Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk

Dow Jones
5 hours ago

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.

1311 ET - Rising bond yields beat out the prospect of an AI bubble as the biggest "tail risk," according to the latest Bank of America survey of global fund managers. About one-third of survey respondents named a "disorderly rise in bond yields" as the biggest tail risk, while 28% named an AI bubble, down from 32% in August. Bond yields have been climbing, fueled by surging energy prices brought on by the Iran war and growing national debt among other factors. The 10-year Treasury yield touched 5.04% earlier, its highest level since 2007. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1310 ET - The AI data center boom is expected to keep chugging along, according to Bank of America's latest survey of global fund managers. Of those surveyed, 79% said they do not expect one of the AI hyperscalers to announce a cut in capital expenditures this year, up from 71% in August. But investors see the spending as carrying some risk: 42% of respondents named AI hyperscaler capex as the most likely source of a systemic credit event, and net 33% said companies are overinvesting. As for the most crowded trade, 53% identified "long global semiconductors" which matched last month's survey. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1239 ET - Wells Fargo still has a lot of opportunities to use AI within its business, Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo says. When asked at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference about headcount being down for several quarters, Santomassimo says there is more room to use AI to drive efficiency. Already, AI has been used to autonomously code and is present across company functions, including operations and call centers, Santomassimo says. "It'll bring headcount down more," he says. "Whether headcount will be down every quarter forever, probably not, but we still have a lot more to continue to drive it." (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1034 ET - BCE's medium-term prospects for AI buildout are "very encouraging," says TD Cowen's Vince Valentini. The analyst says "BCE expects to have the full incremental 900 MW of DC capacity (taking the Saskatchewan total to 1.2 GW) operational well within 10 years." Because the project remains a nonbinding MOU without locked-in customer contracts or power commitments, BCE hasn't updated its official 2028 guidance. However, Valentini calculates that its data center segment could account for C$10.08 a share, or 12% of BCE's target enterprise value. TD raises its target price by C$3 to C$40. BCE is up 1% to C$32.47. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0950 ET - FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam says he doesn't think any company can succeed in AI if its top executive doesn't take an active role in shaping the technology. "You can't have a business strategy without technology, and the reverse is also the case," Subramaniam says at the WSJ Technology Council Summit. "And AI is the defining technology of the era, so the CEO has to drive it." (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0905 ET - While on stage at a tech summit, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang puts President Trump on speakerphone, giving the president a chance to push back on recent safety concerns over AI. "It's all a hoax," Trump says. Trump defends AI and data centers as an economic driver for the U.S., forecasting that AI will be "the oil of the next 20-25 years--it's bigger than the internet." Huang, who has said that the AI warnings are aimed at boosting business for cybersecurity firms, tells Trump he agrees with his views. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0749 ET - A total of 79% of fund managers polled in Bank of America's global fund manager survey for September say they don't expect any of the AI companies to announce a cut in capital expenditure this year. This is up from 71% of fund managers in the August survey. Only 14% of respondents said they expect an AI capex reduction this year, BofA says. The survey was conducted between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, before Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk, chief executives at massive AI companies, called for a slowdown in AI development. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0418 ET - Shares of European semiconductor companies are mixed after a Monday selloff that was triggered by calls for a slowdown in the development of advanced artificial-intelligence models over safety concerns. Such calls weighed on global chip stocks on Monday as investors worried that slower AI development could weigh on semiconductor demand. On Tuesday, shares of Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker ASML Holding and smaller rival ASM International are up 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. BE Semiconductor Industries, the Dutch supplier of semiconductor assembly equipment, is up 0.4%. German chip maker Infineon Technologies declined 0.6%. STMicroelectronics shares fell 0.7%. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)

0330 ET - Vodafone Group could benefit from several potential positive factors, Citi's Carl Murdock-Smith writes in a note. These include renewed investor enthusiasm following French billionaire Xavier Niel's investment--specifically if he were to increase his stake or seek board representation--as well as the possibility of an upgrade to short-term guidance, he says. "While some investors may be inclined to turn cautious following Vodafone's recent share price rally, we remain neutral rather than turning more defensive," he adds. However, some concerns remain related to the company's German segment, he says. Shares are down 0.3% at 1.30 pounds. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0328 ET - Thailand's near-term private investments could be weighed by regulatory uncertainty for data centers, Maybank Securities (Thailand) analyst Chak Reungsinpinya says in a report. The government has disclosed plans to overhaul approval processes for data center investments and paused the development of 166 new data centers. Data center applications received by the Board of Investment in 2Q have slowed significantly from the 1Q peak. Project applications, approvals and issuance in other sectors, including automotive and electronics, have been much more stable. However, they remain significantly smaller than data centers in terms of investment scale. "As such, while [data center] regulations remain unfinalized, we do not expect a material recovery in aggregate BOI figures," Maybank says.(amanda.lee@wsj.com)

0116 ET - Asia remains the region with the weakest equity-positioning profile as new short-selling drives a deterioration in sentiment, Citi says in a note. Positioning in the S&P/ASX 200 weakened significantly, while Nikkei exposure remains deeply bearish and heavily profitable, reducing the prospect of immediate short-covering support. The Hang Seng has the region's most vulnerable long book, with majority of the longs underwater and increasingly exposed to capitulation risk. South Korea is the exception, as new risk flows improved Kospi positioning. However, with a large proportion of shorts still offside, a market rebound could trigger further squeeze-driven upside. (venkat.pr@wsj.com)

0043 ET - LG Display's 3Q earnings could miss market expectations, Kiwoom Securities' Kwon Min-kyu says. The South Korean display-panel maker is facing input-cost pressure from rising semiconductor prices amid tight chip supply, the analyst writes in a note. Higher prices for some finished goods that use chips could also weaken demand, as manufacturers pass on higher costs to customers, Kwon notes. The company, like other Korean exporters, is also exposed to the impact on earnings from the won's recent sharp gains against the dollar, he adds. Kiwoom expects LG's operating profit to fall 40% from a year earlier to 257.2 billion won in 3Q, below market consensus forecast of 429.1 billion won.

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