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.

0840 GMT - Bilibili's game revenue looks promising in the near term, Morningstar analyst Ivan Su writes in a research note. The Chinese tech company's 3Q earnings and 4Q guidance exceeded expectations, driven by robust game revenue, specifically due to the strong performance from the June launch of 'San Guo: Mou Ding Tian Xia'. However, Su cautions that it's too early to predict sustained success for the new title. He maintains a fair value estimate of HK$266.00 for the company's Hong Kong-listed shares, which closed 0.1% higher at HK$142.60. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0745 GMT - Baidu's advertising business recovery will likely align with China's potential macroeconomic recovery in 2025-2026, says Morningstar analyst Kai Wang. Despite mounting concerns of Baidu's "continued lack of visibility of recovery," Baidu offsets advertising weakness with cost controls, the analyst notes. A bright spot of the company's 3Q results was Baidu's core adjusted operating margin, which beat market expectations, Morningstar notes. While macro conditions weigh on Baidu's shares, Morningstar's investment thesis remains intact, expecting Baidu to maintain long-term dominance in China's search engine industry, he says. Baidu's shares are last 1.9% higher at HK$78.10. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0725 GMT - Xiaomi may have a few catalysts to boost its earnings visibility, Citi analysts write in a note. Its 2025 export guidance will likely to be provided in the first half of next year and investors should watch for the details of its estimates, they say. The sale-mix will likely to further improve from March with SU7 Ultra shipments and its second SUV model, they add. Further development in offline retail stores could also enhance its sales next year, Citi says. The brokerage maintains the stock's buy rating. Shares were last at HK$28.05.(jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0716 GMT - Kingsoft Cloud Holdings likely benefits from demand in artificial intelligence and the Xiaomi ecosystem, particularly for cloud consumption related to electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and large language model training, Nomura analysts say in a report. The China-based cloud services provider has primarily gained from strong AI training demand over past few quarters, with AI training and inference demand expeted to grow significantly, the analysts add. Nomura raises its 2024-2026 revenue forecasts for Kingsoft Cloud by 7.2%-10.7%. It also lifts the rating for Kingsoft's American depositary receipts to buy from neutral and raises the target price to US$6.70 from US$2.30. The ADRs closed 25% higher at US$7.21 on Friday. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

0404 GMT - Iqiyi could continue to face business headwinds in 4Q, Nomura analysts Rachel Guo and Jialong Shi say in a research note. Membership revenue likely continued its downward trend, declining 5% on quarter and 14% on year to an expected 4.1 billion yuan, given the Chinese video-streaming platform's less exciting pipeline of exclusive drama compared with peers, they say. Content distribution revenue is also likely to drop. The analysts expect segment revenue of 412 million yuan in 4Q, down 49% on quarter and 19% on year, hurt by its delayed content release. Nomura maintains a neutral rating on the U.S.-listed company and lowers the target price to $2.20 from $2.75. Iqiyi's ADRs last closed at $1.95. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0332 GMT - Megaport's uncertain earnings outlook costs it a bull at Jefferies, where analyst Roger Samuel is still waiting on operational improvement from the telco-services connectivity provider. Samuel lowers his recommendation on the stock to hold from buy, telling clients that the improvement he had been looking for by the end of the current fiscal year now looks unlikely. He sees ongoing strategic hiring in sales staff as a good move but writes in a note that operating leverage will be hard to achieve in fiscal 2026 without an acceleration in revenue growth. Target price falls by 24% to A$8.40. Shares are down 1.3% at A$7.47. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0307 GMT - Megaport's bull at Macquarie sees potential for the Australian tech-services provider to beat its annual revenue guidance on the proportion of orders fulfilled as direct sales. Macquarie's analysts point to the company's incremental investment in new sales staff, telling clients in a note that this suggests upside to revenue thanks to the higher gross margins on direct sales. They also say that recent results from listed U.S. partners suggest a slightly more buoyant operating environment, but warn that it is too early to see any sales impact on Megaport. Macquarie trims its target price 4.7% to A$10.20 and keeps an outperform rating on the stock. Shares are down 2.0% at A$7.42. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0231 GMT - Baidu's advertisement revenue will likely drop further in 4Q, hurt by a challenging macroeconomic environment and continued weak ad demand, Nomura analysts write in a note. The Chinese search-engine company has included more AI-generated content in its results, which have yet to be monetized, they note. Nomura expects ad revenue to fall 9% on year in 4Q. It maintains a buy rating on the U.S.-listed company but cuts the target price to $104.00 from $110.00. Baidu's ADRs last closed at $80.33. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0156 GMT - Xiaomi's shares will likely remain resilient on the company's promising earnings outlook, Citi analysts write in a note. The company could have potential upside from China's handset subsidy and become a haven on limited U.S. tariff impact, they say. Following strong third-quarter results, Citi believes Xiaomi's outlook remains constructive for market share gain and margin upside for its SU7 model. In terms of EV business, Xiaomi won't export its products until 2026 as it wants to focus on domestic market first. Citi maintains a buy rating for the stock. Shares last at HK$28.65. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

2243 GMT - The share-price pullback that followed WiseTech Global's guidance downgrade is deep enough to lure a new bull to the logistics software developer. Morgans analyst James Filius says in a client note that the stock is trading at an increasingly attractive earnings multiple, and that its upcoming investor day looks like a potential catalyst. He says initial findings of WiseTech's review into founder Richard White appear to put a number of allegations to rest. WiseTech's comment that it will mitigate the impact of delayed revenue suggest possible product developments, Filius adds. Morgans rolls its valuation forward and lifts its target price 18% to A$135.30. It upgrades its recommendation to add from hold. Shares are at A$121.74 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2157 GMT - WiseTech Global's bull at Bell Potter doesn't think its guidance downgrade is at all bad given recent management turmoil at the logistics software provider. Analyst Chris Savage tells clients in a note that the product-launch delay that led to the downgrade only pushes back expected revenue into a later reporting period. The income isn't lost, he stresses. He says that other new products are on track. Savage rolls forward his valuations by a year and reduces his market-risk premium, lifting his target price by 13% to A$140.00. Bell Potter keeps a buy rating on the stock, which is at A$121.74 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2147 GMT - The size of WiseTech Global's revised revenue and earnings guidance ranges suggests the logistics software provider's confidence in its outlook has declined, Jefferies analyst Roger Samuel says. He points out in a note to clients that, as well as being lower than prior guidance, the top and bottom ends of its guidance ranges are now further apart. Samuel doesn't think a single product delay could be responsible for such a downgrade, and worries about delays to more products and the potential for headwinds in WiseTech's core business. He raises his target price by 18% to A$124.50 on higher long-term revenue growth assumptions, but keeps a hold rating on the stock. Shares are at A$121.74 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2024 04:20 ET (09:20 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.