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By Leo Marchandon and Noemie Naudin (Reuters) -French advertising firm Publicis on Monday raised its full-year organic growth forecast for the second time, highlighting artificial intelligence products as its main growth driver.  "It is artificial intelligence that allows us to accelerate our clients' growth and to accelerate our own," CEO Arthur Sadoun said in a press call, noting continued strength in client spending and marketing budgets. At a time when doubts swirl over whether AI is more hype than substance, Publicis argues that it can only bring benefits when put to use in the right structure. The company reported that 73% of its operations are now AI-powered, emphasizing that it is about having the data and the technology to extract the most out of AI. "AI alone does not work," Sadoun said. "One must never forget that if you do not have the right foundations in technology and data, artificial intelligence does not work." Since 2015, Publicis has invested 12 billion euros ($12.7 billion) in data, technology and AI, enabling the firm to monitor consumer behavior across more than 4 billion individuals globally and individualize advertising strategies accordingly. Sadoun said the advertiser retained 98% of its "top 100" clients over the past five years and won significant market share from its competitors because of AI-powered services. In the third quarter, Publicis posted 5.7% net revenue organic growth, contributing to $6 billion in net new business for the nine-month period.  Over the same period, competitors such as WPP, Omnicom, Dentsu and Interpublic have either flatlined or declined, according to JPMorgan data. New business wins this quarter included companies such as PayPal, Paramount Skydance and Orange. The company upgraded its 2025 organic growth forecast to "rock solid 5%, aiming for 5.5%" from its previous target of "close to 5%."     (Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Noémie Naudin; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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By Leo Marchandon and Noemie Naudin (Reuters) -French advertising firm Publicis on Monday raised its full-year organic growth forecast for the second time, highlighting artificial intelligence products as its main growth driver.  "It is artificial intelligence that allows us to accelerate our clients' growth and to accelerate our own," CEO Arthur Sadoun said in a press call, noting continued strength in client spending and marketing budgets. At a time when doubts swirl over whether AI is more hype than substance, Publicis argues that it can only bring benefits when put to use in the right structure. The company reported that 73% of its operations are now AI-powered, emphasizing that it is about having the data and the technology to extract the most out of AI. "AI alone does not work," Sadoun said. "One must never forget that if you do not have the right foundations in technology and data, artificial intelligence does not work." Since 2015, Publicis has invested 12 billion euros ($12.7 billion) in data, technology and AI, enabling the firm to monitor consumer behavior across more than 4 billion individuals globally and individualize advertising strategies accordingly. Sadoun said the advertiser retained 98% of its "top 100" clients over the past five years and won significant market share from its competitors because of AI-powered services. In the third quarter, Publicis posted 5.7% net revenue organic growth, contributing to $6 billion in net new business for the nine-month period.  Over the same period, competitors such as WPP, Omnicom, Dentsu and Interpublic have either flatlined or declined, according to JPMorgan data. New business wins this quarter included companies such as PayPal, Paramount Skydance and Orange. The company upgraded its 2025 organic growth forecast to "rock solid 5%, aiming for 5.5%" from its previous target of "close to 5%."     (Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Noémie Naudin; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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(Reuters) -Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson reported a rise in quarterly core earnings that beat expectations on Tuesday, as operational improvements drove margins growth despite a decline in sales. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) excluding restructuring charges were 15.4 billion Swedish crowns ($1.62 billion) in the quarter ended in September. That was 9.2% higher than the 14.1 billion crowns forecast in an Infront consensus poll of analysts provided by the company. Cost savings and a dominant position in North America have helped Ericsson stay ahead of Nordic rival Nokia in the 5G race, but revenue weakness and tariffs are overshadowing its outlook. The Swedish group has outperformed rivals in winning U.S. contracts, mainly a $14 billion deal with AT&T, making it the world's second-biggest vendor in the radio access network market after Huawei, according to estimates from research firm Dell'Oro. Third-quarter net sales were 9% down from a year ago at 56.2 billion crowns but came in above the analysts' expectation of 55.7 billion. However, sales in Americas slowed down by 8% from 2024, with the company pointing to previous deliveries and network investments by large customers in the same period last year. ($1 = 9.4988 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Agnieszka Olenska; Editing by Matt Scuffham)

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By Miho Uranaka and Echo Wang TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) -Investors expect the valuation of PayPay could exceed 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) as SoftBank prepares for an initial public offering of the Japanese payments app operator in the United States as early as December, according to two sources. SoftBank has been meeting with institutional investors since mid-September to discuss potential valuations in the IPO, the sources, who are familiar with the matter, said. Investors see 2 trillion yen as a baseline but expect the valuation could top 3 trillion yen, according to the sources. The potential valuation and the views of investors are being reported by Reuters for the first time. PayPay declined to comment. The sources declined to be named as the information is not public, and cautioned that deliberations are continuing and factors including valuation remain subject to market conditions. The deliberations come as the U.S. IPO market enjoyed its busiest quarter since the fourth quarter of 2021, with companies raising $24 billion through first-time share sales in the third quarter, according to Dealogic. The baseline valuation is based on expansion of PayPay's Japanese business but there is a range of views among investors about its prospects for growing its overseas footprint, which could support a higher valuation, one of the sources said. PayPay announced last month that users would be able to make payments abroad, beginning with South Korea, which is a popular foreign destination for Japanese travellers. "The key focus going forward will be to what extent overseas expansion can be realistically pictured as a growth story, given the lack of business foundations not only in the U.S. but also in Asia," said the source. PayPay has played a role in encouraging Japanese consumers to move away from a long-standing preference for cash by offering rebates on payments through its mobile app. It is the market leader in QR code payments and also offers services including banking and credit cards. Reuters reported in August SoftBank has selected investment banks for the potential IPO. Japan's cashless payments ratio exceeded 40% last year, compared to more than 80% in South Korea and China. The industry ministry aims to lift that further, as part of efforts to cut costs and address labour shortages. SoftBank's telecoms arm reported that operating profit at its financial segment, which includes PayPay, more than doubled to 18.1 billion yen in the April-June quarter. "Structural profit improvement is progressing, and future growth can be anticipated," said SBI Securities analyst Yukari Housui. PayPay is taking steps to bolster its cryptocurrency business. Last week PayPay said it has acquired a 40% stake in the Japanese business of Binance and plans to launch new crypto services. PayPay's ownership is split between a number of SoftBank entities: wireless carrier SoftBank Corp, the Vision Fund investment arm, and internet business LY Corp, which is a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver Corp. Companies around the world are looking to list in the U.S. as they seek higher valuations. Around 20 Japanese companies have listed there in the last five years although in some cases they have underperformed and later delisted. Round One, an operator of amusement attractions, is considering overseas listings for two subsidiaries as it expands in the U.S. and looks to boost its brand recognition. ($1 = 153.0800 yen) (Reporting by Miho Uranaka and Echo Wang; Writing by Sam Nussey;Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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By Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics on Tuesday said it expects its biggest quarterly profit in over three years, as the global race to boost production of AI chips has tightened supply and driven up prices of conventional memory chips, the tech giant's mainstay. Strong demand for conventional memory chips used in data centre servers helped offset weaker sales of advanced artificial intelligence chips of Samsung, which has been lagging rivals in the race to supply to Nvidia, analysts said. The world's leading memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 12.1 trillion won ($8.5 billion) for the July-September period, up 32% from a year earlier and well above a 10.1 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate. That would mark its best quarterly profit in 13 quarters. Samsung shares slipped 0.5% as of 0302 GMT after rising as much as 2.9% earlier to their highest level since January 2021. Analysts attributed the decline to profit-taking following the rally. The stock has risen about 75% this year. "The third-quarter earnings surprise came from the chip business," said Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities. Strong demand for conventional memory to support general-purpose servers, combined with robust HBM demand for AI servers, have together fuelled overall memory demand, he said. Although progress in supplying advanced high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to major clients such as Nvidia was slower than expected, gains in commodity memory, supported by tight supplies, helped cushion the impact, analysts said. "Samsung is a big beneficiary of growing demand for commodity chips," said Sohn In-joon, an analyst at Heungkuk Securities. Sohn attributed the earnings beat to stronger-than-expected prices of commodity DRAM and NAND chips, stemming from demand for data centre servers, and lower chip inventory by chipmakers that gave them bargaining power in pricing. Analysts said Samsung also benefited from narrower losses at its foundry unit, which makes logic chips, as utilisation rates helped ease fixed-cost pressures. The company said revenue would likely rise 8.7% to a record high of 86 trillion won from a year earlier, also helped by the weaker South Korean currency. Samsung is expected to release detailed results including a breakdown of earnings for each of its businesses on October 30. Expanding on its stock incentives for senior executives, the company has decided to launch a performance-linked stock compensation plan for all employees in South Korea over the next three years, according to an internal memo dated October 14, seen by Reuters. Samsung declined to comment on the plan. SHORTAGE STOKES CONVENTIONAL CHIP PRICES Analysts said memory makers' focus on investing in advanced chips in recent years may have limited the production of conventional chips, which extended a supply shortage and spurred price increases for conventional chips. Prices of some DRAM chips, widely used in servers, smartphones and PCs, jumped 171.8% in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to TrendForce data. Analysts expect the commodity memory supply shortage to continue into 2026, with big tech companies expanding their spending on AI-related investments, including data centres and servers capable of handling the growing workloads from AI services. While recent chip supply deals with major tech companies, such as Tesla and OpenAI, eased investor concerns about Samsung, analysts cautioned that uncertainties remain that could hurt Samsung's consumer products, including potential U.S. tariffs, an intensifying trade war between the U.S. and China, as well as China's tightened export controls on rare earth materials used in advanced chips and manufacturing equipment. Samsung has been the world's biggest memory chipmaker for three decades but it is facing increasing competition in advanced AI chips after losing its No. 1 DRAM market share to SK Hynix in the first quarter of this year. Analysts expect Samsung’s HBM sales to gradually improve after the company made meaningful progress in supplying its latest 12-layer HBM3E chips to Nvidia, though some said shipment volumes remain limited. Samsung is betting on next-generation HBM4 products to narrow the gap with SK Hynix. Morgan Stanley said in a report that Samsung is on track with next-generation HBM4 development, working closely with major U.S. customers. Commercial shipments and sales contributions are expected to begin in 2026. ($1 = 1,427.1000 won) (Reporting by Heekyong Yang, Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee; Editing by Chris Reese and Sonali Paul)

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By Nathan Vifflin and Toby Sterling (Reuters) -Multi-billion dollar deals between AI firms and computer chipmakers are expected to strengthen top semiconductor equipment maker ASML's outlook when it reports third-quarter earnings on Wednesday.      Investors and analysts expect to see evidence that customers of the Dutch firm, such as TSMC and SK Hynix, are stepping up plans to expand capacity in 2026 and beyond. Expectations are high following a 32% run-up in ASML shares since September 2, against a 15% rise in the benchmark Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the same period. HOPES FOR AI DATACENTER EXPANSION FUEL CHIP MARKET RALLY In July, ASML management said it was not sure revenue would grow in 2026, amid weakness at customers Samsung and Intel. Since then, AI megadeals have sparked a chip market rally on hopes for massive datacenter expansion. New bookings, the industry's most closely watched figure at ASML, are forecast at 5.36 billion euros ($6.21 billion) in the third quarter, say analysts polled by researcher Visible Alpha. In the first half, new bookings totalled 9.48 billion euros. The company is also expected to report a 1.4% increase in third-quarter net income to 2.11 billion euros from a year earlier, according to LSEG IBES data. Firms, including Meta and Oracle, announced deals with chip suppliers including NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Samsung. All of these spell impending demand for ASML tools, essential for creating the circuitry of chips. "It's clear that the sentiment has changed, management will need to give some indication of what they are seeing in the market," said Morningstar analyst Javier Correonero. CAN CUSTOMERS INFLUENCE SPEED OF BUILDING PLANTS? But building chipmaking plants takes years, and analysts want ASML to explain to what extent customers are able to accelerate plans. "Every memory chipmaker is likely to increase production capacity for AI – Micron, SK Hynix, Samsung, even Chinese players," said Degroof Petercam analyst Michael Roeg. At $300 million or more apiece, ASML's tools are the priciest equipment in a chip factory, but they have a lengthy delivery lead time of 8-12 months.  Chipmakers must balance the cost of ordering them too early or being unable to produce chips if they arrive too late. During the COVID pandemic, ASML's order backlog soared as it was unable to meet demand. It has since been working to expand capacity.  Top customer TSMC, which manufactures almost all advanced AI chips, is expected to increase purchases, and Intel's outlook has also improved, analysts said. ($1 = 0.8633 euros) (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Bernadette Baum)

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By Nathan Vifflin and Toby Sterling (Reuters) -Multi-billion dollar deals between AI firms and computer chipmakers are expected to strengthen top semiconductor equipment maker ASML's outlook when it reports third-quarter earnings on Wednesday.      Investors and analysts expect to see evidence that customers of the Dutch firm, such as TSMC and SK Hynix, are stepping up plans to expand capacity in 2026 and beyond. Expectations are high following a 32% run-up in ASML shares since September 2, against a 15% rise in the benchmark Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the same period. HOPES FOR AI DATACENTER EXPANSION FUEL CHIP MARKET RALLY In July, ASML management said it was not sure revenue would grow in 2026, amid weakness at customers Samsung and Intel. Since then, AI megadeals have sparked a chip market rally on hopes for massive datacenter expansion. New bookings, the industry's most closely watched figure at ASML, are forecast at 5.36 billion euros ($6.21 billion) in the third quarter, say analysts polled by researcher Visible Alpha. In the first half, new bookings totalled 9.48 billion euros. The company is also expected to report a 1.4% increase in third-quarter net income to 2.11 billion euros from a year earlier, according to LSEG IBES data. Firms, including Meta and Oracle, announced deals with chip suppliers including NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Samsung. All of these spell impending demand for ASML tools, essential for creating the circuitry of chips. "It's clear that the sentiment has changed, management will need to give some indication of what they are seeing in the market," said Morningstar analyst Javier Correonero. CAN CUSTOMERS INFLUENCE SPEED OF BUILDING PLANTS? But building chipmaking plants takes years, and analysts want ASML to explain to what extent customers are able to accelerate plans. "Every memory chipmaker is likely to increase production capacity for AI – Micron, SK Hynix, Samsung, even Chinese players," said Degroof Petercam analyst Michael Roeg. At $300 million or more apiece, ASML's tools are the priciest equipment in a chip factory, but they have a lengthy delivery lead time of 8-12 months.  Chipmakers must balance the cost of ordering them too early or being unable to produce chips if they arrive too late. During the COVID pandemic, ASML's order backlog soared as it was unable to meet demand. It has since been working to expand capacity.  Top customer TSMC, which manufactures almost all advanced AI chips, is expected to increase purchases, and Intel's outlook has also improved, analysts said. ($1 = 0.8633 euros) (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Bernadette Baum)

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BENGALURU (Reuters) -Alphabet Inc's Google will invest $10 billion to set up a massive data centre and artificial intelligence hub in Andhra Pradesh, officials from the southern Indian state said, marking its biggest such investment in the South Asian nation. Google will build a 1-gigawatt data centre campus in the port city of Visakhapatnam, combining AI infrastructure, large-scale energy sources, and an expanded fibre-optic network, according to a statement from the state government. A formal agreement is expected to be signed on Tuesday. The move comes amid intensifying competition among big tech companies, which are spending heavily on building new data centre infrastructure to meet booming demand for AI services. "In an era where data is the new oil, such initiatives will serve as a strategic advantage," state IT minister Nara Lokesh said. (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Sarita Chaganti Singh in New Delhi; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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BENGALURU (Reuters) -Alphabet Inc's Google will invest $10 billion to set up a massive data centre and artificial intelligence hub in Andhra Pradesh, officials from the southern Indian state said, marking its biggest such investment in the South Asian nation. Google will build a 1-gigawatt data centre campus in the port city of Visakhapatnam, combining AI infrastructure, large-scale energy sources, and an expanded fibre-optic network, according to a statement from the state government. A formal agreement is expected to be signed on Tuesday. The move comes amid intensifying competition among big tech companies, which are spending heavily on building new data centre infrastructure to meet booming demand for AI services. "In an era where data is the new oil, such initiatives will serve as a strategic advantage," state IT minister Nara Lokesh said. (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Sarita Chaganti Singh in New Delhi; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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BENGALURU (Reuters) -Alphabet Inc's Google will invest $10 billion to set up a 1-gigawatt data centre in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, a state minister said. A formal agreement between the state and the tech giant is due on Tuesday, the minister added. (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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