HELSINKI, March 17, 2026, 16:14 EET
Nokia slipped on Tuesday, but the stock remained close to its 52-week highs after a wave of AI-related news from the company and its partners. In Helsinki, shares changed hands at 7.394 euros, just under Monday’s 7.488-euro finish. Over in New York, Nokia’s ADRs had dropped 1.7% to $8.50 as of 1357 GMT.
This shift is key for Nokia, which is counting on optical and data-center networking to drive growth as mobile operator spending continues to fluctuate. Back in January, Nokia reported that Optical Networks sales climbed 17% in the fourth quarter. The company’s book-to-bill for Optical and IP Networks held above one, boosted by demand tied to AI and cloud.
Nokia on Monday rolled out its latest optical transport lineup, touting potential total cost of ownership cuts of as much as 70% just ahead of the OFC conference in Los Angeles. “We’re at a critical inflection point,” said David Heard, Network Infrastructure president, pointing to surging AI-driven traffic that’s forcing carriers and data-center operators to reexamine how they handle capacity, power, and space. GlobeNewswire
The company rolled out Aurelis for Data Centers, touting it as a fiber-based out-of-band management system that slashes active switches by as much as 90%, drops power consumption by at least half, and can cut operating effort by 80%. Out-of-band management refers to the separate control network that handles monitoring and system recovery if the main network goes down.
Chris DePuy, analyst and 650 Group co-founder, called the design a sign of a “broader industry shift” to simpler, fiber-first builds in Nokia’s statement. Others are vying for the same market: Ciena is at OFC with its AI-focused data-center optics, and Cisco rolled out fresh switching silicon plus optics for AI clusters back in February. GlobeNewswire
The news cycle picked up late Monday after Nvidia and T-Mobile announced a partnership with Nokia focused on physical AI running across distributed edge networks. Jensen Huang described the effort as transforming the 5G network into a “distributed AI computer” built for edge infrastructure. NVIDIA Newsroom
Nokia’s messaging hasn’t shifted. Back in June 2024, Reuters said the company’s $2.3 billion move for Infinera was all about ramping up exposure to AI-fueled data-center demand. Starting from January this year, Nokia restructured to make Network Infrastructure the linchpin of its AI ambitions.
Tuesday’s pullback made it clear: investors aren’t satisfied with just pilot projects and rollouts. Nokia is sticking to its 2026 outlook for comparable operating profit, keeping the target between 2.0 billion and 2.5 billion euros. Nvidia, for its part, noted that a number of the new T-Mobile project’s features are still under development and will become available as they’re ready.
Nokia’s first-quarter numbers are expected April 23, putting its AI and cloud strategy front and center. Investors will be watching to see if those bets are translating into enough new orders to justify shares hovering near the 52-week peak of 7.54 euros.
