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.

1148 ET - Disney says demand for its parks and cruises is remaining strong, despite higher gas prices and other macroeconomic pressures. Bookings are up for both Walt Disney World and Disney cruises, Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro tells analysts on a call. Management now expects growth in its experiences segment to be at the high end of its guidance range. However, consumer demand is weaker in Asia, and Disney's parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong are expected to have more challenging third and fourth quarters, D'Amaro says. Disney also has a park planned in Abu Dhabi, which D'Amaro says is being built with a long-term view despite current conflicts in the region. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1133 ET - Disney sees the consolidation in streaming as an opportunity for greater investment rather than an increasing competitive threat, Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro says on a call with analysts. D'Amaro points to Fox's acquisition of Roku and Comcast's plan to spin off NBCUniversal as examples of consolidation and restructuring across the industry. "The way that I see it is there's actually opportunity in these developments. A more consolidated industry is really a better investment backdrop," he says. D'Amaro also thinks Disney's streaming platform can differentiate itself by bundling with other streaming offerings in a way that its competitors can't. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1117 ET - Toronto's stock indexes surge as Shopify helps extend the week's rally. The ecommerce platform, the third largest company on the TSX with a C$263.31 billion market cap, soared 18% after posting 2Q results and guidance that handily topped expectations. The TSX Composite index jumps 1.4% on the day, complemented by gains in the commodities sector. The index is now up 3.1% since Tuesday morning, driving a strong start to the shortened trading week. Broadly, Canadian equities continue to benefit from improving market sentiment, bolstered by lower crude prices, resilient corporate earnings and a potential deal with Iran on the horizon. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1104 ET - Disney says the NBA finals brought ESPN the most-watched first half of a pro basketball game since 2012, Disney Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro tells analysts on a call. The head-off between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs was the highest-rated NBA finals in 28 years, D'Amaro says. Sports is a top priority for Disney, which is evolving its streaming platform Disney+ to stream select sports events, while continuing to keep ESPN as "the primary destination for daily sports content," D'Amaro says. "When a sports fan engages with ESPN, Disney+ or our parks, their lifetime value increases," he says. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0953 ET - Uber plans to spend about $10 billion over the coming years to support its autonomous vehicle ambitions. "AVs represent a very important future for mobility," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says on CNBC. "We are partnering with the entire ecosystem," he adds. Uber has partnerships with over 30 AV companies spanning software, technology and vehicles. The company will operate AVs in 15 markets across the world by the end of the year and continues to invest in the space, Khosrowshahi says. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0949 ET - Consumer spending remains healthy, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says on CNBC. "We're not seeing any signs of trade down, we're not seeing smaller basket sizes," he says. "Consumers remain generous in their tipping, for example. Sometimes if someone is feeling pinched at the pocket they might pull back on tipping, but none of that is happening." At the same time, Khosrowshahi says labor markets remain strong as well, citing increased earnings among the company's drivers in the latest quarter. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0947 ET - Uber is passing along lower insurance costs to consumers, cutting prices across its mobility business in several markets. "One of the most significant causes of price increases in mobility in the U.S. had been insurance," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says on CNBC. With insurance costs now coming down, Uber cut prices in markets including California, and Khosrowshahi says the lower prices are driving more business. "We've seen an acceleration in terms of bookings in those markets," he says, adding that the company grew both its mobility and delivery business in the U.S. in the latest quarter. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0939 ET - Uber posts revenue of $14.19 billion in 2Q, up 12% from a year ago but slightly below Wall Street models for $14.24 billion. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on CNBC attributes the miss to a change in how Uber accounts for revenue in the U.K., "so I wouldn't call that a fundamental issue in any way," he says. At the same time, gross bookings jump 24% to $58.02 billion and adjusted earnings come in at 81 cents a share, both ahead of analyst expectations, according to FactSet. "The business continues to execute incredibly well," Khosrowshahi says. Uber is off 4% in early trading. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0907 ET - Shopify's free cash flow outlook for the third quarter came as a surprise. Oppenheimer analyst Ken Wong says the guidance for free cash flow margin to be in the high-teens to low-twenties is "a nice little step up from the last almost two years." Typically, the company would lean toward more of a "spend for growth" approach, but Wong says that "while it's not a massive step up, it still suggest that we're getting a little more profitability than we were expecting." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0859 ET -- Shopify's artificial intelligence shift is benefiting smaller merchants most of all, says President Harley Finkelstein. He says in an investor call that AI search has been helpful to smaller brands that form the long tail of commerce. "These are brands that also happen to make up the majority of Shopify's merchant base," Finkelstein says, that offer "specialized products built for a particular customer." These are benefiting the most from AI search, with "75% of AI-attributed orders in the second quarter coming from outside our top 100 categories in 2Q." Finkelstein says this is because while search engines rank by popularity against a handful of keywords, AI agents make "multiple calls into Shopify's catalog," working with richer data. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0730 ET - Growth in SpaceX's Starlink division won't be enough to support the company's share price as capital expenditure increases, XTB's Kathleen Brooks writes. Starlink, the Elon Musk-run company's satellite internet network, is the most profitable part of the company. Revenue for the division jumped to $4.3 billion in the last quarter--up from $2.6 billion a year earlier. However, since the huge uptick in SpaceX's capital outlay is largely centered around its AI division, investors will be more concerned about performance elsewhere in the company. "Starlink alone cannot prop up SpaceX's share price these days," she writes. Shares tumble 12% premarket. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0526 ET - A potential U.S. expansion of restrictions on Chinese optical modules could affect a broader range of data-center networking equipment and supply chains, according to research firm TrendForce. The firm says it is too early to view the proposal as a blanket ban, as key details such as product scope, vendor definitions and any transition period remain unclear. While U.S. customers are unlikely to quickly replace Chinese manufacturing capacity, policy pressure could drive cloud-service providers to diversify sourcing outside China. The bigger concern, TrendForce says, is whether networking equipment containing Chinese components will be able to secure FCC approvals and remain on approved supplier lists.