Tech Up After Samsung Phone Launch -- Tech Roundup

Shares of tech companies were more or less flat as anticipation built for a new generation of smart phones.

Consumers are expected to splash out on the iPhone 8 and Samsung's latest offering, which launched Wednesday. Shares of the South Korean tech conglomerate rose after positive reviews for the large-screen Galaxy Note 8 device, the sequel to the fire-plagued Note 7.

LG Electronics said it's building a $25 million factory for electric car parts in the Detroit suburb of Hazel Park, Mich., as the company seeks new engines of growth while it reels from losses at its once-lucrative mobile business.

International Business Machines could see a rebound for profits this year, according to one brokerage. "While a combination of public cloud cannibalizing IBM's core revenue and a higher level of investment to transform to a more analytics-focused, cloud-delivery model drove a $9 billion, or 39%, pretax income dollar decline from 2012 -- 2016, we see PTI dollars inflecting positively in 2017," said analysts at brokerage Morgan Stanley, in a research note. "Key drivers are 1) lower workforce rebalancing charges and savings from prior actions, 2) improving profitability in the services and cloud segments, and 3) a mainframe cycle in the back half of the year."

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 23, 2017 16:39 ET (20:39 GMT)