Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia experienced a dramatic stock surge Thursday, with shares climbing nearly 7% to their highest point in 16 years following stronger-than-anticipated quarterly financial results.
The company’s comparable operating profit soared 54% to 281 million euros ($329 million) during the first quarter of 2026, surpassing analyst predictions of 250 million euros according to Infront polling data.
Nokia’s stock reached levels not seen since April 2010, when the company was still primarily recognized as a mobile phone manufacturer. The dramatic turnaround reflects the company’s successful transformation into a leading provider of network infrastructure equipment.
The surge in Nokia’s performance stems from explosive growth in artificial intelligence data center construction by major cloud service providers, known as hyperscalers, which require extensive fiber optic cable networks that Nokia now supplies.
Once famous for its mobile phones and later for 5G equipment manufacturing, the Espoo-based company has evolved into a global leader in optical transport systems following its acquisition of American firm Infinera.
Quarterly net sales totaled 4.5 billion euros, meeting market projections. The company reported that revenue from AI and cloud computing clients jumped 49%, while securing 1 billion euros worth of new contracts.
Nokia has significantly increased its growth projections for the AI and cloud market, now anticipating annual expansion of 27% from 2025 through 2028, a substantial increase from the 16% growth rate predicted during a November investor presentation.
The company also raised its network infrastructure segment sales forecast to between 12% and 14% growth for this year, up from the 6% to 8% projection made in January. Nokia attributed this upgrade to strong performance in its optical and IP networks divisions.
“As a result, we are currently tracking somewhat above the mid-point of our full year financial outlook of 2.0 billion to 2.5 billion euros in comparable operating profit,” CEO Justin Hotard stated.
