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.

0748 GMT - Asian equities, namely Chinese stocks, increasingly face geopolitical risks amid the prospect of a meeting between Xi Jinping and Trump later this month, BNP Paribas analysts write in a note. The bank argues that recent disputes over trade imbalances, supply chains and AI are deepening the conflict between the world's two largest economies. While the meeting could result in an extension of an existing trade truce and further commitments, BNP doesn't expect a "grand bargain" or an outcome that would materially support Chinese or Asian equities. The U.S. and China are increasingly building separate economic and technological blocs, they note, adding that it's a trend that could complicate supply chains and make bilateral revenue exposure more difficult to value. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

0732 GMT - Z.ai may still face intense competition, HSBC analysts say in a research note. Z.ai increased its December 2026 annual recurring revenue guidance to US$2.4 billion, in line with market consensus range of between US$2 billion and US$2.5 billion, they say. August annual recurring revenue was solid at US$1.6 billion, they say, while noting revenue and gross profit actually missed consensus. This is partially due to the company's strategy change, they say. HSBC maintains its hold rating on the stock, given continued intense competition and cut target price to HK$1,375,00 from HK$1,500. Shares last traded at HK$1,112.00. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0705 GMT - Pearson faces pressure to continue to outperform, Citi analyst write in a note. The London-listed education company's first-half performance showed operational progress, but margins were weaker than expected in its assessment and qualifications unit, they say. Management's focus on reinvestment to support long-term organic growth seems right, as there is significant potential for cost efficiencies, they add. However, "the recent re-rating has increased the hurdle for further outperformance and we see limited upside to consensus in the short term," they say. The U.S. bank cuts its recommendation on the stock to neutral from buy and raises its target price to 13.45 pounds from 13 pounds. Shares are down 2.2% at 11.99 pounds. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0556 GMT - The potential for Meituan's long-term earnings recovery appears to be overlooked by the market, says Morningstar's Chelsey Tam in a note. The Chinese food-delivery platform's earnings are improving as the delivery price war cools but its stock price performance was lukewarm after its 2Q results, likely due to a disappointing 3Q profit outlook, she says. She notes weak macroeconomics and poor weather are weighing on the travel segment, while Meituan is raising its marketing costs in the instore, hotel and travel segments to compete with rival Douyin. Still, "we think the market is overly concerned about Meituan's share loss in the in-store businesses," she says. Morningstar retains its fair-value estimate at 110 Hong Kong dollars, noting Meituan's shares seem undervalued. Shares rise 1.6% to HK$77.85. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0531 GMT - Chinese solar producers are likely to remain under pressure from industry overcapacity, exacerbated by a steep drop in China's solar installations, says Morningstar's Cheng Wang in a note. LONGi Green Energy Technology and JA Solar Technology posted 2Q losses amid declining revenue. The analyst reduces his module shipment estimates for both producers and cuts his 2028-2030 net profit projections by 12%-13% for LONGi and by 18%-33% for JA. Still, he sees the worst is behind the Chinese solar sector, as government intervention and market forces may alleviate oversupply. Morningstar trims its fair-value estimate for LONGi by 5% to 16.50 yuan and reduces JA's by 15% to 12.40 yuan. LONGi shares last 2.2% lower at 11.80 yuan, while JA shares decline 2.6% to 6.85 yuan. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0501 GMT - Shares of Chinese Apple suppliers could rerate faster heading into the iPhone maker's impending product launch, DBS Group Research analysts say in a commentary. They reckon unusually bullish language from Apple's new CEO is raising expectations for the Sept. 9 event and supporting sentiment toward Apple value-chain stocks. Suppliers that are likely to benefit from this year's Apple product cycle include Lens Technology, which could be an exclusive glass supplier for a potential foldable iPhone; Lingyi iTech, which could supply foldable precision components; and Sunny Optical, as Apple's next iPhone could be the first with an adjustable-aperture camera. These stocks could gain further if there are strong initial preorders of Apple products after the launch, DBS adds. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)

0234 GMT - AI-driven changes in memory architecture could create new growth opportunities for Taiwanese memory suppliers AP Memory and Macronix, Morgan Stanley says. The bank expects 3-D stacking to emerge as the next major memory architecture beyond today's 2.5-D HBM designs, increasing the importance of technologies such as hybrid bonding and wafer-on-wafer integration. Meanwhile, NAND flash is taking on a larger role in AI systems, supporting tasks such as model storage and inference processing rather than serving only as storage. That trend is expected to boost demand for higher-performance NAND products, according to Morgan Stanley. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

0213 GMT - Artificial-intelligence infrastructure spending is set to remain resilient as enterprises expand deployments beyond pilot projects, according to Forrester Research analyst Naveen Chhabra, after Dell reported record AI server orders, revenue and backlog. Dell's higher full-year guidance indicates customers are committing capital to AI infrastructure despite economic uncertainty, Chhabra says. He adds that enterprise AI investment is increasingly driving broader infrastructure upgrades, including networking, storage, security, observability and end-user computing. While the results underscore strong demand for AI-related systems, Chhabra warns that the gap between companies' AI aspirations and actual achievements continues to widen. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

2239 GMT [Dow Jones]--Vista Group International's bull at Ord Minnett is upbeat about the improving health of the movie-theater industry and names four longer-term potential revenue drivers beyond the rollout of the company's Vista Cloud product. "Vista's reliance on cinema industry health will increase materially as its cloud transition rolls out," says analyst Paul Graham. "This is turning from a headwind to potentially a growth driver going forward for Vista." The movie slate for 2026 looks good and the industry is investing. Ord Minnett says the quartet of drivers after Vista Cloud could deliver double-digit revenue growth and greater earnings growth from 2030. It lists them as Vista Payments, monetization of its data pool in advertising and media, agentic AI booking, and family entertainment centers. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

MongoDB says it's maintaining its prudent approach to guidance after an analyst on its earnings call points out that its forecast for the rest of the year implies a slowdown in growth for its Atlas offering in the fourth quarter. "We are always going to be prudent about it," CEO CJ Desai says. "For Q4 specifically, it is still in consumption dynamics. That is still ways away from our perspective," he says, noting the company needs to see how things play out in the rest of the third quarter. "I am optimistic on what I'm seeing, both from the core cohort perspective on Atlas, as well as what we are seeing on the AI native side," he says. CFO Mike Berry also says that the recent strength of Atlas has been widespread across industries, and not concentrated in a single customer. Additionally, the growth of the company's enterprise advanced business is not coming at the expense of Atlas, Berry says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

2212 GMT - MongoDB raised its full-year outlook and reported a 30% jump in second-quarter sales, marking its highest level of growth in years. However, in a note published last month, Morgan Stanley analysts say investors had high expectations heading into the report. While the infrastructure services industry is experiencing its best demand environment since 2022, "the challenge heading into results is that the market has picked up on the improving demand trends and shares have rallied significantly over the last 3 months," the analysts say. Shares of MongoDB slide 13%, to $375.82, in late trading. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

2026 GMT - Dell Technologies shares trade higher after-hours, as the company reports revenue reaching a record high of $46.97 billion and lifts its full-year revenue outlook by $25 billion at the midpoint. The results were driven by demand for both traditional servers and networking and servers optimized for artificial-intelligence. Dell now forecasts AI-optimized server revenue hitting $74 billion in the current fiscal year, up from a previous view of $60 billion. Shares gain 10% to $468 after the close of regular trading.