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

Intel should be a beneficiary of the supply crunch in components used to power artificial-intelligence infrastructure, CEO Lip-Bu Tan tells analysts on a Thursday call. The industry "is facing one of the most severe supply constraints in its history across leading edge logic, silicon wafers, memory, and subscripts. These shortages will persist for the foreseeable future," he says. "Intel is well positioned to benefit from this strong sustained demand." Intel plans to ramp its investments to support what looks to be an improving demand outlook, Tan says. Intel shares are up 1.7%, paring back gains from an after-hours rally after the company posted second-quarter results well above Wall Street expectations. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1821 ET - For Forsyth Barr, the key disappointment in KMD Brands's latest update was the higher-than-expected net debt position. KMD signaled net debt of NZ$63 million-NZ$66 million in FY26. That was materially above Forsyth Barr's forecast for a modest net cash position. Analyst Paul Laxton Koraua says the miss reflected changes to KMD's supplier terms, elevated inventory, and an NZ$8 million currency-translation impact on its Australian dollar denominated debt. Some one-off capital boosts are likely in FY27. They include US$5 million of tariff refunds. Still, the net debt position "requires disciplined execution through FY27 ahead of the NZ$43 million reduction in its debt facility," Forsyth Barr says. Its price target falls 7.0%, to NZ$2.00/share. KMD is up 0.9%, at NZ$1.72, today. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1816 ET - Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment's deal to sell The Grand Hotel puts it in a position to resume dividend payouts in FY27, says Forsyth Barr. SkyCity has entered into a non-binding heads of agreement for the sale of The Grand Hotel, but didn't say how much the asset will fetch. It came five days after SkyCity sold two other properties. Forsyth Barr values The Grand Hotel at NZ$200 million. "Industry feedback and recent transactional evidence suggest upside to this valuation, and we believe a potential sale price of between NZ$200 million and NZ$250 million could be achieved," analyst Paul Laxton Koraua says. Cash proceeds from the transaction are likely in 1H27. Forsyth Barr forecasts a NZ$0.03/share dividend in FY27, representing a 75% payout of net profit. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

Euroz Hartleys is more optimistic than the market about Beach Energy's dividends in FY26. It expects Beach to pay out A$0.04/share, some 33% above consensus forecasts for A$0.03/share. Still, both projections represent a steep drop on the A$0.09/share of dividends declared in FY25. Beach says it is reviewing its dividend framework and will update investors next month. So, the dividend outlook is likely to dominate Beach's FY26 result. "Investors are increasingly looking for either a meaningful inorganic reserve/resource addition or a move back to improved distributions," says analyst Declan Bonnick. Euroz Hartleys has a hold call on Beach, and pared its price target by 8.9% to A$1.02/share following its 4Q report. Beach ended Thursday at A$0.885. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1633 ET - Intel shares are rallying more than 10% after-hours, driven by a blowout beat in the second quarter. Adjusted per-share earnings were 42 cents, nearly double Wall Street's expectations of 22 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue rose 25% to $16.1 billion vs. a consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. The strength from Intel, which it attributed to robust AI compute demand, follows a tough day for Wall Street's tech investors: the Nasdaq closed Thursday down 2.2%, driven by worries about AI spending projections from Tesla and Google parent Alphabet. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1542 ET - Winpak's 2Q results show a sharp shift in packaging demand across food, pet-food and health products. Revenue rises 7.9% on stronger pricing and mix but underlying volumes are uneven. Flexible packaging volumes fall 2%, with specialty film volumes dropping 22% on weaker fresh beef and food-service demand, while volume of modified atmosphere packaging grows 3% on stronger processed meat and poultry consumption. Lidding product group volumes climb 9%, driven by growth in pet food lidding while specialized printed packaging volume rises more than 60% tied to nutraceuticals. Packaging machinery volumes dropped 11% as fewer machines were delivered to customers. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1507 ET - IBM's full-year guidance was better than expected even after the company's troubling profit warning last week, JPMorgan analysts say in a note. Bright spots included Big Blue maintaining its FY26 free cash flow growth outlook of $1 billion and management's conviction that missed deals in 2Q were slipped deals rather than lost deals, the analysts say. But the numbers and conviction may not be enough--IBM needs to execute to build investor confidence in the outlook, the analysts say. "We remain overweight rated as we think the current stock price reflects a more dire outlook many likely assumed after the preannouncement, but expect investors will need to see evidence of better execution before underwriting a meaningful recovery." IBM is up 0.2%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1448 ET - Software firm CGI's stock has outrun its fundamentals just as industry headwinds deepen. TD Cowen's David Kwan says CGI now trades at a 15%-20% premium to Accenture, despite historically trading at a 25% discount, calling it "a high bar" heading into 3Q results. Accenture, a peer of CGI, and recent data from across the sector show weaker discretionary budgets, longer sales cycles and geopolitical reduced visibility tied to the Iran conflict. Kwan also says the sector continues to face AI-related "pricing and competitive headwinds." Cowen trims forecasts and doesn't expect a return to positive organic growth until fiscal 2027, downgrading the stock rating to hold from buy and lowers its price target to C$99. Shares are down 3.2% to C$89.44, and are down 29% year-to-date.(adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1346 ET - ServiceNow's 2Q print builds confidence in the company's ability to differentiate itself from legacy software peers seen at risk of artificial-intelligence displacement, Stifel analysts say in a note. "Net/net, after two pedestrian quarters, NOW appears positioned to distance itself from the incumbent application pack, although it likely takes few more strong quarters to drive a meaningful re-rate," the analysts say. ServiceNow reported AI demand ahead of Stifel's expectations, as well as a beat on subscription revenue growth. ServiceNow slips 1.8%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1334 ET - Oppenheimer analysts reiterated their cautious stance on Tesla after the electric vehicle maker suggested it could have lower operating margins as it delivered second-quarter results the analysts call "uninspiring." Tesla is in the early stages of an expensive, multi-year business transition as it looks to scale up its AI operations, the analysts say, noting the company gave muted commentary on key growth drivers like Optimus and robotaxi despite seemingly robust EV sales. "We remain cautious on shares given substantial execution risk and capital needs," the analysts say, cutting their full-year revenue and earnings per share estimates for the company. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1328 ET - Tesla's heavy investments likely won't bear fruit until further down the road than UBS previously forecast, analysts say in a note. Tesla's management struck a "somewhat cautious" tone on its robotaxi business and Optimus robot during the call, likely trying to dampen investors' near-term expectations while still talking up the long-term opportunity, the analysts say. Tesla has ambitious goals with robotaxi, but it needs to be careful with scaling it up given concerns over safety, while Optimus will be tough to scale since it has no existing supply chain, the analysts say. "For the stock to meaningfully accelerate to the upside, the company will likely need to begin to show more tangible progress on these initiatives," they say, reiterating their neutral rating and lowering their price target to $385 from $442. Tesla sinks 14% to $322.37. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1311 ET - Canadian National Railway's positive agreements with Union Pacific puts it in a stronger competitive position against rival Canadian Pacific Kansas City, according to TD Cowen in a note. Analyst Cherilyn Radbourne says one agreement grants CN operating rights over Union Pacific's line between Memphis and the Eagle Pass gateway to Mexico. A second settlement agreement would expand CN's access in the key U.S. Midwest. She notes that access to Mexico "should move ahead as soon as possible," while the settlement agreement "depends on STB [Surface Transportation Board] approval and completion of the Union Pacific-Norfork Southern merger." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2026 18:26 ET (22:26 GMT)

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