Nokia Sees 93% Surge in Q1 Profits

Finnish telecommunications equipment provider Nokia reported first-quarter results on Wednesday, showing a 93% year-on-year increase in net profit to €295 million, with adjusted operating profit exceeding Wall Street expectations by about 15%,adjusted earnings per share were €0.05, a 67% increase year-on-year.The strong performance of the optical network business has become the biggest highlight, further strengthening the market's confidence in its narrative of "AI infrastructure transformation".

Nokia (NOK.US) rose as much as 12% before the market opened, hitting a 52-week high.

Financial Report Surpasses Expectations, Profit Quality Significantly Improved

Nokia's net sales for the first quarter amounted to €4.497 billion, a 2% increase year-on-year, surpassing the average analyst estimate of €4.34 billion. Adjusted operating profit reached €281 million, a 54% increase compared to the same period a year ago, with earnings per share at €0.05, exceeding expectations by 25%.

This is Nokia's first quarterly financial report published under the new business segment structure effective from January 2026, which separates AI and cloud computing businesses for披露, enhancing information transparency. The company's full-year performance guidance remains unchanged.

Optical Networks: The 'Traffic Highways' of the AI Era

The most noteworthy data this quarter comes from the optical network department — with net sales growing by 20% year-on-year and AI and cloud computing-related revenues increasing by 49%.

Nokia's optical network business has largely benefited from the global expansion of hyper-scale data centers. As the demand for long-distance data transfer across data centers and cities surges due to AI large model training, optical transmission networks have become a critical bottleneck in the entire AI infrastructure chain.There are only two main suppliers globally capable of building such long-distance networks, Nokia and American Ciena.

Earlier this month, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts upgraded their rating on Nokia from "neutral" to "buy,"