HELSINKI, March 11, 2026, 00:04 EET
Nokia Oyj said Tuesday that chief customer officer Raghav Sahgal unloaded 150,000 shares at 6.7072 euros apiece, netting roughly 1.01 million euros, according to a company filing. The sale, flagged as a disposal under EU market-abuse regulations, was disclosed in the filing.
The timing is key: Nokia remains in the middle of its AI-driven restructuring, chasing more consistent growth following a pullback in 5G spending. At Mobile World Congress last week, the Finnish firm announced AI-centric agreements with Deutsche Telekom and TIM Brasil, targeting mobile network upgrades to support new services.
Nokia closed Tuesday at 6.71 euros, Reuters market data showed—matching the price Sahgal fetched in his sale. The company’s growth pitch leans on data centres, cloud networking, and AI, as CEO Justin Hotard pointed out back in November: “the largest hyperscalers are now investing more each quarter than the largest telcos invest in a year.” Reuters
The move aims to counter sluggish demand for standard 5G equipment, with Nokia still locked in competition with Ericsson. Operators are now accelerating network upgrades for AI-driven services, Reuters reported this month—a shift that’s creating fresh competition in radio access network (RAN) gear, the technology connecting devices to cell sites.
Nokia’s been doubling down on that strategy. Back in November, the company announced plans to carve its business into two units: network infrastructure and mobile infrastructure. It had just closed its acquisition of U.S. optical networking player Infinera, and Nvidia entered the picture as a 2.9% shareholder via a $1 billion stake.
Nokia reported a 3% drop in fourth-quarter comparable operating profit to 1.05 billion euros back in January, landing close to analyst forecasts. For 2026, the company projects comparable operating profit between 2 billion and 2.5 billion euros. Jefferies described that guidance as “somewhat conservative.” Optical networks stood out, jumping 17% on demand from AI and cloud, according to Reuters. Reuters
Executives haven’t let up on their AI push. March 1 saw Hotard declare AI-RAN—a system that brings artificial intelligence into the radio network—was shifting “from validation to commercial deployment.” Just two days after that, Nokia’s technology chief Pallavi Mahajan described AI-native RAN as “a fundamental shift” in network construction and operation. Nokia Corporation | Nokia
Still, things could go sideways. “Significant concerns” hang over AI, PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore pointed out, citing the massive costs and hazy payoff. Nokia’s betting on AI and data-centre demand to offset sluggish 5G spending, but that’s no sure thing. Reuters
The filing didn’t explain why Sahgal sold. Records indicate he got 89,000 shares through a share-based award in January, and he picked up another 2,391 shares in Helsinki back in February. That muddies any straightforward interpretation of Tuesday’s sale.
Nokia’s sale followed close on the heels of its 2025 annual report and Form 20-F release, plus a filing revealing FMR LLC’s voting rights edged past 5%. Now, investors are picking through the latest insider activity, the updated filings, and changes in the shareholder roster.
