The company’s October 22 interim report showed comparable operating profit of €605 million, compared with €448 million a year earlier. Reported operating profit fell 22% to €196 million, reflecting accelerated restructuring and integration costs.
Revenue increased 10% as reported to €5.154 billion, with growth of 9% on a constant-currency and portfolio basis. Comparable diluted earnings from continuing operations rose to €0.09 a share from €0.06.
The operating profit exceeded the €453 million average estimate in a company-provided analyst poll, Reuters reported.
Nokia’s New York-listed shares nevertheless fell 14.81% to $7.88 on October 22. They recovered 3.30% to $8.14 on Friday, October 23, remaining below their $9.25 close before the results.
Nokia reduced its free-cash-flow conversion assumption to 35%–55% of comparable operating profit. It plans an additional €400 million investment in working capital this year to secure supply and support growth in 2027, alongside accelerated restructuring.
The company retained its annual comparable operating profit outlook of €2.1 billion–€2.6 billion.
On the October 22 earnings call, Chief Executive Justin Hotard said AI and cloud sales increased 123% and represented 12% of group sales. Orders from those customers rose 118% to €1.5 billion.
Hotard said Nokia was tracking above the midpoint of its annual profit outlook. The company expects its combined Optical and IP Networks businesses to grow 25%–30% in 2027, reflecting earlier design wins converting into revenue and continued demand for connectivity infrastructure.
Investment in optical connections is also expanding elsewhere in the data-center supply chain. Microsoft’s Azure was named the first announced hyperscale cloud provider to deploy 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical technology in a July partnership announcement, reported by The FINANCIAL.
Nokia Corporation Interim Report for Q3 2026
Nokia delivers strong net sales and profit growth
- Q3 net sales grew 9% y-o-y on a constant currency basis (+10% reported).
- Network Infrastructure net sales grew 15% y-o-y on a constant currency basis, led by IP Networks growing 43% and Optical Networks 18%. Group net sales to AI & Cloud customers grew 123% and order intake 118%.
- Mobile Infrastructure net sales grew 5% y-o-y, in part due to acceleration of revenue from Q4 into Q3. The segment benefited from product mix, commercial discipline and continued execution of the cost reduction program.
- Q3 comparable gross margin was largely stable y-o-y at 44.6%. Reported gross margin declined 220bps to 42.2%.
- Q3 comparable operating margin increased 220bps y-o-y to 11.7% benefiting from revenue growth and operating efficiency. Reported operating margin declined 160bps to 3.8% due to accelerated restructuring and integration cost.
- Q3 comparable diluted EPS from continued operations of EUR 0.09; reported diluted EPS from continued operations of EUR 0.03.
- Nokia’s full year financial outlook is unchanged.
“Team Nokia continues to deliver on our commitments as we execute against our strategy. In Q3, we grew net sales by 9% and improved comparable operating margin by 220 basis points. We continue to simplify our portfolio, and we are on track to complete the Infinera integration by the end of 2026, one year ahead of plan with EUR 200 million of net synergies.
In AI & Cloud, net sales more than doubled year-over-year and we secured EUR 1.5 billion in new orders. Our strong order backlog also positions us for future growth. We expect our combined Optical and IP Networks businesses to grow between 25% and 30% in 2027. Nokia’s strengths are uniquely suited to meet growing demands for AI infrastructure that is larger, more distributed and hyperconnected. We are investing where we can differentiate and co-innovate with hyperscalers. Our partnership with Google in support of their EUR 13 billion investment in Finland is an example of how our optical and IP networks provide the critical connectivity AI infrastructure requires.
AI-native networks are moving into the physical world, and our AI-RAN platform is being developed to deliver the performance needed for this market. Together with T-Mobile and NVIDIA, we completed the world’s first AI-RAN call in a live operator network in line with the commitment we announced last year. As we move towards commercial deployment the features and spectral efficiency delivered by our platform are uniquely differentiated in the market.
Overall, growth is accelerating, operating leverage is becoming more visible and I’m confident in the long-term shareholder value Team Nokia is creating.”
Justin Hotard, President and CEO
