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.

1647 ET – 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. ([email protected])

1636 ET – Meta now expects capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion this year, bumping up the bottom end of its prior forecast of $125 billion to $145 billion. The updated guidance comes amid worries about the massive amounts of cash that big tech companies are spending on artificial intelligence. Meta in particular has been piling on debt to fund its AI infrastructure buildout. Shares fell 6.3% in after-hours trading. ([email protected])

1408 ET – CGI’s organic growth should benefit from a stronger pipeline. National Bank of Canada’s Doug Taylor notes in a report that organic growth improved sequentially, to a contraction of 1.2% from -3.0% in the previous quarter. This should continue to get better, as U.S. Federal contracts returned to growth with a “strong pipeline across Managed services (+20% Y/Y), SI&C (+30%), IP (+30%) and AI (double Y/Y),” which should help drive bookings and organic growth in the quarters to come, Taylor says. “This reacceleration back into positive territory is a key tenet of our positive near-term thesis,” he adds.([email protected])