Seagate’s nearline hard-drive shipment capacity rose just 2% sequentially in the September quarter, but its price per TB increased 16%. Morgan Stanley cut its earnings forecasts and price target but remains positive on tight supply and demand and the ramp-up of HAMR products.
AWS third-quarter revenue rose 39% year over year, below Morgan Stanley’s 42% forecast. Backlog and capital spending support the bank’s view of subsequent growth, but free cash flow is under pressure and the release of satellite business costs has also been delayed.
Third-quarter data center results drove earnings above expectations, but weak PC demand and customer inventory reductions weakened the fourth-quarter outlook. Bernstein cut its earnings forecasts and valuation multiple, lowering its price target from $110 to $75.
JPMorgan raised its data center growth expectations for SPX Technologies while anticipating near-term costs from hiring, supply chain adjustments and production ramp-up; the bank maintained its Overweight rating and 225 dollar price target.
Core CPI and PPI both rose faster month over month in September than in the prior month, but institutions disagree on whether price pressures will persist. After leveraged positions in US stocks were unwound, changes in earnings and interest rates became central to valuation assessments.
Lower sulfuric acid prices, a decline in actual copper concentrate processing fees and a high second-quarter comparison base weighed on Jiangxi Copper’s third-quarter net profit. The company expects consumption of copper concentrate under annual long-term contracts to decline further in the fourth quarter.
An improved product revenue mix helped the company maintain its gross margin, but revenue from traditional components and investment income from joint ventures both declined in the first three quarters. Citi maintained its Buy rating and 25 yuan target price.
Third-quarter shipments still fell about 3% year over year, but gross margin rose 5 percentage points quarter over quarter. Citi sees a turning point in improved efficiency at mature factories and has raised its 2027 earnings forecast by 15%.
HSBC reviews Tencent’s Global Digital Ecosystem Summit: WorkBuddy is connecting office tools with WeCom, Hunyuan Hy4 is set to launch, and Tencent Cloud’s overseas customer base doubled over the past year.
BofA expects the Bank of Japan to hold its interest rate at 1.25% in October and judge for the first time that underlying inflation has broadly reached its 2% target. The bank still expects a rate hike in December, but markets have already priced in considerable tightening.
Foxconn Industrial Internet’s cloud computing business maintained strong growth in the third quarter. Net profit exceeded the Bloomberg consensus and the expectations of buy-side investors contacted by Citi, but gross margin and net profit fell short of Citi’s own forecasts. Citi lowered its 2026 earnings forecast and sharply reduced the valuation multiple for the AI business.
Third-quarter net profit in 2026 rose 6.5% year on year, below the first-half growth rate. Citi calculates that growth was 22.7% excluding two non-recurring items; gross margin also improved, and new orders rose 5.5% in the first nine months.
Citi believes slowing process advances and HBM's use of wafer capacity will keep advanced memory supply tight; Micron also expects DRAM supply and demand to be tighter in 2027–2028 than in 2026.
Citi expects Lumentum’s OCS business to drive near-term results above expectations, while lowering its CPO revenue forecasts and maintaining its overall earnings forecasts and price target.
Third-quarter adjusted earnings per share were $4.59, above Citi’s estimate and the market consensus. The Americas business was the main driver, but the midpoint of the company’s fourth-quarter guidance was below consensus, while Asia Pacific was also affected by costs associated with helium supply disruptions.
AWS revenue grew 39% year over year and its margin rose to 38.7%; North American retail margins also improved. However, AWS revenue fell short of higher buy-side expectations, and the midpoint of fourth-quarter operating profit guidance was below market consensus.
Citi expects easing congestion after the peak season to improve throughput, while higher utilization at existing overseas terminals could unlock operating leverage. However, tight capacity at Chinese terminals, expansion needs and costs continue to constrain returns.
Third-quarter revenue and net profit fell short of Citi’s expectations, while operating profit was broadly in line. Management says orders cover the full year of 2027, but Citi has lowered its forecasts for that year following adjustments to the expected ramp-up of next-generation products.
Citi estimates that Aluminum Corporation of China’s third-quarter net profit rose 59% year on year and fell 5% quarter on quarter, slightly exceeding its forecast. Gross profit fell 12% quarter on quarter, while lower capital expenditure drove free cash flow growth and the net gearing ratio fell to 1%.
Three participants on The Investor's Podcast analyze three stocks: Novo Nordisk is like a melting ice cube, S&P Global is a great business, and Deckers relies on HOKA and UGG.
