The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

0933 GMT - Rightmove's investment into AI is seen more as a tech catch-up than a proactive reinvestment, Stifel analyst Clement Genelot says in a note. The property portal appears burdened by time-consuming cloud migrations and legacy system overhauls, it has lagged behind its primary rival Scout24 in AI product rollouts and faces years without incremental AI revenue, leaving it scrambling simply to keep pace, Genelot says. Its new long-term plan has deliberately set a low bar as it assumes it won't make any extra money from new AI features between 2026 and 2028 beyond what's already included in existing subscription packages, he says. Stifel initiates cover with a sell rating and a 356 pence target price. Shares are down 4.5% at 469.70 pence. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)

0921 GMT - Artificial intelligence should transform the European digital classifieds sector, rather than eliminate it, Stifel's Clement Genelot writes in a note. While European digital classifieds have been the market's most reliable performer in terms of growth for a decade, the sector has lost more than 40% of its market value since mid-2025, Genelot says. The decline is barely due to the earnings, he notes. Instead, investors have stopped believing in a gatekeeper model in an AI world, he says. That verdict is too broad, he adds, noting that debate on AI is still open. Large-language models that support AI still account for less than 0.5% of portal traffic and have so far opted for partnership over disruption, he says. However, there is a real risk of competition from new AI-native players. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0846 GMT - Liquid-crystal display panel prices are expected to remain broadly stable in the coming months as manufacturers maintain tight output controls despite sluggish end-market demand, according to a Morgan Stanley report. TV, monitor and laptop panel prices are forecast to stay flat on month in September, supported by seasonal restocking ahead of year-end promotions and planned maintenance shutdowns in China, the report says. While MS expects average TV panel prices to decline by a low-single-digit percentage in 3Q, it sees downside limited by disciplined industry supply management. The bank says demand for IT panels softened in 2H after earlier restocking, but producers facing cost pressures are reluctant to offer further price concessions.(sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0823 GMT - Novartis's stock selloff on the failure of a neuromuscular drug in a clinical trial looks overdone and upcoming study results could be more positive for the Swiss drugmaker, Citi analysts say in a research note. The company reiterated its 2025-2030 outlook and trial setbacks for experimental neuromuscular and heart drugs del-desiran and pelacarsen are partially mitigated by the success of its remibrutinib medicine in a multiple sclerosis study, the analysts say. Full data for the MS study and results from another trial for the same drug in skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa could play in Novartis's favor, they add. Citi cuts its target price on Novartis stock to 135 Swiss francs from 142 francs. Shares fall 1.1% to 110.54 francs, after closing 11% lower Tuesday. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0821 GMT - China's export strength has proven to be a "double-edged sword" for China's economy, according to BofA Securities in a research note. "On the one hand, robust external demand has provided a critical buffer against weak domestic demand, helping keep overall growth on track to meet the lower bound of the government's 4.5% growth target," the bank says. However, persistently strong export performance, has reduced the urgency for policymakers to deliver additional easing measures, BofA says. Policymakers has refrained from announcing fresh stimulus at the July Politburo meeting, opting instead to emphasize more effective implementation of existing policies, they say. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0801 GMT - Novartis's latest clinical-trial setback raises questions about the Swiss drugmaker's acquisition track record and leaves a sales hole to be plugged in the early 2030s, Deutsche Bank's Emmanuel Papadakis says in a research note. News that drug candidate del-desiran missed the target of a late-stage study in rare neuromuscular disorder known as myotonic dystrophy type 1 came shortly after cardiovascular drug pelacarsen failed another trial. Del-desiran was the first proof point for the recent $12 billion Avidity acquisition, the analyst says. Moreover, it leaves a hole to be addressed in the early 2030s when big drugs like Cosentyx, Kisqali and Kesimpta lose patent protection, he adds. Deutsche Bank cuts its recommendation on Novartis stock to hold from buy and trims its target price to 120 Swiss francs from 140 francs. Shares fall 0.8% to 110.86 francs. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0751 GMT - China Unicom (Hong Kong)'s move to suspend dividends in 1H was an unpleasant surprise to DBS Group Research analysts, but they note this is likely to be a one-off occurrence. The board didn't declare an interim dividend in 1H, a surprise given that the stock is largely held for its yield, the analysts say in a note. The management attributed the suspension to frontloaded capital expenditure. While the analysts cut their 2026-2028 earnings estimates by 6.2%-11% on value-added tax's effects, they retain their projection of a more than 65% dividend payout ratio, which implies a 7.9% yield. DBS cuts its target price to 8.00 Hong Kong dollars from HK$8.70 and maintains its buy rating. Shares rise 0.7% to HK$5.775. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0750 GMT - China's underlying demand conditions remain subdued despite the rebound in the inflation measures, says Barclays analysts in a note. Inflation data showed a modest re-acceleration in August, driven primarily by higher energy and commodity prices, they add. The PPI inflation picked up to 3.8% on year, reversing July's moderation, as higher crude oil and non-ferrous metal prices lifted upstream sectors, while AI-related manufacturing industries continued to benefit from the global AI investment cycle and recorded further price rises, they say. Within PPI, the divergence between producer and consumer goods prices persisted, suggesting that upstream price increases have yet to fully transmit downstream, they add. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0734 GMT - Delta Electronics is entering a stronger artificial-intelligence-driven growth phase as next-generation power systems move into mass production, helping offset near-term supply chain bottlenecks, according to a Fubon Research report. While power-management chip shortages are expected to weigh on 3Q revenue, Fubon expects growth to reaccelerate in 4Q as supply constraints ease and demand for AI server power equipment remains strong. Fubon reiterates its buy rating, citing coming contributions from high-voltage direct current systems and power solutions for Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform. Delta is expected to maintain its leadership in AI server power infrastructure, supported by its research capabilities, broad product portfolio and manufacturing scale, Fubon says. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0721 GMT - European indexes fall at the open as an escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions lifts oil and weighs on sentiment. Banks, luxuries and energy-intensive stocks fall as the Europe-wide Stoxx 600 is 0.4% lower. The German DAX falls 0.5%, dragged by a 2.5% loss for defense group Rheinmetall. In Paris, the CAC 40 slips 0.6% as defense group Thales falls 1.9%. Luxury bellwether LVMH declines 1.25%. London's FTSE 100 is 0.2% lower. Luxury retailer Burberry Group loses 2.7% while BAE Systems drops 1.7%, though oil majors cushion the index's losses. Italy's FTSE MIB falls 0.4%, while Spain's IBEX 35 slides 0.9% as index-heavyweight Inditex drops 3.3% after earnings. The Dutch AEX drops 0.2% a AI-related stocks weaken. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0658 GMT - Nihon Dempa Kogyo is expected to benefit from growth in demand for crystal devices for data centers, Nomura's Mikihiko Yamato says in a report. It has a competitive edge in high-precision oscillators for optical transceivers having transmission speeds of 1.6- and 3.2-terabits per second, which are used in artificial-intelligence data centers, the analyst says. Optical transceivers currently operate at transmission speeds of 400 and 800 gigabits per second, but Nomura expects this to increase to 1.6Tbps or 3.2Tbps as data volumes increase. Nomura initiates coverage of the stock with a buy rating and a target price of 6,000 yen. Shares closed 8.65% higher at Y2,737. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0640 GMT - Inditex's most recent performance seems very reassuring, analysts at RBC Capital Markets write in a research note. The Spanish fashion company reported a 9% on-year increase in sales from Aug. 1 through Sept. 7 on a constant-currency basis. The result compares with RBC Capital Markets' estimate of a 7% increase. This should be reassuring given concerns over warm weather delaying the start to the fall season, Richard Chamberlain and Manjari Dhar say. Shares closed at 56.52 euros on Tuesday.