Nokia Corporation

Nokia Corporation is expanding its partnership with Microsoft Corporation to build an agentic, unified data foundation aimed at helping telecom providers scale artificial intelligence-driven operations. Under the agreement, Nokia Data Suite integrates with Microsoft Fabric, combining telco-specific data products with unified analytics, governance and AI capabilities across cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments. The company is initially applying these capabilities to autonomous Voice over New Radio assurance, where AI agents detect network anomalies, analyze service issues and recommend corrective actions. Nokia faces competition from Ericsson, which expanded its Intelligent Automation Platform to support automation across radio and core networks, and from Cisco Systems, which is integrating AI agents into its networking portfolio. Nokia shares have soared 123.6% over the past year compared with the industry's 20.6% growth, and the stock trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 2.42 versus the industry tally of 4.93.

Nokia disclosed an expanded partnership with Microsoft to launch an AI-powered telecom network automation platform integrating Nokia Data Suite with Microsoft Fabric, news reported by Barron's and the Wall Street Journal, sending shares up 3.8% intraday Thursday. The deal came a day after Jim Cramer told a caller on the September 16 Lightning Round of Mad Money that he would be a buyer of Nokia right here, right now. Nokia's Q2 2026 report showed revenue of $5.49 billion beating estimates by 13.79% and EPS of $0.0799 beating the $0.0682 consensus, while AI and Cloud customer revenue more than doubled year over year to $508.96 million with order intake of EUR 2.8 billion in the segment. Reported operating income was a loss of $57 million after $445.05 million in accelerated restructuring charges, free cash flow ran negative $835 million, and net income dropped 94.44% year over year. The ADR is up 132.81% over the past 12 months and 65.14% year to date, trading around $10.53 with a market capitalization near $58.95 billion, and management guided Q3 sequential net sales growth of 3% to 7%.

Nokia stock rose 6% to $10.39 after the company said its AI-RAN platform is moving from evaluation into live field trials with eight global operators across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The named operators advancing proofs of concept and trials include A1 Group, du, e&, Mobily, stc and TPG Telecom. The platform pairs Nokia's AI-native anyRAN software with NVIDIA's Aerial RAN Computer and has already delivered spectral efficiency improvements of more than 20%, letting operators draw more capacity from spectrum they already hold. The move was Nokia-specific: Ericsson rose 0.7% to $10.11 and NVIDIA rose 0.9% to $214.04, while the iShares U.S. Technology ETF was unchanged at $250.08 and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust gained 0.4% to $760.33. Separately, Nokia said Nokia Defense signed a memorandum of understanding with UK systems engineering and security services company C3IA to support digital transformation across UK defense operations, with both companies participating in the UK Ministry of Defence's TacSys framework.

Nokia Defense and C3IA announced at the 2026 DVD (Defence Vehicle Dynamics) event the signing of a memorandum of understanding to strengthen collaboration and support the digital transformation of UK Defense. The partnership combines Nokia's advanced connectivity expertise with C3IA's systems engineering, capability integration and security services to deliver resilient communications, secure information sharing and network interoperability across land, air, maritime, cyber and space domains. Under the agreement, the two companies will co-develop solutions spanning tactical and operational communications, private 4G and 5G, situational awareness, command and control, sensing, autonomous systems and edge computing. The collaboration builds on Nokia Defense and C3IA's participation in the UK Ministry of Defence Tactical Communication Systems framework, where they hold positions in Lot 1 (Services) and Lot 3 (Components) under framework RM6393, giving the MOD and other public sector organizations access to Nokia's full connectivity portfolio from headquarters to the tactical edge. Mikko Viitaniemi, Vice President and Head of Nokia Defense, said the collaboration combines mission-critical connectivity with defense systems engineering to advance tactical communications and interoperability across future UK defense programs, while C3IA Managing Director Steve Brown said the partnership enables rapid deployment of capabilities that can deliver real operational value on the battlefield.

Nokia Oyj is linked to Nscale's plan to raise about $3.5 billion in pre-IPO funding for AI infrastructure, a round expected to test Nokia's role as a supplier of AI infrastructure hardware and related services. Nokia is also a direct investor in Nscale, so the funding outcome could influence future AI infrastructure partnership terms. The planned raise effectively stress tests a key part of the Nokia narrative, which leans on AI and cloud orders in optical and IP networks as a catalyst for future earnings and margin expansion. The clearest marker to track is how management attributes any future AI-related optical and networking orders in its updates through 2027, and whether it explicitly links deal visibility or backlog to Nscale and similar AI infrastructure partners. Nokia sells mobile, fixed, and cloud network solutions across regions from North and Latin America to Asia and the Middle East, putting its AI infrastructure work with Nscale inside its broader communications hardware and services footprint.

Nokia Oyj is supplying 800G coherent pluggable optics to Telxius as the company upgrades the international terrestrial transport networks connecting its subsea cables, while ESpanix in Spain is deploying Nokia Deepfield Defender to power a new DDoS protection service for internet exchange customers. The two deployments are separate pieces of Nokia's broader telecom and security business rather than a single combined contract. Telxius plans to use Nokia optical technology to scale bandwidth and capacity on routes supporting its global subsea infrastructure. Nokia's profit margin stands at 3.4%, down from 5% a year earlier, leaving investors watching whether heavier AI and security workloads convert into higher quality earnings. The key marker over the next 12 to 24 months is the number of clearly disclosed commercial deals citing these 800G and Deepfield deployments as live, scaled services across Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Nokia has expanded its network security business in Spain by deploying its Deepfield Defender solution across the Madrid and Barcelona platforms of ESpanix, the country's largest Internet exchange point. The deployment extends Nokia's distributed denial-of-service protection technology to more than 200 national and international networks connected to ESpanix. Nokia's technology combines AI-powered network analytics with its Deepfield Secure Genome security intelligence to detect and mitigate DDoS attacks within seconds, delivering protection directly within network infrastructure so ESpanix can mitigate attacks without redirecting traffic to external scrubbing centers, keeping Spanish Internet traffic and security operations within the country. The move expands Nokia's existing relationship with ESpanix and demonstrates the scalability of its Deepfield portfolio across multiple networks through a single Internet exchange platform. Nokia faces competition from Ericsson, which is incorporating Zero Trust principles and AI-driven security into 5G and next-generation network operations, and from Cisco Systems, which is expanding its AI-powered cybersecurity portfolio across networks, cloud environments and applications.

Telxius and Nokia are collaborating to deploy 800G coherent pluggable optics across Telxius' terrestrial transport networks in Europe, the United States and Latin America. The deployment uses Nokia's ICE-X 800G ZR/ZR+ coherent pluggable technology with IP-over-DWDM networking to add capacity on Telxius' existing terrestrial infrastructure while reducing the power and space required for expansion. It also employs Nokia network automation, giving Telxius full visibility, fault and performance monitoring, and coordinated service provisioning across its optical transport network. The initiative builds on a recent industry-record demonstration of Nokia ICE-X 800G ZR+ coherent pluggable optics over the BRUSA subsea cable system, which delivered 400Gb/s per wavelength across more than 5,600 km. Jesús María Rubio, Chief Technology and Information Officer at Telxius, said the deployment and the BRUSA trial reinforce the company's position at the forefront of optical innovation, while Nokia's Ron Johnson, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Optical Networks, said the technology gives Telxius a high-performance foundation for data center interconnection and seamless connectivity between terrestrial and subsea networks.

Verizon announced the expansion of its 6G Innovation Forum with nine new members and reported successful pre-standard field trials of Integrated Sensing and Communication and an AI Sports Companion prototype. Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Intel, Keysight Technologies, MediaTek, NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI Solutions have officially joined the forum, which was launched last year and already includes founding members Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, Meta and Qualcomm Technologies. In one trial staged at a major international soccer celebration in Dallas, Texas, Verizon and Samsung used a single 5G base station and 40MHz of CBRS spectrum to track radio variations from six Samsung Galaxy smartphones, with Samsung's AI RAN and edge AI platform Network in a Server generating real-time crowd-density heatmaps on commercial phones and a tablet. In a second trial at Qualcomm's San Diego campus, the companies used 100 to 400MHz of millimeter-wave spectrum and four synchronized Transmission and Reception Points to track an airborne drone and moving ground vehicles while maintaining uninterrupted 5G Standalone communications to a phone user on the ground. Verizon also showcased a prototype AI Sports Companion application running on the Verizon Edge Network with Meta AI glasses, a locally optimized Small Language Model, an NVIDIA DGX Spark and statistics from SportsDataIO, letting users ask verbally for real-time player statistics, live score interpretations and game-winning probabilities. Verizon said forum members will continue sharing learnings from future demonstrations involving ISAC, digital twins, robotics, AI and advanced wearables, and it views the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as the ultimate interim proving ground on the road to commercial 6G deployment, supported by its dedicated 6G Lab already established in the host city.

Nokia has launched Cognitive Operations, a new commercially available platform that unifies mission-critical communications, accelerated edge computing and operational AI in a single field-deployable system, initially targeting the mining, public safety and defense markets. The platform gives operational teams real-time site and asset intelligence through AI-agentic assistance, a live 3D digital twin of operations, real-time video analytics, predictive maintenance and autonomous safety monitoring, and it can be deployed on-premises or hosted on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. At the edge of the platform sits Nokia's Cognitive Edge Node, a rugged network and edge compute platform with embedded on-device GPU-accelerated computing that brings intelligence to field-deployed vehicles and remote locations; Nokia collaborated with Rajant to integrate its InstaMesh technology directly into the Cognitive Edge Node. Cognitive Operations launches with three vertical applications: CO for mining, its flagship product for the mining industry, available on-premises and on-cloud through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace; CO for emergency services, which introduces the Vehicle as a Node concept so that police cars, fire trucks and ambulances self-organize into a distributed field intelligence network; and CO for defense, which extends the platform to the battlefield edge for sensor fusion, video analytics and threat detection across 5G, tactical radio and satellite. Lelio Di Martino, General Manager of Cognitive Operations for Nokia, said the launch extends AI directly into the field, and Ildefonso de la Cruz Morales, Senior Principal Analyst at Omdia, said the convergence of AI, edge computing and mission-critical communications is becoming a key requirement for organizations seeking to improve operational performance and worker safety.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, plans to invest at least 13 billion in Finland within two years, marking its largest European commitment. The project includes building at least three data centers in Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala, and expanding its Hamina facility. Finland's cold climate reduces cooling needs, and its carbon-free electricity supports cleaner computing expansion. The investment could support more than 37,000 Finnish jobs during construction and about 7,000 once operational. Google Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat said the company is proud to deepen its roots in Finland with its largest single investment in Europe. The scale aligns with Alphabet's broader spending acceleration, as it raised its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to as much as $205 billion. Energy arrangements include a new wind-power agreement, a 94-megawatt battery-storage system at Kajaani, and a 22-year power-purchase agreement with Finnish utility Fortum covering 2030 through 2049, which will represent 50% of the capacity from Fortum's two-reactor Loviisa plant. Elisa and Nokia will provide telecommunications and network infrastructure.

Nokia has announced Mobile Core Early Access, a live hosted environment available globally to telecommunication providers and enterprises, designed to help operators evaluate and adopt advanced mobile core capabilities in the AI era. The initiative aims to shorten the path from technology awareness to deployment by allowing participants to explore new capabilities in a practical, end-to-end setting that includes radios and devices. Launched in June with a select group of 30 companies, registration is now open to the entire industry, making it the first program of its kind. Kal De, Senior Vice President of Core Networks at Nokia, emphasized that the program reduces uncertainty and accelerates innovation cycles, while Omdia analyst Roberto Kompany noted it addresses a longstanding challenge of gaining practical exposure before deployment decisions. A paid option is available for participants needing extended access or deeper integration.

Nokia Oyj has agreed to work with BeeHealthy to commercialize its Network as Code platform for digital healthcare, using network-based authentication and anti-fraud APIs. The partnership aims to apply telecom-grade security tools to healthcare apps and services as part of a broader enterprise monetization effort. Nokia also opened a research and development center in Saudi Arabia focused on AI-powered network automation and future 6G work, supporting national digital transformation programs. The Riyadh hub positions Nokia in key Middle East telecom markets and aligns with Saudi Vision 2030. Investors should watch for additional Network as Code customers and contracts tied to the Saudi center over the next 12 to 18 months to gauge the materiality of Nokia's AI and software push.

InCoax Networks has announced the initial activation of a planned multi-building deployment for Sjoberg's Inc., a family-owned cable operator based in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, using Nokia Gigabit Connect with MoCA Access technology. The rollout is expected to cover approximately 30 to 40 buildings across Sjoberg's network, delivering fiber-based multi-gigabit broadband over existing coaxial infrastructure in apartment buildings. InCoax CEO Jakob Tobieson called the activation a milestone, marking the first live installations from the company's collaboration with Nokia and the transition from product integration to live deployment in a U.S. operator network. The solution supports integrated provisioning and lifecycle management through Nokia Altiplano Access Controller, and Sjoberg has integrated the Nokia DPU and InCoax MoCA technology into its TruVizion broadband diagnostics platform. This deployment represents a Fiber Access Extension use case, extending fiber-based services from the building access point to individual subscribers.

Nokia has opened its first research and development center in Saudi Arabia, located in Riyadh, to accelerate AI-powered network automation. The center will develop software for service management and orchestration, self-organizing networks, Autopilot, and rApps, enabling networks to self-configure, self-heal, and optimize energy use. This initiative supports Saudi Vision 2030 by creating local engineering roles and training programs, while also producing exportable 'Made in Saudi' technology. The launch follows an agreement between Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Nokia's CEO Justin Hotard, and aims to contribute to global Nokia customers as well as explore AI-native 6G technologies.

The European Union on Tuesday awarded French state-owned computer company Bull a contract worth 387.78 million euros ($449.4 million) to build an artificial intelligence supercomputer. This is Bull's largest order ever and part of the EU's efforts to expand computing capacity and narrow the gap with the United States and China. The contract comes months after the French government spun off Bull from debt-laden Atos. According to officials at the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC), demand for AI computing resources exceeds available capacity. EuroHPC selected Bull as the sixth system ordered under its AI Factory program. The new system, named LUMI-AI, will be co-located with the existing supercomputer LUMI in Finland and is expected to become operational in the second half of 2027. This order further expands the network that EuroHPC has been building for years. With a total budget of 8.2 billion euros through 2027, EuroHPC has established 19 AI factories centered on 12 supercomputers, with plans for further expansion. Evangelos Floros, head of infrastructure at EuroHPC, told reporters, "At present, we cannot meet all demand and have to turn down some applications." He expressed hope that the capacity shortfall would be alleviated as additional systems come online in the second half of this year and beyond. Floros noted that EuroHPC's network has become a key foundation for AI development in Europe, with AI factories adding systems specialized for AI training and applications. Bull will use AI chips from AMD, a major competitor to U.S. chip giant Nvidia, and integrate storage technology from IBM and network technology from Nokia. EuroHPC systems are already being used by European AI developers. French cloud services company OVHcloud told Reuters it has completed initial training of a foundation model using Jupiter, a supercomputer EuroHPC is building in Germany. In addition, Italian startup Domino, which leads the EU-backed EUROPA consortium, is also using EuroHPC infrastructure to train its own models.

Nokia has been ranked No. 1 for mobile core portfolio competitiveness in Omdia's 2026 Market Landscape: Core Vendors report for the second consecutive year. The report named Nokia a leader across all seven competitiveness categories: core portfolio breadth, cloud-native maturity, signaling, automation, core as a service, AI/ML and analytics, and implementations of other network functions. Nokia's recent deployments include the world's first commercial mobile telco service based on 5G Core SaaS, Core SaaS Edge enabling local breakout for roaming subscribers, core network resilience solutions, telecom core modernization programs, and mission-critical network upgrades supporting the IoT, rail and utilities sectors. Omdia's 2026 report expanded its assessment to 12 vendors while updating category weightings to reflect evolving operator priorities, including increased emphasis on AI/ML and analytics capabilities.

Nokia Corporation is benefiting from solid revenue growth in its Network Infrastructure segment, with second-quarter net sales rising to €2.04 billion from €1.83 billion a year earlier. AI and Cloud net sales increased 105% year over year, while AI and Cloud order intake reached 2.8 billion euros. Optical Networks revenues grew 20% and IP Network grew 16% on a constant currency basis, backed by growing AI infrastructure spending. Nokia is expanding optical manufacturing capacity, including a new San Jose facility expected to scale production in the fourth quarter of 2026 and a tenfold increase in Pennsylvania advanced test and packaging capacity. Weakness in the Fixed networks business remains a drag on segment growth, while competitors Ciena and Arista Networks are also seeing strong AI-driven demand.

Nokia signed a 5G expansion agreement with Taiwan Mobile to deploy its AirScale portfolio and AI-driven software across the carrier's network. The deal includes four AI applications: predictive hardware analytics, MantaRay SON self-organizing network, AI-powered energy management, and AI-enabled self-healing capabilities. The deployment supports 5G-Advanced features like network slicing and RedCap, aiming to handle surging AI traffic that could grow network load by up to 10 times. Nokia has been building toward AI-native infrastructure, launching the industry's first commercial AI-RAN platform in June with 20% higher spectral efficiency, and expects that to reach 50% next year and 100% by 2028. The company also has a deepening partnership with Nvidia, which invested $1 billion at $6.01 per share, and insider buying has been strong, with multiple executives purchasing shares in recent months.

Nokia Oyj has launched what it calls the first commercial AI-RAN platform for mobile networks, alongside new AI-powered network collaborations with Nvidia and Dell aimed at future 6G connectivity. The announcement comes as Nokia's share price has been volatile, with a 7-day return of 3.74% but a 30-day decline of 20.42%, while longer-term returns remain strong at 132.55% over one year and 154.01% over three years. The stock closed at $9.43, trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.4 times, which is described as expensive compared to the US Communications industry average of 33.4 times and an estimated fair P/E of 47.6 times. However, a discounted cash flow model from Simply Wall St suggests the stock trades about 24.7% below an estimated fair value of $12.52, pointing to an undervalued reading. Nokia faces execution risk on its AI-RAN rollout and depends on competitive telecom spending cycles that can shift quickly if customer budgets tighten.

Qatari telecom provider Ooredoo is leading an $800 million investment in Zankore, a dedicated AI compute and neocloud platform being developed with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Nokia, and Nvidia. As founding shareholder and lead investor with a 49% stake, Ooredoo will commit about $800 million to Zankore's launch and initial development, with the investment expected to contribute approximately $600 million in cumulative EBITDA over its first five years. Zankore will initially be developed in Indonesia before expanding across Southeast Asia, targeting 1 gigawatt of NVIDIA DSX AI Factory capacity and aiming to deliver about 200 megawatts of AI capacity in the first half of 2027 using NVIDIA DSX MaxLPS technology, which can increase computing output by up to 40% within the same power budget. The move positions Ooredoo as an early mover in Southeast Asia's rapidly growing AI infrastructure market, as Gulf states accelerate investments in AI and data infrastructure.

A potential US ban on Chinese optical transceiver imports would inflict collateral damage on American hyperscalers, exacerbating a supply bottleneck that no US firm can ease, research firm Counterpoint warned on Wednesday. The proposed ban would disrupt hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, raising costs for major spenders like Amazon and Microsoft and lowering utilization of expensive AI accelerators. Chinese firms hold nearly two-thirds of the global optical transceiver supply, with companies such as Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology leading in high-precision module manufacturing at scale. Restricting Chinese components would also hurt Western suppliers like Broadcom, Marvell Technology, Lumentum Holdings, and Mitsubishi Electric, whose chips and lasers are integrated into Chinese-made transceivers. The initial trade curb report sent Zhongji Innolight shares down as much as 14%, while Western rivals Applied Optoelectronic, Coherent, and Nokia rallied.

Nokia Oyj stock is drawing attention after second quarter 2026 results and third quarter guidance that assumes a 3% to 7% quarter-on-quarter rise in net sales. The most followed narrative on Simply Wall St places fair value at €15.16 per share, well above the recent price of €8.10, implying the stock is 47% undervalued. Nokia reported revenue of €4.815 billion and earnings per share of €0.07, supported by growing demand for AI and cloud-related solutions. The company is also expanding in the defense sector through AI-powered tools for 5G networks. A separate Simply Wall St discounted cash flow model values the stock at €11.66, also above the current price.

Nokia reported second-quarter 2026 net sales growth of 9% year over year, driven by a 105% jump in its AI and cloud segment to 446 million euros. AI and cloud order intake reached 2.8 billion euros, with roughly half expected to convert to revenue within 12 months, though CEO Justin Hotard cautioned that order patterns can be lumpy. Comparable gross margin expanded 70 basis points to 46%, and comparable operating margin rose 70 basis points to 9%, despite a 150-basis-point headwind from stock-based compensation. Network infrastructure sales grew 12% on a constant currency basis, led by a 20% increase in optical networks and a 16% increase in IP networks, while mobile infrastructure sales rose 7%. The company announced the reclassification of its fixed wireless access and enterprise campus edge businesses as discontinued operations, and it is accelerating the integration of its Chinese operations to achieve 200 million euros in cost synergies within two years. Free cash flow was negative 732 million euros, and the net cash position stood at 2.8 billion euros at quarter end.

Nokia Oyj has launched what it describes as the industry's first commercial AI-RAN platform, aiming to reshape radio access network architecture with AI-driven control. The company also expanded its 5G partnership with Taiwan Mobile to deploy AI-native mobile network capabilities across Taiwan. These moves are intended to increase network capacity, energy efficiency, and automation for telecom operators using Nokia solutions. Nokia's stock is priced at €9.152 and has risen 65.7% year to date and 126.1% over the past year.

Nokia has rallied 130% over the past year, driven by its emerging role in artificial intelligence radio access networks, or AI-RAN. The company's small AI and cloud segment grew 49% year over year in the first quarter, even as overall revenue rose just 4%. Nvidia announced a $1 billion investment in Nokia as part of a partnership to support the telecom sector's upgrade to AI-native 5G-advanced and 6G networks. Nokia is on track to launch customer trials later this year with 10 customers publicly committed, and market research firm Dell'Oro Group anticipates cumulative AI-RAN spending will reach $35 billion in five years.

Nokia introduced what it described as the industry's first commercial artificial intelligence-native radio access network platform developed with Nvidia. The platform combines Nokia's AI-native anyRAN software with Nvidia's Aerial AI-RAN technology and is expected to more than double spectral efficiency by 2028, with demonstrations already showing more than 20% gains. Pilot deployments are planned for later this year, with commercial availability scheduled for 2027, using Nvidia's programmable merchant silicon platforms. The launch follows a strategic partnership established less than 10 months ago that included Nvidia taking an equity stake in Nokia.

Nokia has extended its 5G agreement with Taiwan Mobile to accelerate the rollout of artificial intelligence-powered mobile networks across Taiwan. Under the deal, Nokia will deploy its latest AirScale portfolio, including next-generation baseband platforms and advanced radio technologies, to increase network capacity and prepare for rising AI-driven data traffic. The company will also introduce AI software such as MantaRay Self-Organizing Networks and Predictive Hardware Analytics to automate operations and improve reliability, along with AI-based energy management tools to optimize power usage. The upgraded infrastructure will support advanced 5G features like network slicing and Reduced Capability, enabling new services for businesses and consumers.

Nokia Oyj stock may be about 12% undervalued according to a Discounted Cash Flow analysis, even as earnings-based metrics suggest the shares are overvalued. The DCF model estimates an intrinsic value of €11.63 per share, implying roughly 12.1% upside from the current price, supported by a recent €1 billion AI infrastructure partnership with Nvidia. However, Nokia trades at about 74 times earnings, above a tailored fair P/E of around 65.2 times and well above the broader communications industry average of 39.4 times, signaling that the market is paying a premium. Broader valuation checks score Nokia 2 out of 6, leaning toward expensive territory despite the DCF signal. The stock has returned 190.5% over three years and 141.7% over the past year, raising questions about whether the good news is already priced in.

Nokia Defense and NestAI are advancing their technology partnership with the first operational capabilities developed under their collaboration, which was established alongside a €100 million joint investment in NestAI by Nokia and Tesi in November 2025. The partnership delivers three integrated capabilities: AI-enabled command-and-control on deployable 5G networks, mission planning with assured connectivity, and earlier threat detection and response by combining Nokia’s Integrated Sensing and Communications with NestAI’s multi-sensor tracking. These capabilities are built for denied environments where communications, sensing, and mission-planning must work together seamlessly, addressing challenges such as electronic attack and emerging drone threats with European-developed technologies built to NATO operational requirements. Mikko Hautala, Chief Geopolitical & Government Relations Officer and Chairman of Nokia Defense, said AI only works in the field with secure, resilient connectivity, and the partnership accelerates sovereign technologies NATO needs. Peter Sarlin, Founder and Executive Chairman of NestAI, noted that what they are building addresses the real conditions European forces face, on technology that Europe develops and controls.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted that silicon photonics capacity is substantially below what the world needs, creating a new AI bottleneck in data-transfer speeds. To address this, Nvidia has invested $2 billion in Coherent, $2 billion in Lumentum, and $1 billion in Nokia, forming strategic agreements for access to advanced optical networking and laser technologies. Coherent's data center and communications revenue rose 41% last quarter, Lumentum's total revenue nearly doubled to $808.4 million, and Nokia's cloud and AI revenue grew 49% in the first quarter of 2026. All three stocks have more than doubled this year, though they face risks including heavy reliance on data center demand and intense competition.

Nokia's stock could see a parabolic move after its July 23 earnings report, driven by a landmark AI partnership with Nvidia. In May 2026, Nvidia agreed to invest $1 billion in Nokia at $6.01 per share, taking a 2.9% stake, to accelerate AI-RAN, a new category of radio access networks built for AI workloads. T-Mobile also signed on for field trials this year. Nokia's optical networking business is ramping up a second indium phosphide semiconductor fabrication facility in San Jose, California, giving it a vertical integration advantage in high-speed optical transceivers for AI data centers. The Q2 2026 report will be the first to show how the Nvidia deal is impacting order books and whether the facility ramp is on schedule. If Nokia delivers on optical growth and provides forward guidance on AI-RAN commercialization, the stock could reprice quickly from its current undervalued levels.

Nokia has secured a multi-year contract with Orange Belgium to upgrade the operator's transport network, serving as the sole supplier for a large-scale modernization project. The deal will combine Orange Belgium's fixed and mobile transport systems into a converged optical network using Nokia's 1830 Photonic Service Switch platform, supporting speeds from 1G to 400G and beyond, along with AI-powered WaveSuite automation software. The upgrade aims to improve efficiency and service readiness for high-bandwidth demands driven by AI, cloud computing, 5G, and streaming. Nokia shares have surged 132.5% over the past year, far outpacing the industry's 40.1% growth, though the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).