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.

1048 ET - The Democrats' gains in the U.S. midterm elections raise the prospects of stricter regulations on new data-center buildout, Allianz Research strategists say in a note. Democrats heavily campaigned on more regulation on AI and data centers, and the election outcome raises this risk, the strategists say. "Governors-elect who back a full or conditional moratorium now preside over 47 GW of planned data-center capacity." (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

1018 ET - The New York Times Company's growth continues to be fueled by its digital business. In 3Q, digital-only subscription revenue grew 14.6%, while digital advertising revenue gained 12%. The news-and-media company says it added about 420,000 net digital-only subscribers sequentially in the period, more than it added in the previous two quarters. New York Times Company rises 0.6%. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0957 ET - Uber says it's working to boost the supply of drivers in its ride-hailing business, after it failed to keep up with consumer demand in some international markets in the latest quarter. The company says it's making targeted investments in driver acquisition, retention and reactivation in those regions, a strategy that it says has worked in the past and is starting to bear fruit this time around. "Encouragingly, overall Mobility growth trends improved in October," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says in prepared remarks, noting the company is confident it can return its mobility unit to more consistent year-over-year growth in 4Q. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0955 ET - Uber says it expects minimal to no further deals through at least 2027 as it looks to focus on integrating the acquisitions it has already announced. That would end the company's recent ramp up in dealmaking in both its mobility and delivery businesses. This year, Uber has acquired chauffeur service Blacklane and parking app SpotHero, and announced agreements to buy German food-delivery company Delivery Hero and catering platform ezCater. Uber was also previously in talks over a potential deal for grocery delivery giant Instacart, WSJ reported. Uber Eats' rival DoorDash recently announced its agreement to acquire Instacart for $17 billion. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0948 ET - Uber has raced to work with autonomous vehicle startups across its ride-hailing and delivery businesses, with a base that now includes dozens of partners. Going forward, the company says it plans to focus on a smaller group of AV players. "Building a broad ecosystem does not mean spreading our resources evenly," Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi says in prepared remarks. Uber plans to put resources behind the partners it sees having the clearest paths to scaling up commercial operations, and having attractive economics, he says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0938 ET - Uber's core ride-hailing business, its biggest segment by revenue, was a weak spot in 3Q with a 2% decline in revenue. The company says elevated fuel costs, tighter local labor conditions and competition for drivers prevented it from meeting demand in several international markets, like India and Brazil. U.S. growth, meanwhile, moderated much more modestly, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi says in prepared remarks. Uber says it has responded to those headwinds by investing in driver acquisition, retention and reactivation in markets where demand is outpacing supply, a move it says has led to signs of improvement. Uber is up 3.5% in early trading. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

0934 ET - Datadog executed a strong third quarter, CEO Olivier Pomel says on a call with analysts. "We saw strength across our business, including across our product lines and across our diverse customer base," he continues. Revenue growth from non-AI customers accelerated for the fifth quarter in a row, while its AI-customer cohort "continued to grow and diversify, both in the number of customers we serve and in the scale of those customers," Pomel says. However, the company's largest customer is scaling back its usage, weighing on Datadog's revenue and outlook. Shares fall 12%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0916 ET - Datadog's 4Q outlook assumes the company's largest customer will reduce its usage to its minimum commitment, CFO David Obstler says on a call with analysts. The customer--an undisclosed AI company--reduced its usage in 3Q, a move that weighed on Datadog's top line. The maker of observability software says revenue grew 35% in 3Q, marking a sequential slowdown from the 36% rise it posted in the previous quarter. "Excluding our largest customer, revenue growth accelerated again," Obstler says. Looking forward, Datadog's 4Q revenue forecast of $1.19 billion to $1.2 billion failed to top expectations. Datadog slides 12% premarket. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0838 ET - S&P futures are up 66 points following the Democrat sweep of Congress and President Trump saying that he looks forward to working with Democrats. Nasdaq futures are also higher. "However, a Democrat-controlled Congress could bring greater scrutiny of the technology sector, given the scale of investment going into AI infrastructure," says Richard Flax, Chief Investment Officer at Moneyfarm in a note. An area of weakness in the market this morning is data center infrastructure, with CoreWeave, Nebius, Applied Digital and Oracle all down. In Texas, the epicenter of the U.S. data center boom, Republican Governor Greg Abbott lost to Democratic State Rep. Gina Hinojosa who is expected to take a tougher line on data centers. (jessica.coacci@wsj.com)

0621 ET - The Democrats win in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate means greater possibility of new regulations on the AI sector, Aberdeen's Lizzy Galbraith says in a note. "Attempts to pass legislation introducing greater federal oversight of AI and the data center build-out are likely." Democratic lawmakers could also rollback tax credits on data centers or introduce less permissive planning laws, Galbraith says. "But any legislation is likely to require bipartisan cooperation in the Senate as well as avoid a Presidential veto, limiting its likelihood." (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0609 ET - Artificial intelligence faces the specter of regulation after Democrats clinched majorities in both chambers of Congress, Tickmill Group's Patrick Munnelly writes in a note. "Democratic opposition to rapid data-center expansion could focus on power use, environmental constraints, local infrastructure strain, competition policy and the social consequences of AI deployment," he says. He notes any prospect of tighter oversight would hit a sector with weakened momentum following a sharp tech selloff in recent weeks as investors questioned elevated AI spending and valuations of semiconductor stocks. "None of this necessarily breaks the long-term AI theme, but it can raise the hurdle rate for investment and make investors less willing to capitalise distant cash flows at elevated multiples," he says. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)

0539 ET - AMD's robust quarterly earnings will help put aside any fears that the artificial-intelligence trade is about to fail, Quilter Cheviot's Ben Barringer says. Data-center demand drove revenue growth, Barringer says. "This is a wave that AMD will continue to ride even if the midterm election results paint a more challenged picture for data center buildout." Investors are increasingly viewing AMD as a alternative source of chips to Nvidia, Barringer says. "The fact that AMD is executing its strategy well, taking market share and improving its supply will help to keep investors believing that AI demand is here to stay for a while longer yet." Shares jump 7.2% premarket. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 04, 2026 12:20 ET (17:20 GMT)