Quarterly earnings beat forecasts at Nokia, shares spark

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Nokia sparked on Thursday, after the telecoms giant posted above-forecast third-quarter numbers. Net sales at the Finnish firm jumped 12% in the three months to €4.83bn, or by 9% on a constant currency basis. Analysts had been expecting quarterly sales closer to €4.6bn.

The growth was driven by a strong performance in network infrastructure, which posted a 11% spike in sales, and cloud and network services, up 13%.

Nokia's core business remains mobile networks. However, it has been investing heavily into artificial intelligence, including the $2.3bn acquisition of US optical networking firm Infinera, which it completed earlier this year.

Group operating profits fell 10% on a comparable basis, to €435m.

Profits were dented by Nokia changing how it presents gains and losses from venture fund investments, as well as wider headwinds, including US tariffs and a weaker dollar, and higher costs.

However, analysts had expected a far steeper decline, to €342m.

As at 1015 BST, shares in Nokia were trading 8% higher.

Justin Hotard, chief executive, said: "We delivered a solid performance in the third quarter.

"The AI super-cycle is accelerating demand for providers of advanced and trusted connectively. Nokia is uniquely positioned to be a leader in this market."

Looking to the full year, Hotard confirmed Nokia was on course to meet guidance.

Currently forecasting annual comparable operating profits between €1.7bn to €2.2bn, Hotard said Nokia was tracking towards the midpoint of that range.

Jefferies, which has a 'hold' rating on the stock, said: "Nokia reported sales...6% ahead of our forecast.

"These results increasingly demonstrate that Nokia is becoming a beneficiary of AI data centre investments."