Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk

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.

0629 GMT - Semiconductor companies are set to voice confidence during the upcoming earnings season despite concerns over the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending, Bernstein analysts say in a research note. AI investments are now so massive and are approaching major and hard limits that can't be simply explained by supply and demand, they say. Rising borrowing costs, increasing safety and environmental concerns as well as regulatory guardrails could trigger a deceleration in semiconductor demand. However, signals from the upstream semiconductor supply chain continue to point to unabated AI demand and continued shortage, they say. Bernstein still holds a positive view on the upcoming earnings results and outlooks offered as some of the concerns above have been priced in the recent correction. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0305 GMT - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s revenue is likely to be driven by continued growth in AI demand and resilient high-end smatphone demand, Bernstein says. TSMC's 3Q revenue at 1.49 trillion New Taiwan dollars, calculated based on its monthly revenue, is 3% above the market consensus, Bernstein analysts say. The firm expects TSMC's revenue in U.S. dollar terms to increase 41% this year. Investors will be focusing on TSMC's 2-nanometer production increase, potential further expansion in the U.S. and its 2027 outlook when the chip maker announces its full 3Q earnings Thursday, the analysts say. Bernstein sees an upside risk to its current projection that TSMC's revenue will grow 30% annually in 2027 and 2028. Shares are 1.35% lower at NT$2,550.00. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0214 GMT - Selected mobile stocks, particularly those offering attractive dividend yields, could recover over the next 12 months as uncertainty over the companies' financial impact from their stakes in Malaysia's state-backed 5G infrastructure firm Digital Nasional eases, Maybank IB analyst Tan Chi Wei says in a note. The completion of DNB's debt refinancing is expected to pave the way for its telco shareholders to begin accounting for their share of its losses from 4Q, he says. Mobile operators could potentially recover amid reduced uncertainty, he reckons. U Mobile's widening losses could encourage more disciplined pricing in the mobile market, he adds. Maybank maintains a neutral rating on Malaysian telcos, pegging Axiata and Telekom Malaysia as its preferred picks for mobile and fixed-line procviders, respectively. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

2130 GMT - Shares of the three major U.S. telecommunications companys -- AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile US -- drop in after-hours trading as SpaceX's effort to disrupt their dominance with its Starlink Mobile business moves closer to fruition. SpaceX agreed to buy a portfolio of 800 megahertz spectrum originally owned by T-Mobile, in what it called one of the final steps toward becoming "a major mobile carrier in the US." SpaceX has made no effort to hide that it has the three companies in its crosshairs: "I anticipate us to be able to acquire quite a few of their customers because I think our service will be better," SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell told investors in August. AT&T drops 7.5%, Verizon slides 7%, and T-Mobile loses 6.7% after hours. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

2107 GMT - Spectrum licenses that once belonged to T-Mobile US have now fallen into the hands of one of its fastest-moving competitors: Elon Musk's SpaceX. T-Mobile in August sold its portfolio of 800 megahertz spectrum licenses to Grain Management in exchange for Grain's 600 MHz licenses and $2.9 billion in cash. Grain has now sold that portfolio to SpaceX, which has explicitly said that its Starlink Mobile business aims to take market share from T-Mobile and its telecommunications rivals, Verizon and AT&T. "This prime low-band spectrum addresses one of the key remaining technical gaps that will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US," SpaceX says. T-Mobile shares fall 6.6% after-hours. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1725 GMT - Palantir is positioned to benefit as the growth of the market for bespoke software and sovereign AI outpaces that of the market for packaged software, according to Goldman Sachs in a note. Palantir is expanding its vertical model deeper into financials services, semiconductors, and neoclouds, analysts Gabriela Borges and Maura Hager say, while enterprises are increasingly looking to build AI tools that capitalize on their existing operating moats and aren't reliant on frontier models. They also say Palantir has a head start in using AI agents as forward-deployed engineers, and that the company has an opportunity to expand its work with the U.S. government. Goldman upgrades Palantir to buy from neutral. Palantir is up 1.6%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1529 GMT - David Ellison sees multiple pathways to pay down the significant debt Skydance currently carries. "One is to grow the business," Ellison says in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. "We're going to be investing more in content than any of our peers." At the same time, Ellison says there are billions of dollars in cost synergies that will emerge throughout the integration process. Over the same period, free cash flow is expected to grow. "We are absolutely in a position where we can grow the business and delever simultaneously," Ellison says. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1519 GMT - David Ellison says all the work it took to complete his $81 billion deal to combine Paramount with the much larger Warner Bros. Discovery was well worth it. "The reason why we went through everything that we did is because with the combination, and the completion of this transaction, we are positioned to win in every single vertical that we operate in," Ellison says in an interview with CNBC. Ellison adds that the combined company, called Skydance, has "the greatest content engine with marquee intellectual property," as well as the ability to immediately scale its streaming, sports and linear portfolios. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1220 GMT - Schneider Electric doesn't seem to have convinced investors of the merits of its proposed $22.6 billion acquisition of U.S. software maker PTC, and it will take time for the deal to be digested, Jefferies analysts say in a research note. Most investors don't understand the need to invest as much in the French engineering group's industrial-automation division, the analysts say. The company could ease some of those concerns by completing a capital increase quickly and presenting a clear plan to deliver synergies, Jefferies says. Addressing the AI disruption risk will be more difficult, especially given that the deal will take about a year to close, the analysts add. Jefferies raises its target price on Schneider's stock to 323 euros from 289 euros. Shares rise 0.3% to 255.40 euros. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0915 GMT - SAP should report a moderation in cloud business growth when the German business-software group posts third-quarter results on Oct. 21, UBS analysts write in a research note. SAP's current cloud backlog--a closely watched measure of sales the group expects over the coming year based on existing contracts--grew 26% on year at constant currencies in the second quarter. Analysts say a slowdown to 24% or 25% in growth is highly likely in the third quarter. They say checks indicate that provisioning times for new SAP software functionalities at some large tech clients were lengthening as they invested more in AI infrastructure. SAP shares trade 0.7% higher at 188.88 euros. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 09, 2026 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)