HELSINKI, May 11, 2026, 19:03 EEST
- Nokia shares in Helsinki finished Monday 4.1% higher at 11.39 euros, bouncing back for a second straight session after last week’s steep slide.
- Nokia Oyj stays in the spotlight as first-quarter results revealed a 49% jump in AI and cloud customer sales, and the company reported 1 billion euros in orders for the period.
- Valuation and execution remain the sticking points. Morningstar’s Martin Szumski points out Nokia’s positioning—its optical portfolio puts it in a stronger spot to capture AI-driven demand than Ericsson. Still, he says, shares appear too expensive right now.
Nokia Oyj shares climbed in Helsinki on Monday, with the stock adding 4.1% to finish at 11.39 euros as regular trading wrapped up at 18:30 local time. Investors remained active around the Finnish network-equipment maker’s moves toward AI and cloud infrastructure, fueling another session of sharp swings.
This shift is significant: Nokia isn’t just seen as a 5G gear maker anymore. Investors have started to bet on something else driving the stock—specifically, the idea that surging data-centre outlays from hyperscalers, those giant cloud firms, could turn into a bigger source of profit for Nokia at a time when telecom operators are still holding back.
Last month, Nokia reported a 49% jump in first-quarter sales to AI and cloud clients, with those segments now making up 8% of total group revenue. Orders from those customers reached 1 billion euros—a figure that’s gone some way toward offsetting weakness elsewhere in the mobile network cycle.
Chief Executive Justin Hotard said Nokia is “tracking somewhat above” the midpoint in its full-year comparable operating profit forecast, which sits at 2.0 billion to 2.5 billion euros. The company kept that guidance steady—a modest, though notable, anchor after the recent share price swing. Reuters
Nokia’s shares have been anything but steady. The stock dropped 7.1% in Helsinki on Thursday, bounced back up 3.8% Friday, and notched another gain Monday, five-day exchange data from MarketScreener show. That’s no subtle rerating.
Analyst sentiment’s shifting as well. Argus’s Jim Kelleher tagged Nokia’s U.S. shares with a Buy, setting a $15 target. The call pointed to AI-driven momentum in Network Infrastructure and the Infinera deal, both seen as easing Nokia’s dependence on its mobile networks business.
There’s no clear trend here. Ericsson—Nokia’s main Western competitor in mobile networks—came up short on first-quarter profit back in April. The company flagged rising chip costs, citing the surge in AI demand as a factor. Morningstar, for its part, sees little pickup in mobile networking, warning demand could remain stagnant as 5G buildouts lose steam.
Nokia has been shifting its focus toward optical and IP networks—the backbone that moves data between AI data centres. After reporting earnings, Reuters noted that buying U.S.-based Infinera put Nokia among the top global suppliers of optical transport systems.
Nokia’s been trimming, too. Back in late April, the company struck a deal to offload its fixed wireless access business to Inseego—a move both sides described as not financially material for Nokia. Still, Nokia is keeping a commercial tie, hanging onto equity and warrants. Closing is lined up for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Still, there’s room for things to go sideways. AI and cloud made up just 8% of Nokia’s group sales in Q1. Morningstar’s Szumski pointed out that investors chasing AI names have pushed Nokia shares into overvalued territory. If data center demand slows, or orders drop off after this initial rush, that gap gets hard to ignore.
Hotard flagged a gap in Europe’s AI infrastructure, pointing out that connectivity and data-centre capacity are just as critical as the factories. That message fits nicely with Nokia’s value proposition. Still, it also underscores the drag that power constraints, regulatory hurdles, and construction delays can put on the market Nokia is targeting.
Nokia’s next big test lands July 23, when second-quarter and half-year numbers hit. For now, shares aren’t moving on memories of old phones or the last 5G push; it’s all about whether AI-fueled data demand can actually translate into steady network sales.
