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.

0849 GMT - StarHub's earnings recovery could be pushed back given intense competition in the Singapore mobile sector, RHB Research's Singapore team say in a note. The telecommunications operator's 2025 earnings disappointed the analysts, marking a low point with headline Ebitda contracting by double digits. While the company expects some cost savings from network-optimization efforts, these will likely come through only in 2027-2028, they say. StarHub also intends to maintain commercial flexibility to defend market share, the analysts note, which is expected to weigh on earnings. RHB Research slashes its 2026-2028 earnings forecasts by 58%-63%. It also downgrades the telecom operator to sell from neutral and cuts its target price to S$1.00 from S$1.19. Shares fall 0.9% to S$1.13. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0805 GMT - Bitcoin rises marginally but its recovery remains modest after its recent sharp selloff. Risk appetite improves slightly after the U.S. and Taiwan signed a trade agreement Thursday and following a Reuters report that the U.S. shelved key tech restrictions targeting China ahead of an April meeting between the two countries' leaders. However, investors remain cautious following sharp declines in U.S. stocks overnight as tech shares fell on fresh worries that AI will disrupt businesses. Bitcoin rises 0.6% to $66,170, having reached a near one-week low of $64,998 Thursday and a 16-month low of $60,008 last Friday, LSEG data show. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0515 GMT - NetEase's lengthening revenue deferral cycle is positive, says Morningstar analyst Ivan Su in a research note. As NetEase's deferred revenue is amortized over the estimated average playing period, a longer recognition cycle indicates users are spending more time in NetEase's newer titles, showing stronger engagement and retention, Su says. With game makers increasingly incorporating AI in game production, Su thinks top-tier game makers like NetEase could produce games more efficiently, adding that AI is pushing gaming companies to develop better products. NetEase's H Shares are last 1.6% lower at HK$184.00. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0425 GMT - SK Hynix is likely to post stronger 1Q earnings on surging semiconductor prices, Nomura's C.W. Chung and Eon Hwang say. The analysts expect prices for commodity DRAM and NAND products--the two main memory-chip types--to rise at faster-than-expected rates of 90% and 60%, respectively, on quarter for the January-March period. They raise their 1Q operating-profit forecast for the chip maker to 36 trillion won from 29 trillion won. Nomura also raises its 2026 net-profit forecast for the company to 152 trillion won from 121 trillion won, with prices for DRAM and NAND now forecast to surge 176% and 146%, respectively, this year. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

0335 GMT - Lenovo's margins could remain resilient despite higher component costs, CGS International's Summer Wang says in a research note. The analyst expects Lenovo's 2026 PC shipments to fall 5% as consumer demand weakens on rising PC prices amid component cost pressures. The Windows 10 end-of-support upgrade cycle may provide some support to shipments. Lenovo's PC pretax income margin could remain stable at 6.8%-7% in fiscal 2027 and 2028, supported by higher selling prices as AI PC shipments make up a bigger share of the product mix, the analyst adds. CGS International maintains a buy call but lowers its target price to HK$12.00 from HK$12.60. Shares rise 1.8% to HK$9.16. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0315 GMT - NetEase's game growth is likely to pick up pace in 2H, according to Nomura analysts in a research note. The company's earnings missed expectations in its latest quarter, while management noted it's likely to release a highly anticipated new game, SoR, in 3Q, the analysts say. A summer launch may "capitalize on the strong seasonality," they note. The analysts think the launch of SoR, along with a normalized base effect, will likely help re-accelerate its game growth to 12% on year in 2H. Nomura keeps a buy rating, but slightly lowers its target price for its ADRs to US$155.00 from US$160.00 after revaluing the company's individual business units. Its ADRs last closed at US$118.17. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0246 GMT - Samsung Electronics is likely to benefit from higher average selling prices and increased shipments for high-bandwidth memory products, Nomura's C.W. Chung and Eon Hwang say in a note. The memory-chip maker has started shipping the industry's most advanced HBM4 with faster data-processing speeds. The analysts see potential for a 30%-40% pricing premium on Samsung's HBM4 product, which delivers a constant data-processing speed of 11.7 gigabits a second. Samsung says its HBM4 offers faster data-processing speeds than the HBM3E's 9.6 Gbps and can be upgraded to 13 Gbps. Nomura now expects Samsung's semiconductor business to post 1Q operating profit of 44 trillion won, compared with 33 trillion won forecast previously. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

0231 GMT - NetEase is likely to maintain solid momentum in its earnings for 2026, Deutsche bank analyst Leo Chiang says in a research note. Despite its 4Q results missing market expectations, the analyst expects 2026 revenue to grow 8% and adjusted net profit to rise 10%, supported by sustained performance from existing key titles, robust deferred revenue over the past two quarters, and ongoing global expansion. Meanwhile, additional upside is anticipated from the highly awaited 3Q launch of "Sea of Remnants," he says. The game maker's AI-driven product innovation and efficiency gains could further underpin its long-term growth, he adds. Netease's H shares are 1.1% lower at HK$184.80. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0106 GMT - Maxis's core earnings per share are expected to remain largely flat from 2026 to 2028 due to higher 5G access costs and additional 2100 MHz spectrum fees, CIMB Securities analyst Choong Chen Foong says in a note. The stock trades at about 11.8X 2026 forecast operating cash flow, broadly in line with CelcomDigi and Telekom Malaysia, and about 5% below its five year average, suggesting valuations remain reasonable, he reckons. Foong raises his 2026 core earnings forecast by 3% after Maxis's 4Q 2025 results met expectations. Maxis offers attractive 2026-2028 expected dividend yields of 4.7%-5.0%, despite unexciting earnings outlook, he adds. CIMB maintains a buy rating on Maxis and keeps its target price at MYR4.55. Shares are 0.5% higher at MYR3.85. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

1828 GMT - D.A. Davidson analysts say their view on Palantir is unchanged after famed investor Michael Burry published a report with a new bear case on the company. The report "does not present new evidence or an argument that would cause us to change our positive view on Palantir," the analysts say. The analysts agree AI and large-language models are in very early stages and still have to be refined before they can add the value that justifies current investment rates, but do not agree that this will be a problem for Palantir, they say. "The very reason Palantir is doing so much better than any software company is that Palantir is the rare company actually helping its clients achieve value from AI in its mission critical systems," they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1718 GMT - AppLovin looks like it can keep up its two main growth vectors, UBS analysts say in a note. For one, gaming advertising budgets continue to grow at a stronger clip than the analysts imagined, they say. Non-endemic client spending also continues to increase, despite being capped as AppLovin allows only some advertisers to use the product currently, the analysts say. Outsized revenue on both sides is driven by ongoing improvements in AppLovin's recommendation engines, which is delivering strong return on ad spend, the analysts say. "This trend in our view can sustain, and allows us to underwrite a stronger for longer scenario," they say, raising their price target on the stock to $740 from $686. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1604 GMT - Cisco Systems investors' expectations were high heading into earnings, which is putting pressure on the stock despite the company's earnings beating expectations across the board, Raymond James analysts say. Shares are down 12%. The analysts say expectations had risen and the stock was performing well over the past year, so concerns about declining gross margins, weakness in security and limited earnings per share upside is weighing on the stock. Gross margins fell 1.2 percentage points in the fourth quarter. Security sales declined 4% year over year, missing estimates. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 13, 2026 04:20 ET (09:20 GMT)

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