Nokia stock surged as much as 55 times the typical move after the €5.5 billion defense-AI deal hit. Eyes now on Ericsson as the sector looks to its next catalyst.
Nokia Oyj HEL:NOKIA heads into Monday with the Helsinki market closed for the weekend, after big swings last week. Shares soared 9.64% on Thursday as the company showed off its first operational results from the NestAI defence partnership. Nokia finished Friday at €10.90. Thursday’s rally pushed up market value by about €5.5 billion, using the 5.6 billion shares not owned by the company, or 55 times the €100 million joint investment from Nokia and Tesi tied to the partnership.
This isn’t an accounting multiple. The €100 million went to a private AI company, but Nokia shares moved on hopes for broader defense and AI growth. The gap is real—Nokia is up around 96% in 2026, so eyes are on the July 23 Q2 report for signs that optimism is driving actual sales and profit.
Nokia ended the week 2.46% under its July 3 finish, even after a jump Thursday. Shares saw an 11.3% gap from low to high over the week.
| Helsinki session | Close | Daily move |
|---|---|---|
| July 6 | €11.030 | -1.25% |
| July 7 | €10.420 | -5.53% |
| July 8 | €10.215 | -1.97% |
| July 9 | €11.200 | +9.64% |
| July 10 | €10.895 | -2.72% |
| Week vs July 3 | -2.46% |
Nokia unveiled three tools: a portable 5G network for field command, mission-planning software to check for coverage gaps, and radio tech that links users and spots threats. The company said these are meant for “denied environments” where communications might get jammed or cut off. “AI only works in the field when it has secure, resilient connectivity behind it,” Nokia Defense chair Mikko Hautala said. Mobile World Live
The sector move blurs some of the company story. Swedish peer Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson STO:ERIC-B jumped 6.7% Thursday, with high-speed optical networking company Ciena Corp NYSE:CIEN up 4.85%. Both names ended the week in front of Nokia.
| Share or index | July 9 | Week to July 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Nokia | up 9.64% | down 2.46% |
| Ericsson | up 6.70% | up 3.52% |
| Ciena | rose 4.85% | added 9.06% |
| STOXX Europe 600 Technology | up 2.7% | down 1.8% |
Ciena’s week-to-week comp uses its July 2 close, since July 3 was a holiday for U.S. markets.
Friday brought a new angle on Nokia’s shareholder base. FMR LLC cut its holding to 279.84 million Nokia shares from 298.78 million, selling off 18.94 million shares. Those are worth about €206 million at Friday’s close. On Thursday, Nokia handed out 43.55 million treasury shares to incentive plan holders — stock held on its books — not sold in the market. The batch carried a market value near €475 million, or 0.76% of the share count. Nokia hasn’t said if recipients decided to sell.
Nokia started the year strong. First-quarter sales to AI and cloud customers jumped 49%, while high-speed optical-network sales rose 20%. The company landed €1 billion in new AI and cloud orders. Comparable operating profit, which strips out some one-off items, was up 54% at €281 million. That topped the €250 million analyst average. CEO Justin Hotard said Nokia was “tracking somewhat above the mid-point” of its €2.0 billion to €2.5 billion full-year profit forecast. Nokia Corporation | Nokia
Ericsson will kick off next week’s hard sector data, reporting second-quarter results at 07:00 CEST on Tuesday. The update will give investors an early look at how network-operator spending and margins are shaping up and may set expectations for Nokia. Nokia is set to release its own Q2 numbers on July 23 at 11:30 EEST.
The defense update didn’t name a customer or attach an order size or revenue number. The AI tools aren’t booked as business yet and could sit in development for a while. If Ericsson posts weak numbers or the selloff in AI names picks up from Friday, gains could reverse. What would power the rally is a real defense order or strong optical numbers in the next quarter—so far, that support isn’t there.
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