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.

0751 GMT - The artificial-intelligence boom is heavily monopolizing DRAM production, particularly for high bandwidth memory, likely driving a persistent supply shortage through 2027, according to a TrendForce report. Surging AI server demand is outpacing supply, as new DRAM fabs won't meaningfully boost output until 2028, keeping prices strong. Meanwhile, weak consumer tech demand has created a sharply diverging outlook for NAND flash. TrendForce expects new capacity to push the NAND market into oversupply by late 2027, bringing potential downward pressure on prices. However, a breakthrough in agentic AI could reignite demand for high-speed NAND storage, pushing the market closer to equilibrium. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

0719 GMT - Bitcoin edges higher as investors digest the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision and earnings from U.S. tech giants Microsoft and Meta. The Fed left rates unchanged while Fed Chair Kevin Warsh provided little clues about future policy. Markets had priced in a slight chance of the Fed raising rates, causing the dollar to fall briefly in reaction to the decision. Microsoft shares rose after it delivered stronger-than-expected revenue growth forecasts. Meta shares, however, fell after its revenue guidance underwhelmed. Apple and Amazon are due to report after the U.S. market closes Thursday. Bitcoin rises 0.7% to $63,920, LSEG data show.(renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0345 GMT - Axiata's recent share price decline suggests the market has largely discounted the likelihood of the company monetizing its infrastructure assets, says CGS International analyst Prem Jearajasingam in a note. Its removal from the MSCI Malaysia Index has also weighed on the stock. News flow surrounding Axiata's asset monetization program remain a key re-rating catalyst, with the disposal of both Link Net and edotco being the preferred outcome. Delays to the edotco transaction are likely due to the complexity of its operations across seven countries and negotiations over excluding certain assets from the sale, he says. An expected 2026 dividend yield of 5.6% should provide downside support, he adds. CGS keeps an add rating and a target price of 2.87 ringgit. Shares are unchanged at 1.99 ringgit. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)

0311 GMT - It could be challenging for United Microelectronics Corp. to raise wafer prices across the board, Daiwa analysts say in a research note. The demand market is divided, with AI-related demand strong but demand for non-AI products still mixed, the analysts note. UMC now aims to skew its business toward segments with strength, including AI companion products, such as power management, connectivity and silicon photonics, as well as automotive and industrial solutions, they say. "While management sounded still upbeat, expecting some ASP uplift in 2027, we need to monitor the supply-demand dynamics closely," the analysts write. UMC shares rise 9.8% to NT$112.50. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0303 GMT - Aztech Global's near-term outlook appears subdued, DBS Group Research's Lee Keng Ling says in a research report. Management expects customer demand to stay soft in 2H, with contributions from new projects unlikely to fully offset weaker orders from existing customers, the analyst notes. Gradual ramp-up of the technology company's new-product-introduction pipeline, together with competitive pressures, FX volatility, cost inflation and limited demand visibility, are expected to weigh on revenue growth and margins in near term. DBS downgrades the stock's rating to fully valued from hold and lowers the target price to 0.66 Singapore dollar from 0.93 Singapore dollar. Shares are 2.8% lower at 0.69 Singapore dollar. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0229 GMT - The timeline for TSMC's Japan plant to fully recover production capacity remains to be seen due to continued aftershocks, research firm Digitimes analyst Derek Huang says in a note. Even if direct financial losses to TSMC are minimal, prolonged equipment recertification times for specialized processes could cause a bigger disruption to the supply chain, he says. Following a strong earthquake on Tuesday, all personnel were evacuated and postearthquake structural inspections confirm the building structures are safe, TSMC says in a statement. However, a certain amount of time will be needed for related equipment inspections and calibrations due to the relatively high seismic force, the company adds. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

2303 GMT - Microsoft is extending its estimate of the lifespan of its data centers and office building to 25 years from 15 years, beginning in the current fiscal year, and says it will increasingly classify its future data-center leases as finance leases rather than operating leases. The shift means that Microsoft can make a rare move among megacap tech companies: revise its outlook for capital expenditures lower. It now expects to record $175 billion in capital expenditures this calendar year, down from a previous expectation of $190 billion, although its investment expectations remain unchanged. Shares in Microsoft gain 7.7%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

2246 GMT - Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stresses the necessity of customers being able to swap between different artificial-intelligence models, both closed-weight and open-weight. The number of Microsoft customers who are building using multiple models has risen fivefold since the start of the year, he tells analysts on a call Wednesday. "You've got to keep your harness separate from the model," Nadella says. "That means any given model at any given time is swappable. You should and you can use frontier models. There's no reason not to, but you also can use multiple of them, right?" Microsoft has stakes in both OpenAI and Anthropic, but last week joined companies including Nvidia and Palantir in signing an open letter in support of open models. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

2139 GMT - Meta says it has received a number of requests for its compute, which has become increasingly valuable as industry capacity remains tight. "We're getting a lot of offers for compute at a significant premium over what we paid for it," CEO Mark Zuckerberg says during a call with analysts. The company says it sees an opportunity to sell that compute directly given outsized market demand. "We expect that remaining nimble about these opportunities will help us fund our build out more efficiently," CFO Susan Li says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

2130 GMT - Meta is building new personal agents that it expects to become the foundation of its next wave of products, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says during a call with analysts. The agents will work 24/7 on consumers' behalf, helping to improve their health, relationships, finances and more, he says. While agents have thus far taken off among engineers who are willing to spend time making them work, these consumer-focused agents will need to work right out of the box, and be easy enough for billions of people to use, he says. "We think that consumer personal agents is going to end up being an extremely important and massive market." Five years from now, billions of people will likely have a personal agent that understands their goals, Zuckerberg says.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

2058 GMT - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company's heavy spending on AI is necessary to capture a massive opportunity, and that the investments are now accelerating every major part of its core business. "They're improving the experience for people using our apps, driving better performance for advertisers, and helping our teams build new experiences and ship faster," Zuckerberg says during a call with analysts. "We are investing aggressively because the potential is huge." The company raised the midpoint of its capital expenditures outlook for the year, amid investor worries over big tech companies' AI spending. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

2047 GMT - Microsoft gains 3.2% in after-hours trading, as the company's report of 18% revenue growth in the fourth quarter exceeded Wall Street's expectations. Headline metrics include Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassing 30 million paid seats, as well as 27% growth in Microsoft Cloud revenue -- evidence that Microsoft is becoming an important beneficiary of artificial-intelligence adoption, CEO Satya Nadella says. The strong print spares Microsoft, at least for now, from the fate of other technology companies who have failed to convince the market that their heavy AI investments are generating sufficient returns. One such company -- Meta Platforms -- is down 6% post-close after missing Wall Street's profit expectations. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2026 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)