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.
1638 ET – Sky Network TV’s share price has performed well over the past year, but Forsyth Barr still sees the risk-reward as attractive. Sky Network TV has a path to grow its dividend from NZ$0.30/share in FY 2026 to NZ$0.40 in coming years, analyst Ben Crozier says. This would represent a 16% gross yield on the company’s current stock price. Forsyth Barr says the path to a NZ$0.40/share dividend is driven by Sky Network TV increasing sports prices at mid-single digits annually, and content cost inflation moderating. It must also meet expectations for its Discovery acquisition, and benefit from a modest cyclical recovery in advertising spending. Sky Network TV should also use part of its net cash position to reduce its share count, Forsyth Barr adds. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1227 ET – MongoDB’s cloud database service Atlas is driving its growth.Atlas accelerated to 30% year-over-year growth in the third quarter and now makes up about 75% of product mix, Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron says. New customer additions remained high for Atlas, with customer count now more than 60,800, according to D.A. Davidson analyst Rudy Kessinger. Management highlighted near-term momentum in Atlas Search, as well, and Atlas revenue outperformed management’s expectations, Cantor analysts Thomas Blakey and Michael Vidovic say. Shares are up 23% after the company reported an earnings and outlook beat. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1211 ET – MongoDB has a new chief executive who could have his eye on greater expansion for the document database company, analysts say. CJ Desai stepped in as CEO after Dev Ittycheria stepped down in November, and on Monday shared a strong quarter and higher outlook. Desai, the former president of product and engineering at Cloudflare, brings decades of experience within cloud infrastructure, enterprise software and product innovation, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says. Desai has emphasized MongoDB being a data platform, which indicates he may have plans to broaden out the company’s suite of products into adjacent areas, UBS analysts Karl Keirstead and Jack Fyda say. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1208 ET – MongoDB is outshining Wall Street’s expectations, but hasn’t yet gotten a direct lift from AI, UBS analysts Karl Keirstead and Jack Fyda say. The document database company shared higher-than-expected results and raised full-year guidance, sending shares up 23%. There is an indirect boost coming from AI due to increased data spend, the analysts say. But MongoDB doesn’t expect direct spending from enterprise agentic AI to show up in financial results for four to six more quarters, Keirstead and Fyda say. “While 2025 was a breakout year for the data software stocks, in our view it’s possible that 2026 is even stronger,” they say. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1124 ET – Apple’s hiring of Amar Subramanya to lead its artificial-intelligence efforts couldn’t come soon enough, Wedbush analysts write in a note. Apple has lagged other tech giants in AI, with planned features like AI integration in Siri failing to materialize, and it is sorely in need of outside talent. “The innovation coming out of Apple Park has been very disappointing so far,” analysts write. The upside is huge: Apple boasts the largest consumer installed base in the world, and they estimate AI monetization could add $75 to $100 to Apple’s share price. More outside hires could help break it out of an innovation funk, they say, especially as it eyes a partnership with Google Gemini. “We believe that this was a major reset while expecting more outside hires from Cook & Co. to get Apple on the right track when it comes to AI.” (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
0909 ET – T-Mobile continues to face structural challenges, such as its lack of fiber, and cyclical obstacles, like pricing that is becoming more in line with peers, KeyBanc analysts say in a research note. That said, the analysts continue, reports of the carrier’s death are exaggerated. T-Mobile could see reaccelerating organic Ebitda growth in the coming years, as the company laps an investment year in which costs rose to match customer growth. At the same time, reports that rival Verizon is having a resurgence and lowering prices are likely overhyped, as the company is in the midst of cutting costs and plotting its turnaround. KeyBanc upgrades T-Mobile to sector weight from underweight. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
0447 ET – Horizon Robotics’ stock price offers an attractive entry point, Bernstein analysts say in a note. With intense competition expected in China’s auto market next year, Horizon’s highly cost-effective solution will become even more appealing to automakers looking to differentiate through smart-driving features, they say, adding that the market is overly concerned about in-house chip development.Although BYD and Geely may have the sales volume to support its in-house chip development, the chips are at least one or two generations behind leading third-party products such as Horizon’s, and likely won’t be ready for mass production before 2027, they note. Bernstein maintains an outperform rating for the stock with a target price of HK$15.00. Shares were last at HK$8.00. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0158 ET – Videogame-console makers face a mounting headwind in surging prices for memory chips and related components, research firm TrendForce warns. That’s an issue for companies like Nintendo that are increasing memory capacity in their hardware. According to TrendForce, memory costs are behind the heftier price tag of Nintendo’s Switch 2 console, inflating production costs and eroding profit margins for the Japanese company. Memory modules will likely make up 21%-23% of total hardware costs in 2026, TrendForce estimates, pressuring Nintendo to deviate from the industry’s traditional “price-for-volume” growth strategy. Similar challenges face Sony and Microsoft too, TrendForce says as it downgrades its 2026 forecast for global console shipments. It now expects a 4.4% drop in shipments. (jie.yang@wsj.com)
0054 ET – ZTE Corp.’s partnership with TikTok developer ByteDance could mark an important milestone for China’s generative AI market, Nomura analysts Bing Duan and Ethan Zhang say in a note. ByteDance is debuting an artificial-intelligence assistant on a ZTE-made smartphone, a move the analysts say could open a new path for generative-AI monetization, the analysts say. They note that the Gen AI market is still in its early stages and that the competitive landscape remains unclear. The rollout of AI assistants on edge devices such as smartphones and automobiles could help accelerate the development of China’s AI value chain, they add. Nomura maintains its neutral rating on smartphone maker ZTE, with a target of HK$39.00. ZTE’s Hong Kong-listed shares are down 6.4% at HK$33.50. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0006 ET – Meituan’s credit outlook is set to weaken in 4Q before a small improvement in 2026, CreditSights analysts Stephanie Sim and Pius Xue say in a note. They estimate revenue growth to slow to 8% in 2025 from 22% in 2024 as intense competition continues to pressure 4Q food delivery and commission revenues. As competition in on-demand delivery gradually normalizes and overseas unit Keeta further expands, revenue growth may rise to 11% in 2026. Ebitda margin is forecast to fall to -2% in 2025 due to higher commissions and promotional spending to defend market share, and is expected to gradually recover in 2026 but remain weak compared with historical levels amid persisting competition from JD.com and Alibaba. CreditSights maintains an underperform recommendation on the stock. Shares last traded at HK$96.65. (jason.chau@wsj.com)
2253 ET – Tuas’s bull at Citi sees earnings risks tilted toward the upside after the Singapore-focused telecommunications provider’s stronger-than-expected 1Q update. Analyst William Park tells clients in a note that growth in both mobile and broadband subscriptions for the three months through October exceeded expectations, helped by brand awareness stemming from Tuas’s acquisition of M1. A high proportion of these new users could be switching from providers other than M1, he adds. At the same time, Park points out that underlying margins are expanding. Park keeps his forecasts largely unchanged for now but sees potential for beats, not least with meaningful synergies to come from M1. Citi maintains a buy rating and A$9.95 target price on the stock, which is down 1.8% at A$6.68. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
1907 ET – South Korea’s semiconductor export growth will likely accelerate through 2026, Citi Research economist Jin-Wook Kim writes in a note. The global artificial-intelligence capital expenditure cycle is expected to lead the country’s chip exports to grow 56% in 2026, faster than an estimated 23% increase in 2025, Kim says. Semiconductor exports could raise South Korea’s 2026 GDP growth by 1.3 percentage points, he reckons. The country’s current account surplus is expected to remain solid at 6.5% of GDP in 2025 and 7.1% of GDP in 2026, thanks to strong chip exports—alongside soft energy prices—that could outweigh other downside trade risks, he adds. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
