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.

1558 ET - Autodesk's reported potential takeover of PTC would continue its history of acquisitions, J.P. Morgan analysts say in a note. The company has completed over 50 acquisitions since its founding, and typically looks to make deals that will complement or enhance its existing technologies as well as offer new solutions to expand its customer base, the analysts say. Focus remains on a reaction from Autodesk's activist shareholder, which is advocating for cost optimization and transparency, they say. Bloomberg initially reported the possible deal on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1548 ET - Autodesk's reported potential takeover of rival software firm PTC should position the company better as artificial intelligence becomes more commonplace in design, Oppenheimer analysts say in a note. Such a deal would add product-lifecycle-management software to Autodesk's portfolio, which the company could cross-sell into its large install base, the analysts say. Longer term, those offerings are strategic to bolster Autodesk's data layer and boost its AI initiatives, they say. Bloomberg initially reported the deal Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares of Autodesk edge down 6.5% while those of PTC decline 6.8%. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1411 ET - Microsoft is set to continue capitalizing on the cloud and artificial intelligence opportunity ahead, Piper Sandler analysts say in a note. About 81% of CIOs say they plan to spend more on the tech giant's Azure offering, a share that's risen in the last four straight biannual surveys, the analysts say. Microsoft's Copilot, meanwhile, is still one of the top two AI application picks alongside OpenAI, even as increasingly competitive AI alternatives emerge, they add. They raise their price target on the stock to $600 from $475. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1329 ET - Taco Bell's new voice AI ordering system could give a boost to sales, BTIG analysts Peter Saleh and Ben Parente say. AI voice ordering is leading to larger check sizes, as the system tends to upsell more frequently than traditional orders, Saleh and Parente say. Shake Shack's CEO has noted that customers tend to place larger orders when using a kiosk, rather than having to say their order aloud to a human being. The AI voice ordering system is available at about 500 Taco Bell drive-throughs, or 6.5% of domestic stores, and the company is aiming to fully deploy the technology over time, the BTIG analysts say. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1313 ET - Oracle is about to get another big growth driver as 27% of CIOs plan to boost spending on its cloud infrastructure, Piper Sandler analysts say in a note. That's up from 18% at the end of last year and just 4% in 2023, the analysts say, citing survey data. Growing popularity of Oracle's cloud infrastructure offerings in the enterprise could add another strong lever of growth alongside the company's big AI training opportunity, they say. The analysts upgrade the stock to overweight from neutral and raise the price target to $270 from $190.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1244 ET - Workday risks losing business as its customers ramp up their artificial intelligence use and trim employee headcounts, Piper Sandler analysts say in a note. Recent survey data shows more than half of CIOs now expect AI to drag on worker numbers, the analysts say. Given its per-employee pricing model, Workday could face slower sales growth as a result, they say. CIOs are also increasingly less keen to invest in applications, adding further pressure to Workday's growth prospects, they say. The analysts downgrade the stock to underweight from neutral and lower the price target to $235 from $255. Workday falls 4.8%. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1140 ET -- Strong growth in artificial intelligence servers should continue and help drive the overall server market to close to $1 trillion in sales by 2030, BofA Securities analysts say in a note. AI server revenue will likely rise at an average rate of 28% until then, with double-digit growth from those for both training and inference, the analysts say. Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are best poised to directly benefit from such trends, and already have large existing AI server backlogs, the analysts say.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0908 ET - While autonomous vehicles are expanding their availability, investors are divided over just how long it will take for self-driving cars to fully disrupt the marketplace, according to Wedbush in a research note. The analysts say the success of Tesla's robotaxi service stands to hurt Uber and Lyft, as the role of third-party distribution networks evolves. The comments come after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tesla is planning to expand its robotaxi offering to a larger service area in Austin, Texas, this weekend, and eyeing expansion to the San Francisco Bay Area in the coming months. "While we think the near-term financial impact to established ridesharing platforms is limited, over time, we expect AVs will disrupt the current status quo," the analysts write. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0830 ET - The cost of insuring U.S. sovereign bonds against default using credit default swaps declines to a six-month low as sentiment improves. Tech sector optimism is driving up U.S. risk appetite. "Growth stocks like Nvidia and other tech stocks are the biggest factor driving U.S. indices this week," XTB's Kathleen Brooks says in a note. The U.S. 1-year sovereign debt default swaps fall 1 basis point to 23bps, a low last seen on Jan. 6. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0817 ET - The European Union needs more time to fine-tune its general-purpose AI code of practice and how to regulate the technology, according to the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a trade group. AI Act rules on general-purpose AI will be effective for companies as of Aug. 2. The European Commission said its AI office, a body that oversees implementation of the law, would enforce rules on new AI models after a year, and two years later for existing models. "It is troubling that key parts of the GPAI framework--like the AI office guidelines on rule application, which were supposed to accompany the final code--are still missing to this day," CCIA Europe's Senior Policy Manager Boniface de Champris says. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)

0455 ET - Global leveraged loan defaults increased significantly in June, UBS strategists say in a note. This was partly due to Altice's debt restructuring, with restructurings "the overwhelming credit event of choice," UBS says. Six U.S. companies and one European company defaulted on leveraged loans in June. Altice France's leveraged loan default amount stood at 5.98 billion euro, marking the second leveraged loan default of 2025 in Europe, UBS says. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0051 ET - Forsyth Barr upgrades cinema software group Vista to outperform, from neutral, ahead of an anticipated expansion into payments. Analyst James Lindsay expects a payments offering within six months. "Vista's deep customer integration offers a compelling opportunity to earn a take rate on box office and concessions spend," the bank says. So-called software-as-a-service companies show how payments can be monetized when embedded into existing products. Forsyth Barr raises its medium-term Ebitda forecasts for Vista above consensus views. "We see a modest net take across an addressable portion of gross transaction volumes as capable of delivering a meaningful 13% uplift to projected group Ebitda by FY 2030 under our base case," it says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 10, 2025 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)

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