ESPOO, Finland, September 3, 2026, 16:59 EEST —
- Nokia Oyj NYSE:NOK ADRs fell 2.1% to $9.635 at 09:58:47 EDT.
- Ciena Corporation NYSE:CIEN sank 9.4% despite 37% quarterly revenue growth.
- Nokia’s AI-and-cloud sales rose 105% in its latest quarter, but reported operating margin was negative.
- EURO STOXX 50 inclusion takes effect on September 21.
Nokia’s American depositary shares fell 2.1% in early New York trading. The move came as investors punished optical-networking peer Ciena after strong results. Nokia volume reached 13.8 million shares by 09:58:47 EDT Yahoo Finance.
The split matters. Demand for AI network capacity remains strong, yet buyers are resisting richer valuations. For Nokia, the debate has shifted from orders toward margin conversion.
Nokia ADR after the New York open
USD per ADR; dashed line marks Wednesday’s $9.84 close
Ciena’s shares were down 9.4% at $321.14 at the same time. Cisco Systems, Inc. NASDAQ:CSCO lost 1.3%, while Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson NASDAQ:ERIC gained 0.6% Yahoo Finance.
Networking shares split after Ciena’s report
Regular-session change from the previous close at 09:58 EDT
Ciena reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $1.67 billion, up 37%. Adjusted earnings per share tripled to $2.11. Both figures improved sharply from a year earlier Ciena results.
The company lifted full-year revenue guidance to $6.42 billion, plus or minus $50 million. Chief Executive Gary Smith said AI was driving “compounding waves of network investment.” The share fall despite that outlook points to an expectations reset.
Nokia has its own demand evidence. Second-quarter sales rose 8% to €4.82 billion. Network Infrastructure grew 12%, while AI-and-cloud customer sales jumped 105% Nokia’s half-year report.
AI-network demand is growing faster than group sales
Year-on-year growth; company reporting periods differ
The conversion is incomplete. Nokia booked €2.8 billion of AI-and-cloud orders in the quarter. Management expects roughly half to become revenue within 12 months.
Profit quality is the harder test. Nokia’s comparable operating margin reached 9.0%, but its reported margin was negative 1.0%. Faster restructuring caused much of that gap.
Ciena’s adjusted operating margin reached 22.5%. The figures are not directly comparable because the companies use different definitions and business mixes. Still, the spread shows what investors expect from optical scale.
Nokia also announced its first healthcare customer for Network as Code on Thursday. BeeHealthy will use network-based identity checks instead of SMS codes. Financial terms were not disclosed Nokia announcement.
A new Riyadh research center adds another future product route. It will develop AI-based network automation and orchestration software. Nokia did not state the investment or revenue contribution Nokia release.
One technical support remains. STOXX will add Nokia to the EURO STOXX 50 before trading on September 21. The change can draw benchmark-linked demand, though STOXX gave no flow estimate index review.
Risks: Customer concentration, component supply and restructuring cash costs could delay margin gains. A broader valuation reset could also outweigh index-linked buying.
Nokia’s next scheduled earnings test arrives October 22. Until then, Ciena’s reaction sets a high bar: rapid growth must now produce visible operating leverage.
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