Nokia Oyj (NOK) delivered a sharp jump in quarterly profit during its third quarter, even as reported operating profit declined amid rising restructuring costs.
The Finnish telecom and network technology company posted a net profit of €156 million for the quarter, up 95 percent from €80 million in the same period a year earlier.
Profit from continuing operations reached €176 million, compared with €90 million last year, representing a 96 percent increase year-over-year.
Earnings per share from continuing operations came in at €0.03, improving from just €0.01 recorded in the prior year period.
Comparable profit from continuing operations climbed 49 percent to €498 million, while comparable earnings per share from continuing operations rose to €0.09 from €0.06 last year.
Reported operating profit dropped 22 percent year-over-year to €196 million, with operating margin falling 160 basis points to 3.8 percent, weighed down by accelerated restructuring and integration costs.
Comparable operating profit grew 35 percent to €605 million, with comparable operating margin improving 220 basis points to 11.7 percent for the quarter.
Third-quarter net sales totaled €5.154 billion, up 10 percent from €4.700 billion in the year-ago period, with constant currency growth coming in at 9 percent.
AI and Cloud was Nokia’s fastest-growing customer segment, with quarterly revenue surging 126 percent to €631 million from €279 million in Q3 2025.
Orders from AI and cloud customers rose 118 percent to €1.5 billion during the quarter, underscoring the rapid acceleration of demand from that customer base.
Network Infrastructure sales increased 15 percent at constant currencies, while Mobile Infrastructure sales rose 5 percent, partly reflecting revenue accelerated from the fourth quarter.
Nokia raised its 2026 restructuring charges assumption to €1.1 billion as it moves to simplify operations, with related cash outflows expected to reach between €800 million and €900 million.
The company also raised its expected comparable financial income to between €300 million and €400 million, citing strong venture fund returns, while lowering its free cash flow to comparable operating profit ratio to between 35 and 55 percent.
Nokia expects fourth-quarter net sales to increase between 20 and 24 percent sequentially, with a typically strong quarter-on-quarter increase in comparable operating profit anticipated.
For the full fiscal year 2026, Nokia confirmed it continues to expect comparable operating profit of between €2.1 billion and €2.6 billion, with full-year results expected to land above the midpoint of that range.
Nokia shares were trading 0.11 percent lower at $9.24 in overnight activity on the NYSE following the earnings release.
