HELSINKI, May 10, 2026, 16:03 EEST
- Nokia’s U.S. shares climbed 3.81% Friday, snapping back after Thursday’s steep drop. The Helsinki listing wasn’t far behind, adding 3.79%.
- That shift comes on the heels of an April earnings surprise, driven by demand from artificial-intelligence and cloud clients—sales to those customers jumped 49% in the first quarter.
- Investors are looking for proof that surging data-center demand is enough to balance out softness elsewhere in Nokia’s legacy telecom equipment segment.
Nokia Oyj shares bounced back Friday in both New York and Helsinki, snapping a two-day slide as buyers stepped in. The Finnish network-equipment maker’s American depositary receipts ended the session at $12.82.
Nokia’s shift is drawing attention—it’s not just seen as an old telecom player anymore, but as one of Europe’s notable artificial-intelligence infrastructure bets. The firm is pushing to get more of its optical and IP networking hardware into the hands of hyperscalers, those big cloud service outfits racing to expand AI data centers.
No smooth rebound here. Nokia’s ADRs dropped 6.37% Thursday, marking a second consecutive slide. Friday’s gain snapped the skid, but shares still closed short of their $13.98 peak from May 5.
Nokia finished Friday in Helsinki at 10.945 euros, climbing 3.79% after tumbling 7.05% the previous session. Volume remained brisk, suggesting investors are still probing just how much of the AI rally is baked in.
Nokia posted a 54% jump in first-quarter comparable operating profit last month, landing at 281 million euros and topping the 250 million euro analyst consensus from Infront. Comparable net sales hit 4.5 billion euros. Sales to AI and cloud clients surged 49%, with orders from that group touching 1 billion euros.
Justin Hotard, chief executive, described the period as a “solid start,” noting that demand “accelerated significantly” after Nokia unveiled its AI strategy late last year. According to the company, AI and cloud clients now make up 8% of total group sales. Nokia Corporation | Nokia
The company stuck with its full-year comparable operating profit guidance of 2.0 billion to 2.5 billion euros. It bumped up its 2026 sales growth forecast for Network Infrastructure, now targeting 12%-14%, up from 6%-8%, citing strength in optical and IP networks.
The peer group isn’t what it used to be. Ericsson is still Nokia’s top Nordic competitor in mobile gear, but with the Infinera acquisition, Nokia dives further into optical networking—territory where Ciena, Arista, and Cisco also draw investor interest. Reuters said last year that buying Infinera for $2.3 billion would put Nokia in second place globally in optical networking, trailing only Huawei and holding roughly a 20% market share.
That context is doing some heavy lifting. Back in April, Hotard told Reuters Europe simply doesn’t have the AI data center infrastructure it needs—and if new capacity doesn’t materialize, he said, business will flow to the U.S. and China. It’s a warning that lines up with Nokia’s sales pitch: AI depends on chips, but those chips are useless without enough fiber, routers, and robust transport networks.
Still, the big worry hasn’t gone away. AI and cloud barely register next to Nokia’s overall sales, and Fixed Networks revenue dropped 13% in Q1. Hotard flagged longer supply chain lead times, too. If cloud orders stall or mobile networks face new headwinds, the stock could be right back in the crosshairs over valuation.
Nokia’s set to deliver its Q2 and half-year numbers on July 23. Investors want to know: was Friday’s rally just a knee-jerk response, or are we seeing real traction in the AI infrastructure space?
