Tech, media & telecom roundup: Market talk (HT Tech)

0752 GMT – Moonshot AI’s new Kimi K3 model might be a DeepSeek moment, Morningstar’s Malik Ahmed Khan says in a research note. The improvement is bullish for the overall AI ecosystem, as the worst-case scenario is that AI stops progressing. That said, Morningstar says Moonshot’s launch is putting downward pressure on AI companies across hardware and infrastructure as it delivers top-level model performance at a cheaper price. “We’d hesitate to ascribe it near-parity with American frontier models, such as Fable 5, in real-world tasks as open-weight models have shown a habit of benchmark optimization to inflate results in the past,” Morningstar says. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)

0643 GMT – Dassault Systemes’ potential acquisition of drug-trial software maker ArisGlobal could be met with investor skepticism, Citi’s Balajee Tirupati and Pavan Daswani say in a research note. The Financial Times reported last week that the French software company was in talks with Nordic Capital to buy ArisGlobal for about $2 billion. Nordic Capital declined to comment when approached by Dow Jones Newswires, and Dassault Systemes didn’t respond to a request for comment. A potential acquisition would be consistent with Dassault Systemes’ strategy, extending the platform of its Medidata life-sciences tech business at a time the market is evolving with artificial intelligence, Citi says. However, investors have favored direct returns over acquisitions, and a deal would expand Dassault Systemes’ presence in a market where growth has been constrained, the analysts say. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

0418 GMT – Tencent’s current low valuation should be temporary, Bernstein analysts say in a note. The Chinese technology company’s depressed stock valuation reflects a collection of concerns, including a lack of new blockbuster game and higher expenses related to artificial-intelligence investments, they say. Markets are worried that AI roll-out means it will likely need to incur significant computing costs, while consumer AI monetization remains minimal, the analysts say. However, monetization growth would follow despite a time lag, they say. In terms of its game business, Bernstein still expects Tencent to outperform the industry. Shares are 3.6% higher at HK$478.20. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0225 GMT – Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference underlines the strategic importance Beijing attaches to AI, Diana Choyleva at Enodo Economics says in a note. AI serves as a driver of economic growth, industrial upgrading and geopolitical influence for China, the economist says. “China is not only trying to narrow the gap in computing power, but also to shape global governance and promote its open-source models as a lower-cost alternative to Western systems,” she writes. However, as Beijing presents openness and accessibility as competitive strengths of open-source models, Choyleva notes it maintains tight political control over data, content and commercial applications. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

0149 GMT – WiseTech Global’s bull at Bell Potter wonders whether the logistics-software provider might be the next relatively large-cap Australian stock to rally. With an unchanged buy rating on the stock, analyst Chris Savage tells clients in a note that worries over its former executive chair’s personal life and on potential earnings risks should start to dissipate over the coming months. The former is being addressed with the appointment of a new chair and Savage thinks the latter should follow next month, when he expects WiseTech to achieve its fiscal 2026 guidance. He acknowledges some risk on revenue but thinks this will be offset by margin strength. Bell Potter keeps a target price of 71.75 Australian dollars on the stock, which is down 2.7% at A$34.00. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0126 GMT – China is working on embedding AI into tangible applications and physical systems, Citi analysts say in a note after visiting the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. The analysts think one of the key highlights is the showcase of over 300 robots collaborating on real-world tasks. These robots demonstrate “AI’s shift from the digital world to physical applications in manufacturing, daily life, and entertainment,” they say. Among notable AI products at the exhibit, the analysts highlight Baidu’s general-purpose agent, DuMate, which can search for information, write code, build applications, Kingsoft Cloud Holdings’ WPS Lingxi, an AI office assistant, among others.(sherry.qin@wsj.com)