ESPOO, Finland, May 9, 2026, 23:07 EEST
- Nokia’s U.S.-listed ADR rose 3.81% on Friday, ending a two-day losing streak.
- Investors are weighing Nokia Oyj’s AI data-centre push against margin pressure in older telecom gear.
- The next test is whether optical-network demand turns into steadier earnings, not just a hotter stock.
Nokia Oyj’s U.S.-listed shares rose on Friday, recovering part of a sharp mid-week drop as investors kept buying into the Finnish group’s shift toward AI data-centre networking. Its ADR — a U.S.-traded receipt for a foreign share — closed up 3.81% at $12.82, beating the Nasdaq Composite’s 1.71% gain, with volume of 95.9 million shares, MarketWatch reported.
This matters now because Nokia is being repriced less like a slow 5G equipment supplier and more like a possible winner from the AI build-out. Reuters reported last month that demand from hyperscalers — large cloud companies building big data centres — had lifted sales tied to AI and cloud customers, helped by Nokia’s optical networks, the high-capacity fiber systems used to move large volumes of data.
Nokia said first-quarter comparable net sales grew 4%, while sales to AI and cloud customers rose 49%. Chief Executive Justin Hotard said the company was investing to catch “accelerating demand from AI & Cloud customers,” and Nokia kept its 2026 comparable operating profit target at 2.0 billion to 2.5 billion euros. Nokia Corporation | Nokia
The April numbers gave the rally its first hard support. Comparable operating profit rose 54% to 281 million euros, ahead of the 250 million euro average estimate from analysts polled by Infront, and Nokia shares in Helsinki touched their highest level since April 2010 after the results, Reuters reported.
That changes the competitive read. Ericsson remains Nokia’s old radio-network yardstick, but the AI and optical-network story also drags Ciena and Cisco closer to the discussion, where the issue is cloud build-outs and high-speed data transport rather than only mobile-network spending.
Bank of America analysts led by Oliver Wong upgraded Nokia to Buy last month and raised their target to 10.70 euros, saying the Infinera acquisition had expanded Nokia’s exposure to U.S. cloud customers. The analysts called Nokia an “optical powerhouse with a European advantage,” according to Investing.com. Investing.com
Nokia has also been trying to add a defense angle. On May 5, Nokia Federal Solutions and Lockheed Martin launched a modular 5G product for U.S. and allied defense forces, aligned with CMOSS, a U.S. Army-backed standard meant to let hardware and software modules fit into military platforms more easily. Nokia Federal CEO Mike Loomis called it a “ready-to-use solution,” while Lockheed executive Sarah Hiza said the aim was gear that can be “deployed, sustained and trusted.” Nokia Corporation | Nokia
The broader market is not all in. MarketBeat said on Saturday that 18 analysts covering Nokia’s NYSE-listed shares had a “Moderate Buy” average rating, with 12 buys, four holds and two sells, but the average 12-month target of $9.71 sat below Friday’s close. It also noted recent upgrades by Bank of America, Arete Research and Nordea, while Citigroup kept a sell rating. MarketBeat
The risk is that the stock has moved faster than the business. Simply Wall St said the Lockheed launch did not materially change the near-term focus on hyperscaler demand and warned that price competition and margin pressure in core networks could still weigh on the case. If cloud orders pause or telecom operators pull back on radio spending, Nokia could look priced for a cleaner transition than it can deliver.
Hotard has also framed Europe’s infrastructure gap as a constraint, not just an opportunity. He told Reuters that Europe needed more connectivity and data-centre capacity, adding that developers move where infrastructure exists; in his view, that remains largely the United States and China.
For now, Friday’s rebound says investors have not left the AI-networking trade. It also says the next leg has to come from orders, margin and execution, not nostalgia for the old Nokia name.
