Trending tickers: TSMC, Boeing, Paramount and Ocado

TSMC (TSM)

TSMC’s shares jumped as much as 3% in Taipei (2330.TW), extending its rally this year to more than 75% as chipmakers brace for TSMC’s price increases.

Shares also received a boost after Morgan Stanley joined a list of brokers raising price targets on the chipmaker before its earnings report.

“TSMC’s ‘hunger marketing’ strategy seems to be working,” Morgan Stanley analysts including Charlie Chan wrote in a note Sunday, Bloomberg first reported.

“Our latest supply chain checks indicate that TSMC is delivering a message that leading-edge foundry supply could be tight in 2025 and customers may not get sufficient capacity allocation without appreciating TSMC’s value.”

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SMC's quarterly investors conference is scheduled for 18 July, with market attention focused on AI chip demand, the foundry's expected price increase, and capital expenditures.

The maker of the world’s most advanced chips is expected to report 36% revenue growth from a year earlier.

Boeing (BA)

Shares in the plane manufacturer were in the red ahead of the US opening bell as the company agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of its 737 Max jetliners.

Federal prosecutors gave Boeing the choice of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine as part of its sentence, or facing a trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the US.

Boeing will pay a $243.6m (£190.1m) fine and invest at least $455m (£355m) over three years to strengthen its safety and compliance programmes as part of the plea deal.

A total of 346 people died in the incidents which involved a Lion Air MAX 8 flight in Indonesia in 2018 and then, six months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 outside Addis Ababa.

Paramount (PARA)

One of Hollywood's oldest companies, Paramount Global, has agreed to merge with independent film studio Skydance Media.

As part of the deal, Paramount chair Shari Redstone agreed to sell her family’s National Amusements Inc., which controls about 77% of the voting stock in Paramount, for $2.4bn, according to a statement released by the company on Sunday.

Skydance will subsequently merge with Paramount, offering $4.5bn in cash or stock to shareholders and providing an additional $1.5bn for Paramount's balance sheet. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

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"Given the changes in the industry, we want to fortify Paramount for the future while ensuring that content remains king,” said Redstone. “Our hope is that the Skydance transaction will enable Paramount’s continued success in this rapidly changing environment.”

It comes just weeks after Redstone blocked a deal with Skydance and marks the close of a complicated eight-month process in which Redstone held discussions with a range of potential suitors including private equity group Apollo and Sony (SONY).

Ocado (OCDO.L)

Shares in Ocado surged after the online supermarket revealed plans to build its third robotic warehouse in Japan as part of its tie-up with Aeon in the country.

The FTSE listed group — which first struck a partnership deal with Japanese retail company Aeon in 2019 — said the new site in Kuki-Miyashiro will go live in 2027.

It comes after Aeon’s first robotic warehouse opened in the Kanto region of Japan a year ago, powered by Ocado’s technology, with a second due to launch in Hachioji in 2026.

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The pair plan to open further robotic warehouses across the country as Aeon expands its online grocery delivery offering.

Tim Steiner, chief executive of Ocado Group, hailed the latest announcement as an “exciting moment for Aeon and Ocado’s relationship as we deepen our already strong partnership”.

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