Nokia beats first-quarter estimates as AI boom lifts sales again

Nokia posted a bigger than expected rise in its quarterly comparable operating profit on Thursday, as the Finnish telecom gear maker continued to see high demand from artificial intelligence and cloud customers, booking orders worth 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion).

Comparable operating profit jumped 54% to 281 million euros in the first quarter of 2026. That was above the average estimate of 250 million euros from analysts polled by Infront.

Nokia’s sales have jumped in recent quarters thanks to high demand for artificial intelligence data centres built by so-called hyperscalers—large cloud service providers—that rely on fibre optic cables.

The Finnish company, previously known for its iconic phone business and later for making 5G gear, is now one of the world’s top manufacturers of optical transport systems after buying U.S.-based Infinera.

Comparable net sales in the quarter reached 4.5 billion euros, in line with market estimates. The Espoo, Finland-based group said net sales from AI and cloud customers climbed 49%.