HELSINKI, April 6, 2026, 16:13 EEST
Nokia’s American depositary receipts held steady at $8.82 on Monday, matching Friday’s close. Investors are looking ahead to the company’s annual general meeting this week, with board turnover and new capital return authorizations on the agenda.
That Thursday meeting comes just ahead of Nokia’s Q1 results on April 23—timing that may give investors fresh context for the upcoming numbers. CEO Justin Hotard is steering Nokia through a shift, betting on AI and data-center networking to drive more reliable growth after slowdowns in 5G and ongoing radio unit headwinds.
Investors are being asked to approve vice chair Timo Ihamuotila for chair, following Sari Baldauf’s departure, and to add Signal Technology Foundation President Meredith Whittaker to the board. The agenda also includes a proposed payout of up to 0.14 euro per share, plus renewal of authority to issue or buy back as many as 550 million shares—just under a tenth of the total.
Back in January, Hotard pointed to stronger orders than revenue in Optical and IP Networks, citing AI and cloud as key drivers. He projected 2026 comparable operating profit between 2.0 billion and 2.5 billion euros. Still, he flagged a sharper-than-usual drop in first-quarter net sales, not counting the Nokia Technologies patent-licensing business, even with Network Infrastructure showing what he called “strong demand trends.” Nokia Corporation | Nokia
Nokia’s most recent major announcement landed March 31, confirming that Virgin Media O2 tapped the Finnish supplier for a multiyear 5G RAN deployment and upgrade effort in the UK. Mark Atkinson, who heads up RAN at Nokia, described it as an “important new 5G RAN deal.” Jeanie York, CTO at Virgin Media O2, said the tie-up is expected to both speed up the rollout and boost performance. Nokia Corporation | Nokia
Nokia has its hands full—holding onto its telecom core while chasing AI-driven network deals. Ericsson, meanwhile, is still shedding staff to keep margins intact, with 5G investment sluggish. Cisco, for its part, says it’s racked up over $5 billion in AI-related orders for networking and optics this fiscal year.
Analysts aren’t quite as bearish as before, but views remain split. Goldman Sachs’s Alexander Duval shifted to neutral from sell and bumped his target price up to 8 euros late last month, according to research notes from finanzen.net and MarketScreener. Jefferies’s Janardan Menon, meanwhile, stuck with a buy and pushed his target up to 8.8 euros.
The rally doesn’t leave much margin for disappointment. Nokia has already warned of a softer first quarter, with hopes pinned on a pick-up later in the year. Reuters noted in January that U.S. import tariffs and a weaker dollar had put pressure on margins. The board lineup and dividend plan get decided at Thursday’s AGM; investors will look to April 23 for results that could reveal if the AI story is feeding through to earnings.
