts, the bank forecasts healthy earnings expansion over the medium term, it says. Jefferies maintains its buy rating and target price of Y76,000 on the stock. Shares are down 7.2% at Y60,770. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)

0333 GMT - Tencent's 3Q earnings could miss market consensus due to higher artificial-intelligence-related expenditure, Citi analysts say in a research note. Citi expects Tencent's 3Q revenue to rise 8.3% to 208.9 billion yuan and adjusted net profit to fall 9.2% to 64 billion yuan, both lower than consensus estimates. While growth likely remained resilient at its core business segments, continuing macro headwinds are expected to weigh on online advertising and fintech revenue, alongside a high base effect for games, they say. However, its cloud revenue growth could further accelerate, driven by enterprise demand and initial contributions from WorkBuddy, they note. Citi maintains its buy rating on Tencent but cuts its target price to 755.00 Hong Kong dollars from HK$765.00. Shares are last at HK$421.20. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

2249 GMT - Dicker Data's latest acquisition is viewed at UBS as an incrementally positive step despite its relatively small size. The investment bank's analysts tell clients in a note that Dicker Data's A$111.8 million move for regional tech-solutions distributor Sektor Group helps develop its geographic expansion at an attractive acquisition multiple. They think the deal will be immediately accretive to EPS for the Australia-listed hardware and software distributor. With Dicker Data targeting southeast Asia, the UBS analysts want to see more evidence that Sektor can grow its revenues outside of Australia and New Zealand. UBS has a neutral rating on the stock and an unchanged target price of 15.40 Australian dollars. Shares are at A$15.57 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2238 GMT - Sports Entertainment Group's regional expansion helps the sports media group secure a new bull at Bell Potter. Initiating coverage of the stock with a buy rating, analyst Michael Ardrey tells clients in a note that the Australian company's recent acquisition of New Zealand-based audio and ad platform MediaWorks brings opportunities for organic growth and above-target cost synergies. With a business that includes sports-talk radio, digital media and live events, Ardrey thinks Sports Entertainment can generate average annual Ebitda growth of 13% through fiscal 2029. Bell Potter places a target price on the stock of 0.45 Australian dollars. Shares are at A$0.265 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1639 GMT - CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says recent concerns over AI agents are solvable -- it just comes down to how companies approach cybersecurity. "The model providers are focused on trying to build guardrails around how the model actually thinks," Kurtz says during an appearance on CNBC. "But when you put it in production, you need to see what it actually does. You need to understand its actions." That's one of Crowdstrike's focuses when it comes to AI agents, he says. Through its offerings with Nvidia, Crowdstrike works to both enforce safety protocols and trace what AI agents are doing, he says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1625 GMT - The amount of stocks trading on blockchains went from $639 million in September 2025 to $3.17 billion in September 2026--a near 400% increase year-over-year, says RedStone in a report. While the popularity of tokenized stocks is growing at an exponential rate, their utility remains fairly limited. The firm says that most are traded in the form of perpetual futures on exchanges like Binance, and that the three-largest issuers of tokenized stocks don't allow holders any direct share ownership. Which is why tokens purporting to represent OpenAI stock or Anthropic shares have been publicly disavowed by both companies, which have announced IPOs but haven't started any roadshows. Bitcoin posted a strong September, and is up 0.6% to $86,260 in current trade. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1604 GMT - CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says companies don't necessarily need to pull back on their AI ramp ups as safety concerns mount. They just need to implement the right cybersecurity measures, he says. "In racing, you don't slow things down," Kurtz says during an appearance on CNBC. "You want to have the greatest amount of safety so you can go faster." Kurtz says cybersecurity is therefore critical for the U.S. to maintain an edge against China in the AI race. AI "is the greatest sea change that I've seen in my lifetime, and certainly in my technology career," Kurtz says. "You've just got to be able to harness it." (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1422 GMT - The demand for AI-related goods continues to push up imports, according to Oxford Economics in a note. The August U.S. trade deficit widened to $105.6 billion from a revised $92.8 billion in July. That's the largest trade deficit since March 2025, when frontloading ahead of the Trump administration's tariff implementation was in full swing, Oxford says. The U.S. is currently locked in a trade war with Canada, which imposed retaliatory tariffs that took effect last month on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods. (jessica.coacci@wsj.com)

1120 GMT - Tokenization, or the ability to convert real-world assets into digital tokens, will become the new normal as private companies and politicians push to bring the technology into the mainstream, Union Investment's head of tokenization and digital assets Christoph Hock says. "Politicians are driving the shift into a redefinition of financial market infrastructure," Hock says at the Digital Assets week conference in London. Central bank interest in developing their own tokenization capabilities is encouraging, and adds to progress from private companies in bringing the technology into the mainstream. "The ingredients are all there" for tokenization adoption to significantly increase, Hock says.