Nokia's Massive AI Orders Overshadow Soft Guidance — BofA Sees 90% Upside

Nokia received about €2.8 billion ($3.19 billion) worth of AI-related orders in the second quarter.

• Bank of America increased its price target on Nokia to $18.50, implying a 90% upside. 
• The firm expects near-term revenue growth while noting capacity limits could delay order deliveries until 2027-2028. 
• Nokia CEO Justin Hotard highlighted strong AI and cloud demand, driven by long-term customer orders.

Nokia Corp. (NOK) earned a higher price target from Bank of America after reporting fiscal second-quarter (Q2) results, as analysts looked past softer-than-expected third-quarter guidance and pointed to stronger artificial intelligence order momentum. 

However, Nokia stock extended its loss overnight and is on track for a second week of decline as a broad technology selloff overshadowed earnings optimism. The renewed scrutiny over AI spending dragged major U.S. benchmarks lower on Thursday. 

Nokia’s AI Demand Stands Out 

Bank of America raised its price target on Nokia to $18.50 from $18 while reiterating its ‘Buy’ rating. The new price target implies a 90% upside to the stock’s last closing price. 

The firm said that investors are placing too much emphasis on the company's conservative near-term outlook. Nokia secured approximately €2.8 billion ($3.19 billion) in AI-related order intake during the quarter, a figure that the analyst said substantially exceeded expectations.

Nokia expects its Q3 net sales to rise 3% to 7% quarter-on-quarter. The analyst said the increase in AI networking orders shows strong demand for AI infrastructure and indicates that Nokia’s long-term growth outlook remains positive. 

Bank of America also dismissed concerns that Nokia did not increase its full-year outlook. According to the analyst, much of the newly announced AI-related business will not translate into revenue immediately because industry-wide manufacturing and capacity constraints are expected to delay deliveries until 2027, with some extending into 2028.

Long-Term AI Deals Strengthen Nokia's Order Pipeline 

During the Q2 earnings call, CEO Justin Hotard highlighted a sharp increase in AI- and cloud-related business as customers ramp up investments in next-generation networking technologies. 

“Q2 benefited from several significant long-term orders as our customers look to secure supply in a constrained environment. To provide some reference, approximately half the order volume received in Q2 is expected to convert to revenue in the next 12 months.”

He also outlined progress on new AI-powered telecom products designed to support future 5G and 6G deployments.

Hotard said customer spending remained strong across its optical and IP networking businesses, supported by expanding data center interconnect deployments and AI computing infrastructure. 

What Are NOK Retail Traders Saying 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock improved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory the previous day. The stock saw  a254% increase in message volume over the past week. 

A user said, “Let’s be honest about $NOK. This is a long-term investment, not a short-term trade. Nokia is a telecom giant with a growing AI segment and a potential free call option on Jensen’s AI-RAN vision — a 6G opportunity that could play out over many years.” 

Another user said, “AI supercomputing needs global fiber infrastructure, and Nokia remains connected to that buildout.”

Nok stock has gained 50% year-to-date. 

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