As technology companies look forward to big opportunities in artificial intelligence, this latest earnings season seemed to reveal some cracks in their present-day armor.
Technology stocks have pulled back in August after the sector racked up seven months in a row of gains to start the year. Recent weakness comes amid renewed skittishness about interest rates, which is pressuring more expensive, rate-sensitive names, but it’s also worth paying attention to what companies have said about the health of their industries lately.
Namely, executives used their recent earnings calls to highlight a number of challenges, including a slower-than-expected recovery in China, sluggish consumer-electronics demand and more cautious approaches from some enterprise customers.
“We’ve seen weakness across China and other emerging markets,” Qualcomm Inc. QCOM, +0.02% Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala said on the chip company’s earnings call in early August, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense/Sentieo.
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