STOCKHOLM – Finland’s Nokia reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted operating profit and sales on Thursday, driven by higher demand for telecom equipment from mobile operators in North America and India. The company also expressed optimism about its prospects for 2025.
Shares of the telecom equipment maker surged 3% at 0840 GMT, outperforming the 0.4% rise in Europe’s STOXX 600 index.
Nokia’s quarterly net sales grew by 10% to 5.98 billion euros ($6.2 billion), surpassing analysts’ expectations of 5.74 billion euros, according to an LSEG poll.
The company reported a 17% increase in sales at its network infrastructure business, attributed to strong demand recovery from communication service providers, especially in North America.
CEO Pekka Lundmark told Reuters, “Historically, when the markets shift, the North American market leads, both upward and downward,” adding that he anticipates positive market trends to continue into 2025.
Nokia forecast a full-year profit between 1.9 billion euros and 2.4 billion euros, compared to the LSEG estimate of 2.13 billion euros.
Both Nokia and its Nordic rival Ericsson have experienced double-digit growth in North America due to a recovery in demand following years of weakness. Demand from Indian clients, which had significantly declined after a strong 2023, is also picking up.
To capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom, Nokia agreed last year to acquire Infinera for $2.3 billion, aiming to benefit from the growing investments in data centers, such as the $500 billion Stargate project supported by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle.
“We have interest in all data centers, and assuming the Stargate project delivers, it will present an exciting market opportunity for us,” Lundmark said.
He now expects the Infinera acquisition to close by the end of the first quarter, ahead of the initial forecast of the end of the first half of the year.
Comparable earnings before interest and tax increased to 1.14 billion euros, exceeding the 960 million euros analysts had anticipated.
