Earnings week: AI data centres, deals and buybacks

Earnings season set the agenda, with all eight releases reporting quarterly results. Several pointed to AI infrastructure. BCE says higher capital spending on Bell AI Fabric data centres and Ziply Fiber's network reduced free cash flow. Hut 8 signed a second 352 MW IT lease at Beacon Point, which it says brings expected base-term contract value across its AI data center portfolio to about $26.6 billion. Kyndryl reported hyperscaler-related revenues of more than $550 million, up 27.2%, and ECARX signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Arm to co-develop AI compute platforms.

Deals and capital returns were the other recurring threads. Waters announced the acquisition of MOBILion Systems, ECARX completed its purchase of the Flyme software business, and Hut 8 agreed to acquire two energized West Texas sites. Hut 8 raised its repurchase authorization to $1.0 billion, CLEAR added $175.0 million to its buyback and declared a dividend, and BCE declared a $0.4375 quarterly dividend. Results otherwise diverged: MACOM reported fiscal fourth quarter revenue up 62.7%, while ECARX says rising memory costs cut its gross margin to 7.0% from 21.9%.